Software as a Service becoming more nimble
One of the biggest knocks against Software as a Service has been its uniform approach to web-based software solutions that has limited the amount of customization available to individual firms.
By: Ryan Schuster, Prairie Business Magazine

One of the biggest knocks against Software as a Service has been its uniform approach to web-based software solutions that has limited the amount of customization available to individual firms.

Companies seeking a high degree of specialization have traditionally avoided SaaS in favor of custom on-premise software solutions. But that appears to be slowly changing.The Software as a Service business model of large providers like Salesforce.com and NetSuite has been able to offer affordable web-based applications. But in order for the service to be cost effective, software companies and vendors have needed large numbers of customers. As a result, mass market applications have mostly lacked customization.

“It is a multi-tenant server,” says Charles Babcock, an editor at large at InformationWeek. “You’re going to get the same application as all the users. Is this application the best fit for your company? It is the same at its core, but there are some things that you can do to customize it. Salesforce.com has done a lot to customize for high-end customers, but in most cases what you see is what you get.”

Paul Ten Haken’s Sioux Falls-based Click Rain online marketing firm uses a web-based project management software that he says has greatly improved efficiency. But Ten Haken says he wishes it had a way to track the number of total hours spent on a project by employees.

“Our project management tool doesn’t have great time reporting,” he says. “But that’s SaaS. The model is more on quantity and less on customization.”

But more customization is starting to become available for online users, from industry specific and more niche product offerings to firms that specialize in building customizable SaaS solutions for clients.

Minot-based Albertson Consulting Inc., a full-service software engineering and consulting services firm, has created its own proprietary software on 10 distinct platforms for different sectors ranging from the petroleum industry, regulatory boards, association management and banking to real estate. The 10 licensable platforms can be customized for each individual client. Unlike most SaaS providers, the company’s online solutions can be adapted at the individual customer level before or after going live. Changes also don’t need to be rolled out to all customers.

“Ours is not a cookie cutter solution,” says Dan Albertson, the firm’s owner and president. “We will work with the company to modify the software to fit their needs.”
Minneapolis-based SPS Commerce, a leading provider of on-demand supply chain management SaaS solutions, has developed a specific niche. The company has built a multi-tenant online software application that helps suppliers navigate the complexities of selling products to Minneapolis-based retail giant Target.

While the firm offers the same core software to all of its roughly 300 users, the appearance of the program can be adjusted. Customers can also ask for modifications that are automatically made for all users if they are adopted. “Software as a Service is evolving and changing,” says Archie Black, the company’s president and CEO.

DataSync Suite’s open source software allows customers of the Sioux Falls company to modify the software themselves.

“Software is becoming more collaborative,” says Mike Vetter, DataSync’s CEO. “You used to just purchase software from a provider and you couldn’t modify it at all. But with our model you can have a customized SaaS solution without having to purchase custom software.”