SaaS Cloud-based Application Development

Currently, SaaS solutions are considered to be three times more used than PaaS and IaaS apps. The development of SaaS solutions enables your business to evolve and grow, promote your brand in the modern market and increase your income.

Here are the main types of SaaS application development used within many businesses:

• White label development
• CRMERP
• Marketing solution
• Cloud-based real estate software solutions
• Financial planning software development
• Collaboration tools
• Project management apps
• BI tools

However, before entering the SaaS market or migrating your existing business software to the SaaS model it is vital to learn about all of the benefits and potential pitfalls that this type of software brings. As well as what to expect from the development flow; in other words, this article is precisely focused on a complete market survey of cloud-based SaaS app development.

Saas app development trends

The SaaS market will reach $140 million by 2022, surpassing its nearest rivals – IaaS and PaaS almost twofold twice in terms of revenue.

Gartner

Artificial Intelligence

Well, this trend is quite predictable as Artificial Intelligence is currently spreading like wildfire in plenty of technologies, areas, and industries, bringing different benefits and opportunities to each of them. So what does AI introduce and add to the SaaS application development besides automation of some processes within the system? AI enables an analysis of each user`s activities and their needs in order to provide personalized functionality for each of your customers.

Additionally, AI in cooperation with machine learning not only checks the interaction with your SaaS solution but also is able to predict future steps or behavior of your users. A chatbot is the first step towards adopting Artificial Intelligence that is responsible for providing constant support for customers and recording all their feedback that is useful for future upgrades.

Going Mobile

These days literally everything is turning online and SaaS software is not an exception. Modern people want to have access to their job, documents, etc. from everywhere, not only offices or home laptops but from the convenience of their smartphones, which are at their fingertips.

Talking about the SaaS application, the mobile version development is quite challenging as it has to be easy-to-use, have an intuitive and comfortable design, and have all important functions available.

Blockchain

Blockchain is applied in that many areas, so there is no escape for SaaS development as well. Transparency and reliability are two core decisive factors in selecting a SaaS app provider.

Blockchain technology provides decentralized databases for SaaS solutions that give a higher level of protection from fraud and data leakage. Consequently, it provides your customers with unrivaled reliability and security that leads to choosing your SaaS product and a great customer experience.

Vertical SaaS model

The vertical SaaS model is preceding the horizontal version of this software. The reason for this is that a vertical SaaS solution enables covering all processes of your software considering the particular needs of your company and industry so that you can offer a 100% suitable SaaS solution to your future customers.

Open API

This trend is only on the threshold of being a breakthrough model and is only used in a small number of SaaS solutions for now. Open API allows your users to integrate your SaaS app with the APIs their company requires in order to enhance business productivity. Actually, it splits your SaaS solution into different parts of functionality and each user can choose which parts correspond to the needs of their organizations more.

How to develop a SaaS application?

Altamira as a SaaS product development company with wide expertise in developing this type of software provides full-cycle software development of the SaaS application from scratch, but can also ameliorate existing SaaS solutions with modern technologies or migrate your business software from on-premise to the cloud-based SaaS model as well. Here is our flow of the SaaS application development process where each stage is important, to say the least.

Discovery stage 

• Gather requirements for your solution or analyze the existing one to see where and how to phase in improvements
• Select the appropriate SaaS app architecture

Product design

• Intuitive and modern concept suitable for different users considering the target audience and their needs

Development and testing

• Write clean code due to actually create the needed functionality
• Conduct tests to reveal any bugs or errors before the end product release

Release and maintenance

Software products need regular reviews and updates based on these reviews and users` feedback. We provide our clients with different packages of maintenance services depending on the scope of your project.

Cost of the SaaS application development 

Developing a SaaS prototype cost starts from $100,000, so we would like to present you with more details about the team line-up and a breakdown of the cost of such a product based on the current going rates.

How to migrate your existing app to a SaaS model?

The tendency to migrate from on-premise business apps to SaaS applications is growing and picking up steam. The reasons for this are many and different people see different benefits from it – some want to earn more, while others want to deliver a specific range of services for their customers, migrate to the cloud, and so on.

The process of migrating to SaaS solutions carries many risks and considerations – ranging from technical aspects to business management concerns. Hence, here is a compilation of the vital steps you need to consider and take in case you decide to migrate your existing business software to the SaaS development model.

A precise plan is pivotal

Migration to SaaS is not a one-day process and each step in it should be well-considered and consistent not to miss the important details. It is advisable to split the project into several sprints to define the core requirements for your SaaS app.

Choose the appropriate app architecture

The architecture of your SaaS application development partially depends on the range of services your solution will actually hold. The SaaS software commonly consists of several tiers, each of which is submitted to the higher one. To have a clearer picture of the SaaS app construction, have a look at the picture below, this is a simple diagram illustrating how a SaaS solution can be arranged.

Choose the right migration model

Besides the architecture, you should also choose a suitable migration model so that the development process flows as smoothly as possible. But the good news is that this task is not a challenge for the development team at all, as your business specifics and needs will determine the right migration model for your situation.

Basically, there exist three different types of migration models:

• Single-tenant – each user of your SaaS application development gets the option to customize the solution, enjoy high-level data security and have access to specialized server
• Multi-tenant – your SaaS app consists of several consistent layers meaning the design remain single-tenant but the migration flows frequently
• Data migration – it implies multi-tenant data storage but all other layers are single-tenant.

Consider the micro-processes within your company

Details matter a lot in the SaaS migration process. Your huge goals are important but you have to start from the tiny processes within your organization. As we have already mentioned the SaaS migration is an incremental process that requires low speed and thorough attention so that the final result would be right as you expected it to be.

It is crucial to preserve the balance between your business needs and growth and the technical development of your business software.

Database selection

During the transition process, it is vital to retain a high level of data security for customers in the cloud, as this type of software will be new for your clients just as it is for your company and its employees.

Statista reports that while the number of SaaS workloads is expected to reach 380 million this year, the number of IaaS and PaaS workloads combined won’t reach even half of this.

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Technical and Non-Technical Aspects of a SaaS Application

Cloud-based SaaS application development requires specific ranges of technical and non-technical options, some of them are obvious for any SaaS solution, some of them are variable depending on the specifications of your case.

We created a compilation of general requirements for SaaS custom development which your technical partner should define and consider regardless of your industry and company specifics.

Technical requirements 

Database

The type depends on the needs of your business. The first and main condition is security to protect your customer data from leakages and only then come size and other factors. Basically, the choice of the database depends on the following features:

• Type of data
• Expected speed
• Scalability and flexibility
• Pricing
• Programming language

Scalability

This is a must-have for SaaS solutions to provide high-quality services of the solution for each and every user despite their number. Widening should be available anytime you need it.

Hardware update

Based on users` feedback, you need to constantly update your SaaS app to keep up with the market and correspond to the expectations and requirements of your customers.

API integrations

Think of what third-party integration would be worthy for your SaaS solution, meaning the integration with other business management tools widely used today.

Non-technical requirements 

Technical requirements are obviously vital and define the quality of the services your SaaS app offers. However, not only those functions are important to consider as your SaaS solution can have the cleanest code ever but not be demand-driven.

But we recommend that you don’t fall into despair and take a closer approach to the following non-technical requirements to SaaS application development.

Altamira experience in SaaS app development

Due to the Altamira extensive experience in developing custom SaaS applications for different businesses and purposes, we had cases of developing SaaS software from scratch for small companies or startups as well as migrating existing business software to the SaaS model (which is more common for middle and large business companies that already have an established reputation on the market).

Hence, we offer you to get acquainted with the SaaS apple that was successfully developed and delivered to a client by the Altamira development team.

Visual Roadmap

Visual Roadmap is the SaaS business software of a collaboration type that is a management tool that provides the option of collaborative access to the company’s projects. The feature set includes:

• Strategic planning of the project and tracking the progress of its execution
• Real-time workflow monitoring
• Feedback from teammates
• Customization to a particular project
• Sharing or presenting the roadmaps and other docs
• Integration with PM apps
• Google services integration

Goods retailer

Retail always has been and is today a rapidly growing and developing industry and our SaaS development team gets numerous requests on custom software development from retailers or retail-related businesses.

A current client of ours cooperates with worldwide marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and others. They have already had the ready SaaS solution that requires extending and upgrading its functionality. The list of updates is as follows:

• Digitalization of purchasing flow
• API to provide connectivity with Omni portal
• Expand the number of users 
• Compatibility with 3rd-party apps

Propstech

It is a collaboration SaaS solution that is tasked with automating the rental process for tenants, property owners, and real estate managers. Among the options that the company wanted to be integrated are:

• Online property management
• Optimization of the complaint management process
• Online payment for rent and other services
• Facilitating virtual communication between tenants, owners, and property managers

Resume Lift

Resume Lift is a project management SaaS platform developed by the Altamira team whose purpose is to help users promptly find jobs. Features include:

• Resume builder
• Consultation with leading recruiters
• Help with cover letters
• Interview appointment 
• Recommendations on training and certifications

Jobactivator

Jobactivator is a SaaS platform that helps users to find jobs or to find employees. The functionality can be divided into 2 sides we described below.

Features for employees:

• Projection of the career path
• Resume builder
• A quick and precise match of the resume and vacancy
• Referral/redirection to the learning platform for skills improvement

Features for employers:

• Vacancy posting/announcement
• Adding courses and training for continued learning
• Search for the required specialists

Metro Gaming System

Metro Gaming System is the SaaS-based online casino that is the digital version of the offline casino network owned by our client. They had no digital platform before the quarantine, so their main goals were:

• To create an admin panel to manage the user activities
• Generate statistics
• Provision scalability
• Create a client database
• Have the website have an adaptive interface

Altamira is your trusted technical vendor

For the past 10 years, Altamira has built the name of the modern outsourcing software development partner achieving leading positions among foreign clients and gaining numerous awards for top-notch services. Our team boasts relevant experience in building custom and secure business solutions for the purpose of digitizing the companies and enhancing their capacities and growth in the area.

We have all available resources and technical proficiency to start building your SaaS solution or offer your SaaS development consulting to build the plan of migrating your business app to the SaaS model.