It’s no secret that software is the main driver of modern business.
Technology infrastructures are what services are built on these days, and it is basically imperative to say that you cannot survive, let alone compete, today without a robust software support system.
However, there are pros and cons to every decision you make with the goal of improving your organization.
Deciding between enterprise software or SaaS software as a marketing model and SEO infrastructure is certainly subject to the same arduous decision-making process that you apply to any other aspect of your business.
There is nothing inherently better or worse about enterprise software or SaaS. There are differences, sure, but what’s right for you will be proportional to your business size, needs, and financial capabilities.
So, how do enterprise software and SaaS software differ?
Let’s find out.
Choosing marketing software for your business
Let’s say you’re the chief technology or marketing officer of a company (or someone else who makes these decisions).
You know that there are gaps in your capabilities as a company to serve your customers, and you know that a large part of those gaps are due to technological deficiencies.
If you know your business and its processes well enough, you can probably conjure up some solid ideas about where you are currently struggling and what you need in a software upgrade.
Here are some examples of concerns you might raise:
- Our current software infrastructure is not very collaboration friendlyBoth teams complained of losing connectivity and productivity.
- Customers say they find it difficult to interact with their accounts on our websitebut we cannot address their concerns in the current system.
- Our marketing software cannot integrate with many other applications, But we know that the new system will be able to handle it.
Knowing where you stand in terms of your needs versus your abilities is a big step—and if you’ve already identified that there’s a problem, congratulations.
Further congratulations if you have the means and agree to upgrade.
However, the next issue is already on the horizon, which is basically the title of this post.
Which software model is right for you, your organization, or SaaS?
You can’t know until you understand their differences, so let’s get into it.
What are Foundation Programs, and for whom are they for?
Both types of programs aim to improve business operations by better serving the organization and its customers.
Enterprise software, in its simplest form, is the technology that meets companies’ needs and solves their problems.
So, whatever business a business needs at the enterprise level, the software can handle, whether those needs include customer relations, technical support, email integration across applications, or team collaboration.
Enterprise software creates efficiencies and allows for greater productivity.
However, here’s the crux of the matter, unlike SaaS software: enterprise software is company-owned.
It is software developed and installed on site, and can be accessed locally.
It is proprietary software. Once complete, the company owns it from top to bottom.
There are a lot of upsides to emerging for enterprise software.
You choose developers who have the technical capabilities you need.
You have to work with them telling them everything you need in terms of jobs and support, which is key as this will be your program of work.
The software will do what you want, and its design will depend entirely on your operations.
To sum up: Enterprise is tailor-made for you and will respond to your every whim.
You host it on the site, know the security measures about that hosting, and are free to change its functionality as needed.
The rivalry seems perfect, but there is still a problem or two.
Developing full-stack custom software is not an easy task, so the price of commissioning a business and owning enterprise software can be prohibitive.
We’re probably talking about a number It falls in the six-digit rangeup to three-quarters of a million.
If I can be snobbish for a moment: they don’t call it quits Enterprise program for nothing.
The implication is that enterprise software is for the more established enterprise companies—the ones with a freed-up budget to pay for specially designed proprietary software.
It will always be a matter of fit for money.
Your organization’s software may cost a lot up front but will pay dividends in its ease of use, full integration with all other software components, and generally lower (but still present) maintenance costs over time.
What is SaaS software and who is it for?
Now that you understand enterprise software and what it entails, the definition of SaaS software may be in place for you.
In contrast to enterprise software, SaaS stands for Software as a Service.
The biggest overall difference between the two is that SaaS is software that you pay a monthly subscription fee to use, not one that you have for yourself.
Like enterprise software, SaaS software is a valuable tool in streamlining business processes and ultimately providing better services or products to your customers.
But let’s talk about the main differences.
Proprietary enterprise software represents a fundamental change in how your business handles things within the company.
Meanwhile, SaaS software won’t disturb the flow of things too much.
They are relatively easy to bring along because they are set up to work a certain way, and that is how they will always work.
The provider’s support team can guide you in using the platform, and that’s another plus: you can reach out to a help desk or customer service line for anything you need in connection with the software.
You can use the provider as a resource if you pay for the service.
The final major benefit to discuss with SaaS (one of the primary differences between SaaS and enterprise software) is cost.
With SaaS, you pay a monthly fee to use the software, and that’s it.
If you need maintenance or an update with anything, all of that will be accounted for and dealt with in your plan.
By the way, this monthly fee will be much less than the initial costs of hiring a development team to build your infrastructure from scratch.
So, on the one hand, SaaS is immediately more affordable than enterprise software, and its fee structure will allow you to predict the future budget of your business.
On the one hand, though, for the money you save you pay for convenience (at least to a point).
SaaS can be customized to your needs as much as possible, but here’s the thing: its capabilities are limited.
You cannot guarantee jobs in all areas that your business requires, because it was not created specifically for you.
In this context, you also shouldn’t expect SaaS software to be able to integrate all of your existing software and applications, because, again, their functionality is limited to how they were originally created.
One final issue worth noting is that SaaS software makes some business leaders uncomfortable with shared hosting.
It depends on your philosophy on the subject, but with enterprise solutions, you are running the security of your software and data.
With SaaS, you are grouped with your service provider and everyone who uses the platform.
A breach of one may mean a breach of others.
Therefore, you need to do your due diligence on any SaaS providers you’re considering to get a handle on the security measures you can expect when using the service.
Will you choose Enterprise or SaaS software?
I hope you will now feel more comfortable deciding whether enterprise software or SaaS software is best for you and your marketing organization.
The pros and cons should be clear to you.
While enterprise software will be more expensive and expensive, you’ll appreciate its fully customizable functionality.
And just as you know that using SaaS software will get you a much lower price tag and a predictable budget, you’ll also realize that it may not do everything you need because it wasn’t made just for you.
Which one you choose comes down to your resources, your business size, your needs, and where you expect all of these things to be in the future.
More resources:
- 8 of the Best Enterprise SEO Tools for Content Optimization
- How to get started with enterprise marketing workflow automation
- 5 key enterprise SEO priorities you need to get right
Featured Image: Anything Is Possible / Shutterstock
