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Software as a Service is a rapidly growing field. As corporate offices are becoming more aware of the many possibilities afforded to them by subscription-based software, providers in all industry are entering the field and carving out their niche. In all, the SaaS market is expected to grow over 20 percent within the next two years, and is well on its way to a $50 billion industry - more than double the revenue just two years ago.

Naturally, it's easy to want a piece of that revenue pie. Whether you're a traditional business looking to enter the subscription-based space, or you have an entrepreneurial idea and plan that would just be perfect for an SaaS business model, you may be thinking about entering the SaaS industry. If that's the case, we can help! Here are 5 things to keep in mind for your potential software as a service development.

1) Know Your Audience

Entering the broad field of SaaS, you'll encounter an audience that is much more sophisticated and knowledgeable in its field than you might be used to. You are developing a software for experts in their field; marketing automation software, for instance, among the most popular types of SaaS, will be used primarily by marketers who are looking for and expecting very specific capabilities.

Why does that matter? Because it shapes how you develop your software from the start. Instead of flash, you need to provide substance that visibly helps your customers conduct their business. That's especially true because in the SaaS industry, you're not looking for a one-time sale. You are looking for long-term subscribers, who will only keep coming back to your software if you continue to offer them what they need. Above all, that means:

2) Architecture Matters

Trust us when we say this: exactly how you set up your software will make the difference between an intrigued audience and loyal subscribers. Your users, sophisticated as they are, expect your software to make their business life easier, so integrating your software with other business-related tools can be a huge bonus.

To stay with the marketing automation example above, integration with popular Customer Relationship Management software can be crucial. Of course, so is setting up a software that works reliably and accurately. Speaking of which:

3) Reporting is Crucial

Again, we keep coming back to the sophisticated nature of your audience. Instead of just being happy to use your software, they will expect measures and reporting capabilities that help them prove the worth of your software and their tactics to their constituents.

In most cases, software as a service is a significant investment, and an intricate reporting structure that shows the success and ROI of its capabilities can make the difference between loyal subscribers and one-time customers that jump off after their initial contract is over.

4) Multi-Platform Capabilities

We're not telling you anything new when we say that in a shifting digital landscape, simply developing your SaaS solution for desktop computers is no longer enough. Most of your competitors will conduct their business and provide their structure in the cloud, allowing subscribers access to the software's capabilities and reporting from anywhere in the world.

As a result, your software should run flawlessly on all devices. You may even think about a mobile app for iOS and/or Android, depending on your audience's preference, that provides additional capabilities without the need to open a mobile web browser. Again, your customers will be sophisticated business people who expect access at all times, regardless of device.

As you may imagine from the above paragraphs, developing software as a service solutions can be challenging. But it's also incredibly rewarding, as you're entering a field that continues to grow exponentially. To make sure your SaaS solution is up to par within your industry and the global marketplace, contact us! We'd love to help you enter the market and begin to gain subscribers.

Waterfall is the traditional way that businesses accomplish things. It's main characteristic is it's linearity. It like one of those Discovery channel car shows. Someone brings them an old car, the customer (usually pretty vaguely) tells the boss what he wants to be done. Then a routine build is dramatized for TV (not enough time, ordered the wrong part, scratched the paint, etc.). At the end, the customer comes back swearing that the car is exactly what he had blurredly envisioned from the beginning.

At the beginning of traditional work flow the requirements for the product are all established, and in the middle the creation process, usually monitored, is carried out until the product is complete. The problem with this is that customers usually can't tell you what they really want, they don't generally have enough knowledge of the complexities of the software to accurately describe what they want in the beginning.

Agile development exists to solve this problem. It consists of fixed time sprints, where a specific part or iteration of the project is completed. It's more user focused and can more easily be used to produce a usable prototype more quickly. It requires customer involvement and decisions which might not be good for those with scarce time or interest in the process.

The best of those car shows are the ones that cut down on useless drama to actually educate you. They dramatize the actual difficulty of satisfying the customer. They might show the customer being shown renderings of possible looks for the car, or coming to look at the project and being dissatisfied. Sometimes the boss has to work around the customers restraining budget, being as flexible as possible for the sake of the customer. Find out how Contensive will adapt for your needs, please contact us.

Running a successful business means facing complex challenges that require out-of-the box solutions to achieve your product goals. A viable alternative toward reaching a solution is applying the method of scrum in agile development.

The term “scrum” is an iterative and cumulative agile software development for managing product expansion. Its origin derives from the cooperative rugby strategy where teams gain distance by passing the ball back and forth. In parallel to its origin, scrum outlines a flexible, all-inclusive product development strategy where a development team works as a unit to reach a common goal, challenging alternative methods of the “traditional” approach toward product development. Teams generally self-organize through online and face-to-face collaboration including all team members.

As part of the production process, the underlying principle of scrum involves understanding the client has the right to apply “requirement churn” (client changes mind regarding want or need). The team takes an experiential approach by applying an unconventional manner or strategy toward addressing all unforeseen problems that arise.

Scrum basics

There are three elements that play a role in the scrum process.

 Sprint backlog- (task list applying priority product features)

 Burndown chart - amount of work remaining as backlogs burn down

The Process

The project owner compiles the project requirements according to priority. Working on a defined deadline the sprint planning team tackles top priority items in the backlog. The scrum master tracks the progress of the project guiding team toward completion. A review of the finished sprints foreshadows work on the next sprint, involving the next batch of priority items.

Advantages

Once the sprint process reaches a level of satisfactory development the product is ready for sale while project is nearing completion. This incremental system shortens the time to the market with the possible increase in revenue since each completed backlog represents a new product release. If done correctly all parties involved reap the advantages of successful scrum development.

 For the client scrum returns control of value stream back to the company, delivers product quickly allowing client to swiftly change priorities and requirements. A solid predictable release cycle with built-in testing processes results in product stability.

 Adopting new methods is difficult for companies since the decision's impact affects all aspects. Scrum helps to maintain company integrity and transparency while satisfy their requirements. The various degrees of decision-making shift to the line employees who understand best all the facts.

 Team reassurance from management guarantees enhancement of customer and client relationships, visibility of the entirety of project management process and improved workforce administration.

In the end scrum reinforces overall quality of team’s work through autonomy, self-direction, immediate feedback and sincere collaboration. Much like its namesake all members must collaborate together to move the product toward completion passing innovative and non-traditional methods down the agile developmental field.

We at Contensive are passionate about producing creative solutions and finding answers for your complicated website and mobile application problems. Whether you need web app development, mobile app development, online integration or responsive design or exceptionally talented team of analysts, engineers and designers will collaborate to find the best solution for your business. Contact us today to find out more about our products, services or schedule a briefing.

Wanting an app is easy. In an increasingly mobile-dominated digital environment, it makes perfect sense to reach your potential customers through more ways than one, and a mobile app seems like a perfect solution. The more practical aspects of mobile app development, though, require more thought and planning. We'd love to help! If you want an app but don't know where to start, here are three things you should know before building your first mobile app.

1) Know Your Customers

Any effective marketing-related effort has to begin with your audience, and the process of developing a mobile app is no different. Before you even begin your app development process, you should know everything you can about your potential customers' behavior on mobile devices.

What is their preferred operating system? Would they really prefer an app over a more simple solution like a responsive website that adjusts its design based on their preference? How receptive would they be to the concept of native web apps or extensions that they can use without leaving their browser?

All of these are questions for which you should at least be able to make an educated guess on the answer. Getting that answer can involve surveys and even informal focus groups with your current customers, while you can glean some of the information (such as your customers' preferred mobile devices and operating systems) with a look at your analytics accounts.

2) Know Your Goal

Once you know what your customers want and need, it's time to figure out just what you want to accomplish with your app. This is, of course, intimately connected to the first question: knowing your customers will give you a better idea of what they expect from a mobile app.

But at the same time, pointing out the necessity of knowing your potential app's goal is worth its own point. Your app could function as a brand awareness-builder, a brand loyalty helper with an integrated reward system, or incorporate ecommerce capabilities.

Of course, there are many more possible directions for your app to go in, each of them requiring a different approach to get to the finished product. Establishing a singular goal and developing your app with that goal in mind will go a long way toward getting a polished and effective app that helps attract and retain customers.

3) Know Your Developer

Trust us when we say this: any app developer you work with will appreciate their clients coming in with answers to the first two points in this blog post. But at the same time, they'll be glad to help you figure out the direction of your app. Of course, that's where the similarities of app developers end.

As you may have noticed when you browsed through our website and past blog post, we are firm believers in the "agile" development process. That means breaking up a project such as your app into several different parts that can be developed at once, allowing for increased testing times and cost-effectiveness.

Of course, not every developer subscribes to this methodology. Others prefer a more traditional "waterfall" development process in which an app (or website) is developed in a more linear, step-by-step process. Understanding your developer's philosophy when it comes to app development is crucial to finding a partner that fits your needs.

If you're thinking about adding to your company's digital presence with a mobile app, you've made the first important step. Congratulations! Following the three above steps will help ensure that the rest of the process will go as smoothly as that initial decision. And if you need any additional help throughout your planning process, don't hesitate to contact us!

As a software provider, how can you generate the most revenue and provide the best service to your customers? This is a question many software developers face and most of them consider SaaS or software as a service to be the best solution.

Software as a service development became popularized as online access to tools and resources grew and was preferred among customers. Being able to access software "in the cloud" allows customers to use their favorite software anywhere with an internet connection. With SaaS, software is ran using the web server's hardware and resources, which means customers don't have to worry about their computer's own ability. Gone are the days of having "minimum specification requirements" with software as a service because using the software is as easy as opening a website in your browser. There are no tasks completed on your computer's own hardware and most SaaS providers offer their customers storage space for saving files and projects in the cloud.

Why use Software as a Service Development?

• Monthly revenue from every customer
• Incentive to provide exceptional customer service
• Incentive to improve the software

Choosing to launch your software as a service means monthly revenue from every customer. When you charge a one-time fee like you would with traditional software, your revenue potential is limited. That customer is only worth the amount they paid for the software and your ability to provide customer service is hindered because of overhead costs. With SaaS, each customer has a much larger lifetime value and there is incentive to provide the very best customer service you can. Additionally, there is a major incentive to improve the software when you are receiving monthly revenue from your customers. You suddenly have a reason to hire a development team to integrate new features into the software. Every new addition could mean more customers and better revenue.

SaaS is the Future

Big brands are moving to software as a service and that is typically a sign that things are transitioning in a new direction. Google was one of the first big brands to fully support SaaS and provide access to Google Docs and other software on the web. They have shown how software as a service can be preferred by providing automatic saving to documents and other key features that make SaaS standout from traditional software. When you compare Google Docs to Microsoft Office, there are many promising aspects that make it a preferred choice. SaaS is the future and web programming is increasing in popularity.

How do Customers Feel About SaaS?

Most customers will greatly appreciate that your software is accessible through the web. Traditional software can be clunky and web-based tools are generally far more reliable. However, customers will expect a higher level of professionalism in the departments of customer service and software improvement. When a customer is expected to pay monthly for access to your software, they want full value from the service. Expect your customers to do their research and look for alternatives. If there is a competitor with better software and a one-time fee, you may lose customers. When choosing to use SaaS, you need to have the best software for the right price. During your initial launch, you may want to consider offering your software at a lower price to encourage subscribers.

Are SaaS Development Teams Expensive?

If you don't have programming experience, the only way to transition your business toward software as a service is to hire a development team. Fortunately, SaaS is typically less expensive than traditional software development. SaaS developers often specialize in programming languages like PHP, Python or Ruby. Python and Ruby are often preferred, as they are highly simplistic and allow SaaS developers to reuse code from previous projects, write things with less code and save enormous amounts of time. This ultimately lowers costs and makes SaaS development less expensive.

There are many reasons to consider software as a service development for powering your business. If you have questions on working with a developer and how SaaS could improve your business, please contact us.