There has been a steady rise in the need for cloud-based services and storage especially as more businesses embrace digital services. In 2021, the average number of applications that businesses used stood at 110. This, even as there was an emergence of new SaaS products with the industry projected to grow to $716.52 billion by the year 2028.
This article gives an overview of what a SaaS company is, its features and a list of top SaaS companies of 2022.
What is a SaaS company?
A SaaS company refers to a business that deals in software that provides a service or services to its customers. They can either be business to customer (B2C) or business to business (B2B). SaaS companies create software that they continue to develop and update as well as provide support services to their business clients. Users paya subscription fee to access and use the software.
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) companies are providing cutting edge solutions that enable businesses to collaborate, increase productivity levels and satisfy their clients’ needs. Most SaaS companies offer their services through the internet, via mobile apps, and cloud-based services among others. SaaS products are designed to help businesses improve efficiency, save money and minimise friction between teams.
Even then, businesses must choose the right SaaS products if they must harness these benefits.
What are the Features of a SaaS company?
Most software companies are embracing the SaaS model since it offers recurring revenue that is predictable. For users, the flexibility of pay as you go efficiency and the ease of on demand scaling. SaaS companies are characterised by the following features:
1. Easy extendable marketplace of integration.
SaaS products are easily extendable through software development kits (SDKs), open application programming interfaces (APIs) or native integrations. They also need to have a marketplace or catalog where customers download the integrations they desire.
2. Cloud hosting
One of the features that sets SaaS companies apart is their ability to leverage cloud technology in delivering software solutions. As such, it’s easier to scale up, monitor consumption and end subscriptions where necessary.
3. Scalability and flexibility
SaaS software applications should be easily scalable so you can deploy it for a small team or large enterprises with thousands of users with ease.
4. Easy implementation with no maintenance efforts
This is one of the major reasons companies prefer SaaS companies as you can easily implement them without integration or set up as the SaaS provider offers training support and in some cases help you manage implementation. Additionally, they also implement over the air updates via cloud.
5. Straightforward pricing
SaaS companies offer a predictable pricing model where they have a price point for certain features that may change with the number of users you’ll onboard.
Top 10 Software as a Service (SaaS) Companies in 2022
1. Hubspot
This is a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform for sales, marketing and customer support teams. This marketing automation software includes multiple features like list segmentation, email marketing, paid ad tracking, social media management, and landing page builder among others that enhance business intelligence.
2. Microsoft
Microsoft continues to make inroads in the SaaS field making a departure from its initial perpetual license-based apps that are not under its Microsoft 365 suite targeting both individuals and organisations. This includes desktop tools like Excel, Word, Powerpoint, OneDrive, Skype and Outlook. A Microsoft 365 subscription also gives you access to SaaS products that are web-native like Teams and SharePoint.
3. Salesforce
This collaboration platform makes it possible for teams to collaborate with other members of their teams and customers. This customer relationship management (CRM) platform supports contact management so businesses can track their interactions with customers and easily access customer data. This is in addition to providing communication tools, automation abilities, lead management, email campaigns, file sharing and the ability to connect with customers on social media channels and enhance social media marketing. The versatility of salesforce is such that it can be tailored for different industries and businesses of different sizes.
4. Adobe Creative Cloud
This set of services and applications from Adobe provide access to a cluster of software you can use for photo and video editing, graphic design and web development.
5. Shopify
As an ecommerce SaaS platform, Shopify serves both retail businesses and online stores with a point-of-sale system. Shopify seamlessly integrates into websites, helping companies to manage their inventory so they can meet customer demands efficiently and ensure customer retention.
6. Slack
Slack is one of the SaaS applications designed for collaboration among teams. This platform lets users message each other, create channels that are topic or project based and archive conversations. Slack offers multiple features that include voice and video calls as well as sharing videos, photos with the team.
7. Xero
This nifty cloud based accounting software connects businesses with financial data, advisors, bookkeepers, and customers in real time. It also includes other financial management features like payroll, invoice management, bank connections, VAT returns and bank reconciliation.
8. Zoho
Zoho is a project management suite offering productivity enablers and business tools accessible via the SaaS model. The company offers several solutions that are independent and are deployable as standalone units as well as a SaaS based digital operating system that is unified. This platform is handy workplace collaboration, marketing, human resources and IT service management. In addition, you can also create customisable solutions via Zoho Creator.
9. MailChimp
This email marketing platform is designed to help marketing teams to easily automate emails, segment audiences, send newsletters and reach out to their target audiences. It also presents the capability of creating and hosting landing pages.
10. Asana
This is another project management tool that makes it possible for teams to work together online, while managing tasks and projects as a group. Remote and distributed teams can access Asana and tap into the potential of a collaborative work environment. That’s not all, as a team collaboration tool, project managers can also input tasks, assign responsible parties and due dates as well as establish goals.
11. Zendesk
This SaaS platform is a customer relationship tool that make it possible for users to engage with a customer base, offer customer service and set up automated responses based on the concerns and questions raised through the software. This SaaS application has a provision for installation of its software on a mobile application or website. This way customers can connect with the company’s customer service teams through chat, email or phone. In addition, the call routing feature assigns support tickets and calls to specific agents based on specific customer needs.
12. Dropbox
This is a cloud storage service for storing files so you can access them whenever you need them across different devices. You can share files with others through drobox links regardless of whether its collaborative work or personal data. This SaaS tool can hold all kinds of data.
13. Box
This cloud content management system works on mobile application and a desktop. This application lets you store and share files with other users. You can also edit documents while in group. Dropbox is handy for both individuals and enterprise software company.
14. Freshworks
This is a provider of end-to-end business solutions for small and mid-sized organisations. This SaaS business model gives you access to all the tools your need to employee and customer engagement, from IT service management tools and human resources enablers to enterprise telephony, CRM and customer chatbots. It also incorporates a marketplace and AI capabilities where you can choose from a range of integrations.
15. Webflow
If you’re looking to build a website then this cloud platform will come in handy. Enabled with drag and drop capabilities, Webflow lets you design, build and host websites without any code development by automatically generating CSS, HTML and Javascript via customisable components.
Looking at the events of the past three years, doing business the SaaS way is the new normal that ensures you have recurrent subscription-based revenue while enhancing service delivery and nurturing stronger customer relationships. The SaaS market is not slowing down so it’s incumbent upon businesses to restructure and tap into the benefits that SaaS businesses offer.
Are you a SaaS Company and require lead generation support? Contact us today.
