The Many Advantages to SaaS
The future looks like software as a service.
Adding software to your operations can be a game changer, and there are many different types available to help with your productivity, efficiency, and floor management. From warehouse management solutions (WMS) to warehouse execution systems (WES), labor management systems (LMS) and more, there is a right solution for your goals. Once you’ve decided on the type of software, however, you’ll need to determine whether you want a traditional on-premises solution, or software as a service (SaaS), which represents the wave of the future.
Traditional on-prem software involves a substantial capital investment. You need a team to run the software and stay on top of it, infrastructure to support it, and contingency plans for risk mitigation, potentially disrupting the flow of your operations.
SaaS, on the other hand, removes the capital expenditure and moves over into the operations expenditure category. The advantage to this is that it might lead to an overall reduction in your IT costs. SaaS amounts to a monthly subscription versus an older, legacy system that might be prone to high maintenance costs, both in the labor expenses involved, and in the upgrade costs.
With SaaS, you can spread out your expenses over a long period of time. You have more cash flow available to allocate to other needs within your facility. Operating expenses are tax deductible, too, which is a positive in the SaaS category.
Beyond costs, SaaS offers advantages in the security of your systems. SaaS sits in the cloud, with enhanced security, and by design includes critical updates as needed. You’ll always have the latest and greatest version of your software and not need to put time and money into multi-month or multi-year upgrade projects, as you would with on-prem systems. This keeps your company safer and more secure.
Along those lines, on-prem software will run on your servers as long as you like—should the provider stop supporting your version, you are on your own, which makes you vulnerable to a host of issues. SaaS offers less impact than the experience you have when upgrading an older legacy system, something you generally need to do every three to five years.
SaaS is also designed to easily integrate with best-of-breed software. It is built for an entire ecosystem and integrates seamlessly with various other software types. This allows for faster transitions and removal—or addition—of other software components as needed. This isn’t the case with on-prem and legacy systems.
Finally, SaaS offers you the opportunity to scale easily. You can start small and add on as needed, again saving capital expenses. As warehousing looks forward into the future, SaaS is an important consideration. It may not be long before on-prem is phased out—getting on board with SaaS now can save you time and trouble in the future.
For more information about the Solutions Community: mhi.org/solutionscommunity
For further articles from the Solutions Community:
Don’t Overlook the Condition of Handhelds
Integrating New Automation- Part 1
Implementing a Warehouse Control System (WCS)
Is it the Right Time to Automate Your DC?
Condition Monitoring is Expanding
Warehouse Execution Software Implementation
