We live in an age of continuous digital innovations. It seems like every time we turn around, there’s a new product, service, or acronym to learn. Unfortunately, this sometimes means too many choices. How do you know which of the many available options is right for you? While we certainly can’t tackle all these choices in just one article. We can at least make a start. Today we’re looking at the choice between Software as a Service (SaaS) and custom apps. When should you rely on a subscription, and when should you DIY?
About Software as a Service Software as a Service, shortened to SaaS, is a method of licensing and delivering software. A central provider hosts the software and sells subscriptions to customers - Dropbox, Skype, Microsoft Teams, Slack, and Salesforce are all good examples of SaaS.
Here are some SaaS advantages: SaaS is designed to do one job but does it very well, like Photoshop, for example. It’s initially cost-effective. The host keeps the software updated. Easy to deploy. Easily scalable, depending on your number of users.
Bottom line, you rent the application from a provider who, in turn, does all the heavy lifting. They keep the software updated and running smoothly. However, SaaS is not all sunshine and rainbows. It has its disadvantages, like: It’s inflexible. You can’t make changes to it - basically, WYSIWYG. On a related note, you have no control over it. As a rule, you must use the latest version, even if you prefer the older version. After all, anyone in the IT industry knows that newer doesn’t necessarily mean better! Windows Vista says, “hello!” It relies on connectivity. Your business needs to stay connected to the host to fully access and use the software you're paying for. If you’re having Internet problems, it’s “game over.” Let’s hope Tech Support is on the ball! Oftentimes, there's very little Tech Support, because they use "self-serve" models. It’s industry-specific. Not every industry has applications available on a cloud platform. There are security concerns. How private is your sensitive information? If you’re sharing a software host, can the other clients somehow gain access to your data? Probably not, but when it comes to cybersecurity, there are few absolutes. You keep paying for it. It's not a one-and-done purchase. It’s like your cable bill or magazine subscriptions: the costs never stop and neither do the up-sales. Once you are bought in it’s hard to migrate. As you use a SaaS app more and more, you become more and more reliant on it. More data is saved there. More team members use it. So, if you decide you don’t want it anymore, it can take months to fully migrate away from it.
Building Custom Apps In-House Like they say, “If you want something done right, do it yourself.” Well, it doesn’t get more DIY than creating your own applications! Here is why designing your software is a bright idea: You can build a product that precisely suits you and your needs. This uniqueness pays other dividends (see the final item). You’re restricted only by your imagination, time, and budget. If you can think it and pay for it, you can build it. You have the final say in things like updates, changes, and customization. You can choose to constantly tinker with it or take the “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” approach and just leave it alone. Since it’s in-house, it’s theoretically more secure. That’s assuming your security protocols are up to date, and why wouldn’t they be? 🤔 You don’t have to keep paying for it every month. You built it, and it’s yours. You can follow your own schedule. If you want to skip upgrades, go for it! You call the shots. It sets you apart from the pack. Your business is unique. And having an app that emphasizes this uniqueness strengthens your brand. Sometimes your internal app is so special you can even sell it to third parties. Then your business has a SaaS app that can be sold on monthly or yearly subscriptions.
In summary, you control every aspect of the app process and put together a customized utility that meets your needs. You’re the boss of the whole process, from inception to deployment and beyond.
However, building custom apps in-house comes with its pitfalls, such as: You should have a team that has the skills to build the application and manage its codebase. You need designers, software engineers, and programmers. Granted, you can find developers with a Swiss Army knife set of skills, but this typically means they are weaker in one or more areas, like cybersecurity. It’s expensive. Good app designers don’t come cheap, and in this industry, you get what you pay for. And that’s just the human element. Your business must ensure that it has the proper hardware to handle the design tasks. Putting it all together, the current industry standard says software maintenance runs between 15 and 20 percent of the development cost. So, if you sink $600,000 into app development, you could end up shelling out $300,000 a year to keep it going uninterrupted! For companies watching their bottom line, this is a huge consideration. If your business is watching every dollar due to some setback (say, for example, a worldwide pandemic), your ideal app design project could die on the launchpad. The chances for app failure increase. If your team isn’t entirely up to date on best coding practices, architectures, customer needs, and new security protocols, your app has a greater chance of critical bugs and other failures. The technology changes. Related to the above items, you need to devote time and resources to staying current. These changes include platform technology as well. Your home-grown app should work not only on personal computers but also on mobile phones and tablets!
In short, if you’re going the in-house route, every aspect of development and deployment is on you. The development skills, the infrastructure, the personnel. It’s all coming out of your business’s budget. There’s a price to pay for autonomy, and it’s a steep one.
So When Should You Use SaaS, and When Should You Go Home-Grown? So now you’re faced with a dilemma. You have two solid options. Each comes with good and bad aspects. Which do you go with? For the answer, ask yourself the following questions: Why do I need this? What’s the app for? What do you want it to do? Needs drive actions. Applications fill a need or solve a problem. What’s my budget? Inevitably, most business issues come down to money. If you go with a SaaS solution, you pay one fixed amount for as long as you subscribe to the app, subject of course to minor price increases. If you go the in-house route, it’s a large initial outlay, followed by a set amount for maintenance and upgrades. And ideally, there are no surprise costs. Subscriptions are good for companies that don’t have a lot of discretionary up-front cash but can afford a modest fee every month. What’s my timeframe? Is your need urgent? Designing your own applications is time-consuming. Even with fully qualified staff and an unlimited budget. Not only does your team need to design the app, but they also need to test and refine it before it’s released. If your business has time to spare, then a do-it-yourself option may work best. However, if you’re running against a deadline, it might be better to go the SaaS route. What’s my talent pool look like? You can have all the time and money in the world, but if you don’t have the people who can actually do the work, the project is going nowhere. And remember, these professionals must not only know how to design an app but also keep it running, including doing upgrades, tweaks, and troubleshooting. If you don't possess the appropriate skills, you will have to hire them, impacting point #2. Does it already exist? If there is already an app in existence, offered via SaaS, that perfectly fits your needs, why try to re-invent the wheel? If you need a generic image manipulation program, then okay, go with something like Photoshop. This point is not only the first issue to resolve but also the most important. Does your desired application have some kind of competitive edge in the market?
Managed Software Services: A Possible Compromise Solution Speaking of talent, there is a path you can take to mitigate the task of do-it-yourself app design. You can bring in highly skilled help such as freelancers, consultants, and managed services, to help address the specific challenges of designing your perfect app. For example, you can engage the services of a software consulting agency and leverage their experience to save on costs without compromising the customizability of the apps you need. Granted, it’s another up-front expense. However, in this case, it’s an investment that saves you money in the long run.
Think of it as the app equivalent of hiring a trained plumber instead of taking care of the problem yourself (and you don’t have any skills in that area!). Sure, you’re saving on immediate plumbing costs. But if you don’t get it right (and with no appreciable plumbing skills, that’s unlikely), it’s going to cost far more in time and damage control.
By bringing a skilled professionals in, you’re paying upfront for protection from substantial (and unpredictable) costs further down the line.
Let’s face it; ours is an age where everyone and their grandparents are online, whether via smartphones, tablets, or laptops. This surge in usage has created a correspondingly greater demand for good apps, and any company that wants to stand out needs outstanding software. Not only should your business have a good app, but it should also create and maintain the apps with as little pain as possible.
So before you throw the switch on that app development project, decide what it’s for, how much you want to spend, and if you want some outside help to make the process go smoother and cheaper.