SaaS is helpful software that benefits businesses on a daily basis. They can reduce upfront costs of software for commercial use, don’t require installation on machines or maintenance, and companies can scale without needing to upgrade their machinery. This article highlights 10 SaaS examples you should consider using for your business.
But, what is SaaS and how can SaaS benefit business? In this article, we answer all those burning questions. Find out the most useful, real-world examples of SaaS, how to boost your SaaS skills and knowledge, and what to expect when using SaaS software tools.
What Is SaaS?
Software as a service, also known as SaaS, is a method of delivering applications over the Internet as a service, rather than a device. As mentioned previously, this software as a service doesn’t require installation and maintenance, and can simply be accessed through your Internet browser. For some of these SaaS examples are applications you can download that will speed up business processes.
SaaS allows businesses to use a wide range of services without additional hardware and software management. Its applications are known as hosted software, on-demand software, and web-based software. The SaaS providers offer remote servers on which the applications run. These providers are responsible for the security, performance, and availability of the application.
Where Is SaaS Used?
- Scheduling
- Ecommerce
- Customer Relationship Management
- Enterprise Resource Planning
Why Is SaaS Important?
SaaS is important for business owners to take note of, regardless of their business size, because it reduces costs and promotes business growth. You do not need to buy equipment or physical hardware to run the system nor do you need to handle upgrades. Businesses can easily download it, while the providers maintain it.
SaaS is one of the important categories of cloud computing, along with platform as a service and infrastructure as a service. According to Statista, the SaaS market was worth around 145 billion dollars in 2021.
Real-World Examples of SaaS
SaaS applications are used by companies around the world to ease communication, storage, and operations, and there are so many real-world examples of SaaS that have amazing features. Below is a list, followed by a detailed description of some of the best SaaS examples.
- BigCommerce
- Amazon Web Services
- Salesforce
- Dropbox
- DocuSign
- ZenDesk
- G Suite
- Slack
- Hubspot
- Lumen5
10 Great Examples of SaaS
SaaS Example 1: BigCommerce
BigCommerce is a shopping cart software and hosting infrastructure. It allows businesses to create online shops without hosting, coding, or even downloading software. The process is fast and easy, removing the technicalities that may come with this process. Having an online store is becoming increasingly important for sales companies to grow their customer base.
Also, the platform provides regular updates and advanced features for the users to keep the shops running optimally. It handles the upgrades and software licenses. Users pay a monthly subscription fee that covers hosting costs.
SaaS Example 2: Amazon Web Services
Another excellent SaaS example is Amazon Web Services. Also known as AWS, this service offers basic features that individuals and businesses need to make their work easier. These tools may assist with customer engagement, database management, business applications, Internet of things (IoT), robotics, machine learning, blockchain, and security.
An additional important feature of this SaaS example is the fact that it is cloud-based. Businesses can use the tools on the go from any device that is Internet-enabled, making it easily accessible for busy business owners.
SaaS Example 3: Salesforce
Salesforce is a cloud computing software as a service provider. It offers a customer relationship management suite that businesses can use to collect, store, analyze, and monitor data from active customers in a single dashboard.
Also, since this CRM tool is cloud-based, businesses can use it without needing an IT expert to install and manage it. It is also inbuilt with tools for analytics, marketing, engagement, and sales to help spur rapid growth.
SaaS Example 4: Dropbox
Dropbox is a popular cloud platform in the SaaS space. It is a leading cloud storage company that eases the data sharing, storage, and collaboration of files on the go. Dropbox allows businesses to work from anywhere as long as there is an Internet connection. According to Statista, as of 2020, Dropbox has over 15 million active users.
Dropbox is an excellent application for companies that use a remote workforce or freelancers. Some notable features include a smart content suggestion that recommends content from the user’s Dropbox activity. Businesses can also use the Paper by Dropbox feature that offers teams a document for easy collaboration.
SaaS Example 5: DocuSign
DocuSign is another popular SaaS example that offers users an esignature platform to make and store signatures for use. The signature can be used at any online location at any time. As the world goes digital, business owners seek out SaaS solutions to reduce the cost of physical travel and meetings to sign documents when it can be done over the Internet.
SaaS Example 6: ZenDesk
ZenDesk is a well-known SaaS company that offers ticketing and customer support to its users. It supports different support channels such as email, phone, social media, chat, and online tickets. ZenDesk’s main feature is the all-in-one customer support system to reduce the workload of businesses in this line of work. It also helps businesses offer a better customer experience to their users.
SaaS Example 7: G Suite
G Suite is a software as a service by Google containing cloud-based apps including Google Calendar, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Docs, and Google sheets. Individuals use these Google apps and Google workspace for personal projects and communications, but businesses use G Suite to enhance collaboration without any on-premise software.
SaaS Example 8: Slack
Slack is another common software as a service, business communication tool for remote businesses and others. The cloud-based tool is an alternative to email, as it’s faster and more organized. Businesses use Slack to manage, communicate and organize teams in a single dashboard, but there is a wide range of Slack use cases and additional features.
The subscription model software allows them to create channels for organization and communication. One of the great features of this SaaS is the separate channels for each assignment, task, and project. Any message that is sent in a channel can be viewed by members of that channel in real-time, making it efficient and simple.
SaaS Example 9: HubSpot
HubSpot is a SaaS tool used by businesses and enterprise software companies alike. The software as a service tool offers CRM, sales, marketing, CMS, and other software solutions to businesses. Many businesses utilize CRM tools to optimize business growth.
It was built to be an all-in-one sales, marketing, and CRM suite. The marketing software helps businesses to attract visitors, secure a sale, close deals, and retain them as well. One notable feature of this SaaS is the free trial. It is also cost-effective.
SaaS Example 10: Lumen5
Lumen5 is another software as a service that focuses on video creation. Businesses can use this tool to create videos with its simple drag and drop interface. The application creates videos automatically from either a URL or text.
When the text is converted into a video, it can be personalized further by adding images, beautiful designs, positioning text, adding brand colors, highlighting keywords, changing resolution, and tweaking font style.
Pro Tips to Boost Your SaaS Skills
- Develop project management skills. Knowing project management can help boost your SaaS skills. This skill helps you manage your editorial calendar in the long term. It’ll be easier to help a business achieve its goals by sharpening this knowledge.
- Learn analytics. Analytics is also important when it comes to software as a service. You need to be able to track data to see how well a marketing or sales strategy is doing. It will help generate more leads.
- Work on your copywriting skills. Copywriting comes in handy for teams working with SaaS applications. This is because the skill helps promote effective communication which can lead to conversion.
What Should Be the Next Step in My SaaS Learning Journey?
SaaS offers businesses benefits such as cost and time savings, which is why you should implement the SaaS examples listed above into your business operations. Users of these SaaS examples don’t need to spend time on installation and maintenance, spend money on equipment, or hire a technical team for the application. Learning SaaS will help you stand out, and you can even attend a SaaS bootcamp to get started.
SaaS Examples FAQ
SaaS is an acronym for “software as a service” and it is a unique software licensing model. The business model works when businesses subscribe to a company’s on-demand software system service. The owner of the software continues to host the service to reduce the burden of management from the user. SaaS is different from PaaS (platform as a service).
Some SaaS examples include Slack, DropBox, Salesforce, and G Suite. Each of these services host different functions that benefit businesses. Slack is a communication platform, DropBox is a storage platform, Salesforce offers customer relationship management, and Google G Suite hosts apps like Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Docs.
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SaaS offers benefits for businesses like cost savings to help customers reduce other associated costs of installation, maintenance, and management. Other benefits include flexibility, free trials, continuous updates, engagement, data security, cash blow, and convenience.
Netflix is a software as a service company. This third-party provider offers on-demand movies and TV shows on its software, and users can watch the videos by paying a subscription monthly. There are other payment plans as well, depending on what the customer prefers.
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