What are SaaS companies and why have they grown during the pandemic?

SaaS stands for “Software as a Service”, an industry in which companies offer software services (in the cloud) to users and businesses. In other words, we are talking about services which do not require downloading, but can be accessed via the Internet. The information is hosted by a supplier, which also maintains and constantly updates its services. 

SaaS solutions have boomed since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only many more SaaS companies ( of various types) have emerged, but also the number of users of these services has increased as well as constant software improvements and upgrades. In fact, thanks to SaaS solutions, the world has been able to keep running, especially thanks to communication and collaboration services designed for businesses and education. These services have allowed workers to continue working and communicating remotely. 

Several of the most important solutions that have emerged during the pandemic are: remote working solutions, remote education solutions and remote communication solutions. 

Thanks to SaaS companies, it has been proven that distance is no longer a problem… 

How have SaaS companies made our lives easier?

• Flexibility and upgradability: they are tailored to each customer’s needs and can be expanded in response to growing demands. For example, in the event of employee or business volume growth. 
• Innovation and improvement: the supplier is responsible for improving its services at no additional cost and on an ongoing basis.
• Security: the supplier is responsible for the security of the hosted data, which is usually highly protected. 
• Simple accessibility: in most cases, you only need to create an account, which is quite easy and fast, besides its great usability.
• Affordable price and lower than the development of these services internally. 
• Remote access: they can be accessed from different geographical locations around the world. For example, in order to work, it would not be necessary to be in the same office as our colleagues, but it could rather be accessed remotely and from different devices (mobiles, computers, tablets…). 
• Digital transition: in an increasingly digitized world, these types of solutions make work, interconnectivity and communication much easier. 

How does it work?

Many SaaS companies offer packages or subscription tariffs which can be upgraded and tailored to suit the customers. 

For example, the different packages usually offered could be summarized as follows: 

• Free but limited packages
• Fixed tariff packages 
• Packages with different rates depending on the capacity and features needed
• Per-user priced packages
• Usage-based pricing packages

Types of SaaS companies/SaaS solutions: 

Educational SaaS companies:

• Zoom: video call software, specially designed for meetings and classes. It allows you to use live chat, share content and record sessions. 
• Blackboard collaborate: video calling and virtual classroom software. Specially designed for the classroom, virtual education. It allows you to share content (screen, power points, documents…), as well as to control the attendees and divide them according to their position (separation between teachers and students). It also allows you to create private rooms for those moments in which you need to discuss and work in teams. 
• Microsoft Teams: software for calls and video calls. It allows you to chat, share content, record sessions…
• Google Meet: video call software. Very similar to the previous ones, from Google. 
• Moodle: tool used by universities for the administration of education. It is a virtual classroom. 
• OfiELE: software for the management of language schools. 
• Respondus: software for online exams. It monitors your screen and the student’s behavior using artificial intelligence. 

Signing of documents:

• DocuSign: to sign electronically. 
• Signaturit: it allows the electronic signing of documents (contracts, commercial documents and legal documents) with legal protection. The company is responsible for storing the documents, together with the signatory’s data (computer and location data at the time of signing, among others). 

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) SaaS companies:

• Salesforce: communication tool between the company and its customers. 
• Hubspot: it includes various services, such as marketing, email marketing, CRM and sales management. It has a free version, very useful for small businesses. 

Team and business management:

• Flojo: communication tool with online meeting rooms. 
• Google G Suite: it includes Gmail, calendar, Hangouts, Google Drive, spreadsheets, documents, forms, presentations and other services that facilitate team management. 
• WebEx: videoconferencing, remote support, etc. 
• Box / Caja: workflow management. Collaborative tool. 

Project management SaaS companies:

• Asana: solution for work organization and planning. It manages the actions and tasks of a project. It is a great assistant in the organization of a team and their tasks. 
• Trello: very similar to Asana. 

Document management (collaborative):

• Dropbox: it includes cloud file storage, file transfer, documents sharing, etc. 

Customer service SaaS companies:

• Zendesk: it includes customer service channels. For example, telephone, email, social networks, etc. 
• Hubspot: it includes a variety of services, such as marketing, CRM and sales management. 
• Web2Web Innovation: Spanish company that develops chatbots and live chats for companies, so that they can communicate with their customers in an easier, faster and more effective way. 

Video production:

• Lumen5: video production through easy-to-use software.

Content creation and editing:

• Photoshop: image editor. Widely used by the marketing and design departments of companies. 
• Canva: for creating different documents and creativities from templates. Similar to Photoshop, but much easier to use. 
• Visme: for creating attractive images.
• Squibler: for content correction.

Marketing:

• Buffer: software for social network management. It publishes and analyzes. 
• Hootsuite: dashboard for the management of social networks. All in one. 
• Mailchimp: email marketing, surveys, email branding, templates, etc. 

Activities:

• PerfectGym: software for virtual gyms management, as well as dance academies administration. 

Virtual fairs:

• Ubivent: software for the development of virtual fairs and other events. 
• Enubes
• Easy Virtual Fair: software for the management of educational, business, and other virtual fairs. 

Finances:

• Contasol: accounting software. 
• Anfix: a comprehensive business management tool. 
• Talentia Finance: it manages the financial department. 

More and more companies have adopted these types of services and have moved to the digital side. Thanks to the user-friendly nature of these tools, their convenience, their great usefulness and their low cost, these tools have re-emerged after COVID-19 and it seems that they will stay. 

And you, now that you know what SaaS companies are, what SaaS tools do you use? We look forward to hearing from you. 

If you have enjoyed this post, we highly suggest you to read our post about: The SAP System.