In today’s business, installed software packages are becoming more and more obsolete. Now, just about every functional area of your business can be run via Software as a Service (SaaS) applications where instead of installing software, you simply subscribe to online services. This dramatic shift toward online interactions also affects relationships with customers, as additional software tools have emerged to simplify engagements via email, web, and chat.
Traditional Business Functions – CRM, Accounting
Accounting and customer information have been necessary systems since the early days of computing. These critical functions were ripe to move to SaaS and were some of the original systems to have cloud-based options. The leaders in the spaces like Salesforce.com (CRM) and QuickBooks Online (Accounting) have become fantastic options for businesses to get all the benefits of these systems without investing a penny in overhead-heavy infrastructure.
Newer Business Functions – Email, Electronic Document Management
The use of electronic documents and email have been staples of business communication for decades. They also remain the last holdouts for installed software given the dominance of Microsoft Office over the years. Word and Outlook power a massive share of the business market for communications. However, even their stronghold has not been fully resistant to many of the benefits of migrating these applications to SaaS. In fact, Microsoft has bet its future on services like Office 365 that support cloud-first management of these traditionally desktop-oriented software packages.
Modern Customer Engagement – Web Analytics, Email Campaign Management, Task and Project Management
The newly-emerged business function to migrate to SaaS is customer engagement on the Internet itself. The need to analyze web traffic, send email and manage today’s projects all benefit from SaaS solutions. Google Analytics, for example, leads the way in recording and reporting visits to your company’s website. Email solutions like MailChimp and Constant Contact make email lists and outbound mail templates a snap to delivery timely and relevant information to customers. And finally, the traditional paper documentation of projects and project schedules has been migrated to SaaS with terrific solutions like Trello and BaseCamp.
We’d be delighted to share our experience with any of the critical applications in the cloud with you. With questions, please contact Superior Technology at 845-735-3555 or online at www.superiortechnology.com.
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