For many organisations, appraising different solutions for data management is challenging. It can be difficult to estimate how investment is needed, and how your requirements may change over time. Additionally, deep diving into one area can uncover issues around digital transformation that are pertinent to the wider organisation. This may be out of the remit of the original solution review and making the right investment decisions about new technology is critical. It is better to buy or build? What has more benefits, SaaS or on-premise?
Traditionally, businesses in highly regulated industries with extra privacy concerns were hesitant about choosing cloud solutions. But for a range of reasons, Software- as-a-Service (SaaS) now offers much stronger advantages than on-premise systems.
1. Lower upfront investment
COVID has forced cost reduction and SaaS solutions are much more cost-efficient. With SaaS, it’s pay as you go, for what you need. There’s no huge upfront cost, so the subscription model eliminates extreme financial risk. Instead of buying or building a proprietary solution, which is an extremely risky and lengthy proposition, there’s instant access to a tried and tested solution that someone else has spent the time and money developing.
2. Zero installation/quick deployment
On-premise installations typically take weeks or even months to set up. With SaaS, it’s like turning on a tap. Everything is already ready: users essentially just need to log in. This means much less disruption to normal work. SaaS solutions are typically more user-friendly, so less staff training is needed.
3. Better interoperability
Tech stacks are getting more complex these days, with businesses using a range of different apps and operating systems. SaaS is interoperable with any tech stack and often comes with ready-made integrations with existing apps, so organisations don’t have to build custom code to get everything working together.
4. Scalability and flexibility
Many businesses have experienced huge volatility over the past couple of years, needing to pivot, upsize or downsize literally overnight. SaaS delivers that agility. Usage can instantly and easily be increased or decreased as circumstances change. Modular solutions allow businesses to pick just the features they need, adding or dropping new ones as required.
5. Easy maintenance and security
With SaaS, all maintenance and updates are taken care of by the software providers. Security patches are automatically applied. This is much more time and cost efficient, as there’s no need for a large IT department constantly troubleshooting and doing upgrades.
6. Accelerating digital transformation
Using a cloud-based SaaS solution accelerates the business transformation agenda. SaaS helps organisations become digital businesses. It’s also much more future proof, because developers will continue to build features and evolve the solution in accordance with new requirements and technologies.
7. User satisfaction increases
Hard-to-use technology results in lower productivity and morale and could result in staff quitting. One in four people have considered looking for a new job due to software issues. With the aged care sector already suffering a critical labour shortage, organisations can’t afford to lose valuable staff. Having solutions that make people’s work easier and more efficient leads to much better outcomes on all sides.
It’s clear that SaaS offers huge advantages for the retirement living sector. It helps asset managers meet compliance with new regulations in a reliable and affordable way. This enables them to be much more strategic with financial planning and focus on their core business: providing high quality service and care to residents.