The idea of software as a service (SaaS) is not new, yet as the US shifts into endemic territory regarding COVID-19, we believe SaaS will provide numerous key benefits to organizations looking to gain a competitive edge in the era already dubbed “the new normal.”
At the heart of this transition is, as always, digital transformation – organizations simply cannot hope to lead in their industry (regardless of which industry it is) without seriously re-examining their existing workflow procedures and looking for ways to upgrade how they function.
One of those ways is by embracing SaaS-based infrastructure. With it, organizations can improve employee flexibility and productivity while remaining secure against data breaches and cyberattacks. In addition, one of the often-overlooked features of SaaS is its sustainability. Many organizations can reduce their carbon footprint by migrating away from on-premises processing and data storage. While many look to get ahead, post-pandemic success will likely come down to which companies find the right SaaS partner and which fully understand and embrace the benefits of cloud-native workflow optimization.
It is no secret that many employees enjoy the increased work flexibility caused as a byproduct of pandemic shutdowns. Recent data gathered by McKinsey found that 87% of US employees chose flexible work when offered the option, with younger and more digital-focused employees valuing flexibility even more. Organizations that push back or try to return to pre-pandemic working habits out of a desire for tradition risk alienating large swaths of potential workers, who will likely seek alternate options for employment.
The pandemic forced almost every industry to embrace remote and flexible working – to at least some extent. This shift forced the adoption of numerous SaaS-based platforms like Slack, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and many others. These new software options are more than emergency solutions. Remote collaboration software is still fairly new and only expected to grow more robust and versatile in coming years.
Zoom recently unveiled plans for new remote collaboration tools, including Zoom Spots (dedicated virtual work environments) and better integration with calendar and emails apps. At AWE, experts continue to talk about the value of improving agency and engagement in remote collaboration platforms but, regardless of what technology is being used or what the exact need in question is, all of these new innovations have one thing in common: SaaS.
Organizations wishing to improve their remote collaboration capabilities will need to continually monitor SaaS platforms, checking to see how each is innovating and understanding which will bring the most benefits for their company. Employees want flexibility and SaaS remote collaboration subscriptions provide an essential service so that workers can still feel connected even when they are apart.
Of course, leading organizations need more than a strong culture, and one of the largest questions surrounding the shift to flexible work is how to maintain – and even improve – productivity in a decentralized work environment. Once again, SaaS platforms provide an edge over on-premises counterparts.
Let’s look at a product like Onshape, PTC’s cloud-native CAD and PDM solution. When organizations purchase and install Onshape, every authorized user has access to the latest CAD files, regardless if another user is working on them or not. This allows for simultaneous collaboration, letting engineers and designers work more closely than if they were in adjacent cubicles.
It also, more importantly, prevents costly versioning issues from occurring. Employees don’t need to worry if they’re accidentally creating a duplicate or missing the latest changes. By having a single authoritative source of truth, SaaS products like Onshape ensure that every authorized employee, regardless of location, has access to the latest and most accurate version of the design they’re working with.
While productivity and company culture are both essential aspects of business, arguably none of it matters if your organization isn’t reliably secure. This is an increasing challenge, especially in a post-pandemic landscape. Cyber criminals have been ecstatic over the uncertainty and ignorance of organizations that had to rush into digital landscapes they didn’t fully understand. It is no surprise then to learn that organizations like Comptia expect the number of cyberattacks to increase by roughly 15% year-over-year until 2025.
In an increasingly digital world, the idea that one organization’s IT team, especially within a smaller organization, can safeguard against malicious activity from outside parties – which range from single individuals to foreign governments – is unrealistic. By moving data storage to the right SaaS partner, companies can rest easy knowing that their confidential data has gone from legacy on-premises systems to newer, secure by design software that was made especially for this increasingly threatening digital landscape.
The best SaaS platforms have multiple layers of security, including multifactor identity validation, end-to-end data encryption, and zero trust design principles. SaaS by nature understands that, just as the right, authorized user can be operating anywhere, so to can a nefarious outside party – and its design reflects this complex truth.
While “secure by design” is increasingly used in the common zeitgeist, still too little is made of “sustainable by design.” SaaS can, by nature, reduce energy consumption. Two common processes controlled by SaaS are computer processing and data storage. By moving these functions out of an on-site location (which likely was not built with server rooms in mind) and to a data center, which often are built with energy efficiency as a top consideration, organizations can greatly reduce their carbon footprint. Data from Amazon found that transitioning software from on-premises to AWS cut the average carbon footprint by 88% without impairing server performance.
Environmental sustainability is an issue that will only matter more as time passes, and organizations must consider how sustainable each and every one of their internal platforms are. As energy costs increase and the pace of climate change becomes more apparent, SaaS provides an easy avenue for improving sustainability ratings without incurring massive overhead costs.
As COVID-19 becomes endemic and “the new normal” becomes a reality instead of an idea, organizations that rush back to a 2019 operational mindset will find themselves increasingly challenged by a landscape that has been forever altered. By embracing SaaS solutions wherever practical, companies can find success in the post-pandemic world, success for their employees, for their productivity, and for their longevity. It’s not a magic bullet, SaaS platforms simply are versatile enough and powerful enough to power a way of business that was not possible before – and not only power it but give its users a strong competitive edge.
Colin McMahon is a senior market research analyst working with PTC’s Corporate Marketing team, helping to provide actionable insights, challenging perspectives, and thought leadership on trends, technologies, and markets. Colin has been working professionally as a research analyst for many years, and he enjoys examining and evaluating just how large the overall impact of digital transformation technologies will be. He has a passion for augmented reality and virtual reality initiatives and believes that understanding the connected ecosystem of people and technology is key to a company fully realizing its potential in the 21st century.