10 ways saas commerce platforms improve tco · pdf fileadvantages to switching to...

10 WAYS SAAS COMMERCE PLATFORMS IMPROVE TCO

REVISIT OPPORTUNITIES TO MOVE TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS TO THE CLOUD: SOFTWARE-AS-A-SERVICE (SAAS) APPLICATIONS ARE HERE TO STAY—AND ARE GROWING IN NUMBER. WHY? SAAS-BASED BUSINESS APPLICATIONS USUALLY DELIVER FAST TIME-TO-DEPLOY AND AN AGILE, ITERATIVE APPROACH TO IMPROVING BUSINESS RESULTS. RETAILERS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SAAS SOLUTIONS IN THE PAST SHOULD LOOK AGAIN.1

Forrester Research Inc.

1.Brief: Key Tech Trends That Serve Up Next-Gen Commerce, Forrester Research Inc., April 8, 2016.

10 Ways SaaS eCommerce Platforms Improve TCO © 2017 Kibo Software, Inc.

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Total cost of ownership (TCO) provides businesses a cost basis for determining the total economic value of an investment. And because commerce platforms are a significant investment for any enterprise, many are finding numerous advantages to switching to Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions—leaving the limitations and high cost of legacy on-premise platforms behind.

Below are 10 ways SaaS Commerce platforms improve TCO within your business, increase efficiencies, and build the bottom line in ways you might not have imagined.

A WARNING: SOME PROVIDERS OFFER UPGRADES FOR A HEFTY PRICE. FORTUNATELY, SAAS PLATFORMS GENERALLY OFFER BUILT-IN, SAFE, FREE ROLLOUTS OF RELEASES AND UPGRADES, THUS ENSURING FEATURES AND FUNCTIONS ALWAYS REMAIN CURRENT WITHOUT INTRUDING ON BUSINESS CYCLES, KEEPING USERS EFFORTLESSLY UP-TO-DATE WITH BOTH MARKET AND CONSUMER DEMANDS.

#1 SAAS COMMERCE PLATFORMS DELIVER PREDICTABLE RELEASES AND UPGRADESSaaS software possesses a predictable cycle of future releases and upgrades. When software upgrades are not automatic and seamless, the software user runs the high risk of slowly falling behind in the upgrade schedule. This failure to upgrade means lost efficiency and potentially lost sales as the business is not operating with the most state-of-the-art features and functionality to combat consumer’s demands.


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#2 SAAS PLATFORMS EMPOWER BUSINESS END USERS IT departments are often tasked with balancing between time spent on maintenance and time spent on strategy and innovation. SaaS platforms give time and internal resources back to IT departments. SaaS takes care of all maintenance, which improves efficiency within IT departments by freeing in-house IT resources from the burden of platform maintenance, allowing them to focus on building the future of the enterprise.

#3 MULTI-TENANT SAAS PLATFORMS ARE INHERENTLY DEMOCRATIC The “develop once, deploy many” model of multi-tenant SaaS streamlines platform upgrades for all users. Because a single instance of the software runs for all customers—with updates released simultaneously—lengthy, expensive integrations that waste revenue and time are no longer an issue. The way to determine if a Cloud platform is truly SaaS is if all users run the same version at the same time. If not, it’s pseudo SaaS, and not the platform that delivers all the great benefits of true multi-tenant SaaS.


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#4 KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN FOR CENTRALIZED FEATURES SUCH AS INTEGRATED PRODUCT CATALOGS

Choose a SaaS solution that liberates developers from the time-consuming tasks of updating multiple catalogs for multiple sales channels. Instead, marketing and merchandising teams can manage product updates and launch sites directly, increasing efficiencies within the enterprise overall. SaaS eliminates painful redundant work and decreases the chance of human error.

#5 SAAS PLATFORMS ALLOW LIMITLESS EXTENSIBILITY AND CUSTOMIZATION

Traditional on-premise platforms often prevent businesses from realizing revenue due to their lack of extensibility and customization. Some only allow for templates with no customization whatsoever. But not all businesses are created the same. Retailers and branded manufacturers should look for a platform that has open, extensible API and SDKs in multiple languages that allow them to utilize existing in-house development resources and decrease time-to-market for product and site launches.


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#6 LOOK FOR FAIR, USAGE-BASED PRICING THAT DELIVERS ECONOMIES OF SCALE

Usage-based pricing models are highly predictable, allowing enterprises to accurately manage IT budgets and achieve economies of scale as the business grows, supporting a shared success without unfair penalties. Platform users only pay for what they use, a refreshing change to the on-premise pricing model. With most SaaS pricing, businesses can start playing the game at a lower entry fee and can start realizing ROI faster.

Additionally, most Cloud-based systems with a SaaS payment structure allow business users to utilize more instances and scale up and down as traffic increases and decreases during peak seasons. On-premise solutions require purchasing the total estimated highest instances up front (so as to have enough infrastructure to cover all spikes) which also means businesses will be paying for the highest instances even during their slow months. But with on-premise, it’s a necessity, otherwise when businesses have high traffic to their eCommerce sites but limited infrastructure to support it, the sites could go black.


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#7 ON-PREMISE COSTS CAN BUILD UP OVER TIME WITHOUT BUILDING YOUR BOTTOM LINE

Before a business user signs the dotted line, they should look at the additional costs associated with on-premise versus the Cloud. Which of those additional costs help grow the bottom line? Or are those additional costs more akin to throwing money at a solution that can barely maintain needs, instead of one that not only maintains but anticipates needs as well? On-premise platforms frequently come with numerous hidden costs, including additional new site licenses, annual hardware leases, and data center hosting and facility costs. These costs can really add up and undermine TCO as they constrain growth and result in unrealized revenue.

#8 SAAS PLATFORMS REDUCE DOWNTIME DRAMATICALLY WITH 99.9% AVAILABILITY

Because SaaS solutions are Cloud-based technologies, uptime is not dependent upon on-premise hardware. And down eCommerce platforms mean no online sales. But it’s not just revenue to be concerned about—internal resources such as time and money are also spent while the platform is down, leading to an even greater overall loss.

As SaaS platform providers are evaluated, look for multiple redundant data centers in dispersed locations, professional 24x7x365 monitoring, automatic daily backups, disaster recovery, and business continuity services to ensure that assets are available, secure, and performing optimally.


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ACCORDING TO ONE SPECIALTY RETAILER WE SPOKE WITH, ‘WE WENT WITH A SAAS SOLUTION TO GIVE US FLEXIBILITY, BUT THE COST STRUCTURE—PUTTING LESS INTO INFRASTRUCTURE UPFRONT—WAS ALSO MORE ATTRACTIVE.2

Forrester Research, Inc.

2. Building The Business Case For Omnichannel In Retail, Forrester Research, Inc., July 11, 2016.


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#9 SAAS TECHNOLOGIES ELIMINATE THE NEED FOR HARDWARE INFRASTRUCTURES

Because SaaS technology is housed in the Cloud, the on-premise hardware technologies—and the IT resources required to maintain them—are no longer necessary, and can be rechanneled to more efficiently support other aspects of the business. This includes the space to house the hardware, along with any fees that may incur (See number 10). Many businesses leveraging SaaStechnology don’t even use an IT team, instead they rely completely on SaaS for all their business needs.

#10 CHOOSE SAAS AND SAY GOOD-BYE TO RELATED HARDWARE SUPPORTING COSTS

Using on-premise eCommerce platforms and the required supportive hardware demands significant amounts of energy to keep these systems running. ZDNet discovered that average energy costs for both direct IT power and related cooling for just a single server can use up about $731.94 per year in electricity. Estimating that enterprises average one server per 20 PCs, even businesses with fewer than 500 employees can rack up energy costs well over $18,000 each year for server rooms alone.


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START THINKING SAAS FOR FUTURE SUCCESS Considering a SaaS solution when calculating TCO for commerce platforms brings numerous advantages. SaaS is a fundamentally different software development model, and Kibo provides the simplicity of multi-tenant SaaS without hardware headaches and with the regular, predictable releases of new features. With Kibo’s open and extensible API, business users don’t need to wait for IT to launch new features or microsites, or test new markets or products. When looking to ensure future stability and success, consider implementing SaaS technology.


Kibo empowers retailers and branded manufacturers to achieve optimal performance of B2C and B2B commerce through unified consumer experiences. With more than 40 years of innovations, Kibo provides a complete omnichannel commerce platform delivered with the lowest total cost of ownership and the fastest time to market. By leveraging cloud technologies, individualized buying experiences, and true enterprise scale, Kibo enables you to reach higher peaks of sales and consumer loyalty. No matter the challenge, Kibo powers your success.

TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT KIBO CALL 877-350-3866 OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.KIBOCOMMERCE.COM

ABOUT KIBO

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESLowering the Cost of Ownership with Cloud-Based Technology

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