When Using SaaS Makes Sense

IndustryWeek on January 10, 2007

This writer offers a good rule of thumb for deciding when software-as-a-service applications may be appropriate for your company. SaaS works best if it yields operational or efficiency gains that cannot be directly seen by customers. In other words, can you answer "no" to the question: "Do we care if our competitor can use the same application to achieve the same benefits?" SaaS may not work as well, he says, for apps that directly impact customers and enable your company to offer services or offerings that are somewhat unique. The article wraps with a short case study of a snack food producer that was able to achieve a variety of impressive results by using an on-demand production scheduling system.