Why more companies are choosing SaaS
Over the past five years, more companies have been exchanging their purchased software licenses and the associated proprietary servers and hardware environment for a SaaS (Software as a Service) solution. The software runs on servers managed by the provider in the cloud, which offers numerous advantages. We can therefore state that SaaS is the future in the field of ERP. Jimmy Depaepe, CXO & Managing Partner at TCOG, explains.
How exactly does SaaS work?
“With SaaS, a monthly fee is paid per user for the use, hosting and maintenance of the software and the underlying servers that form one package. This eliminates the initial investment for setting up and configuring your own server, as well as the cost of managing and maintaining it. This leaves one transparent and predictable cost that is also lower because the infrastructure is shared by several customers.”
“An additional benefit is the scalability of SaaS. The number of users is easy to scale up or down according to the customer’s needs. In addition, updates happen automatically and much more regularly, especially with the standard software of Microsoft 365 Business Central. So you always have access to the latest features and capabilities.”
What if a company has specific needs?
“Because of the automatic updates, we always prefer standard software, but we can also link additional applications depending on our own needs and wishes. For many of our customers, for example, we deploy a document recognition software that allows purchase invoices to be automatically read into the system. There are also numerous sector-specific apps available. For these, too, you pay a modest monthly fee and receive regular updates.”
“In addition, we can provide fully customized applications that are specifically tailored to certain needs or processes of a company. These are not automatically updated, but new versions or other changes can always be tested in advance in a secure environment.”
Security and continuity
“With both traditional software and SaaS, the main thing is to comply with standard security rules. An important tip is to change passwords regularly. In addition, with a SaaS solution the data is continuously backed up. In the event of corruption, with SaaS you are much more certain that your data can be recovered. We can go back in time up to the minute to recover data.”
“Although with SaaS the data is in a cloud environment, it is only available to your company. All of your data sits completely protected. Microsoft guarantees in its contracts that no data is shared with other parties or used for other purposes.”
“In addition, a hybrid environment can also be interesting, e.g. for a chain of retail stores. By equipping each store with its own hardware infrastructure despite the SaaS software, you are assured of continued operation even if the Internet goes down. Yet that chance of failure is minimal. Microsoft guarantees an uptime of 99.5%.”
Want to know more about SaaS and what its benefits are for your business? TCOG, as a Microsoft Gold ERP partner, is ready to help you. Request a no-obligation consultation now!
