Why scalability should be central to your SaaS purchasing decisions
SaaS technology offers numerous benefits for growing businesses such as greater accessibility and mobility, improved collaboration and productivity, and the ability to make data-driven decisions. So if scaling is one of your business priorities, you need to make sure this sits at the heart of your SaaS purchasing decisions.
Here are some of the ways scalable solutions can transform your company’s operations and kickstart its growth journey.
Cost-efficiency
SaaS hosting can significantly reduce costs associated with data storage expansion and infrastructure upgrades, and scalable solutions typically offer a pay-as-you-grow model which means you only need to pay for the capacity you use.
On the other hand, traditional software models may require you to invest in extra licenses or infrastructure in anticipation of future growth, which could lead to underutilised resources and therefore wasted money.
That said, the cost of scaling can vary across different SaaS platforms with different pricing models. For example, some may offer tiered pricing so moving to a higher tier to increase your capacity could prove to be expensive. Others, however, might have a linear pricing model where costs increase proportionally with additional users or data usage. Therefore, you need to carefully evaluate every pricing model to avoid unexpected expenses.
You may also be able to negotiate and secure a better deal when scaling up. And as SaaS purchasing experts at Vertice point out, to guarantee long-term savings, you’ll need to negotiate on more than just price so you should also factor in things like auto-renewal clauses, price protection in uplifts, and service-level agreements.
Accommodating team growth
Scalability in SaaS is essential for accommodating team growth, especially in large companies where workforce numbers may fluctuate. The beauty here is that you’ll have the flexibility to add and remove users as needed. For example, one situation that emphasises the benefit of SaaS for accommodating team growth is a retail company taking on temporary staff during the holiday season.
It’s important to choose SaaS solutions with robust infrastructure, so make sure you consider the maximum number of users that can be supported and how easy it is to add and remove them. You want your platform of choice to be able to handle increased user loads without performance dropping, ensuring that all team members have a consistent and efficient user experience.
Flexibility for customisation
As businesses grow and evolve, their software needs often change. So another key advantage of scalable SaaS technology is the ability for businesses to customise features and functionalities to meet their specific requirements.
For example, a startup may only need basic functionality from a CRM platform, but as it grows into a larger business, it could incorporate advanced analytics and automations that better support the more complex processes. While a time and expense solution could be integrated within an ERP system to enhance functionality when your workforce is growing.
This potential for customisation can also enable you to integrate your SaaS tools with other software, which will greatly aid your scalability as this is the basis for a cohesive technology ecosystem that can adapt and grow with the company. Keep this in mind and evaluate functionality expansion capabilities and any data limits so you can be confident you’ve chosen a SaaS solution offering easy and appropriate customisation potential.
