As Chief Transformation Officer for ME Digital Group, Prashanth Raghuraman, is spear-heading both internal development and the onboarding of tech that underpin delivering the company’s vision to drive growth through new direction.
Software as a Service is revolutionising opportunities across all industries, making us leaner, fitter more efficient and cost-effective. Wow! Why wouldn’t you want to be in that space?
Driven by the demand for cloud-based, scalable software solutions the global SaaS market potential has been estimated at $10 trillion by 2030.
Key growth areas include -
Vertical SaaS that caters to specific industries, such as Beauty, Health, Finance, offering customisation, compliance and tailored industry relevance for systems surrounding employee, sales and/or customer management.
Horizontal SaaS, such as CRM or Finance/HR systems, supports common inter-industry functionality with efficient, multi-faceted, cost-effective solutions.
AI SaaS products provide more intelligent, personalised and automated features and content, with ML in play for greater insights.
Solo entrepreneurs are entering the market with Micro SaaS – products that offer niche solutions for often small but discernible problems. They can offer cheaper, nimble options compared to well-established more all-encompassing larger SaaS.
In the post-Covid economy, Remote Work SaaS was an interesting development to support businesses shifting employee patterns of work. Whether that trend will continue remains to be seen, as more of even the pioneers of WFH are seen to be trying to reverse the trend and bring their teams back to work together in a common physical environment.
Leading trends in SaaS products are seeding across the region. Innovative logistical support across internal functions are an essential element to any considered cost base. But for players in the digital economy, there is huge potential for product development focused on both consumers and b2b.
Typically, the benefits of SaaS business models include:
Scalability and flexibility for ease of upgrade and improvement to support business partners in transition
Lower upfront costs than traditional software licenses
Recurring payments generate predictable cashflow
Customer retention fuelled by ease of use and the value of the service
There are challenges, not least in the areas of security, logistics and cost of data storage. The range of opportunities undoubtedly is narrowing as the space becomes more crowded. But equally there is still room for innovation and valuable First/Early to Market advantages remain strong for those with the imagination and drive to dive in.
Source: ME Digital Group
Comments