The Need

ISVs with premise-based applications in the market have a very special set of needs. Very few can afford to leave their existing customer base behind. Their marketing, sales and support teams are not well suited to the SaaS environment. Their development team may not be able to quickly transition what an On-Demand application requires. And although they understand their market space very well, SaaS may present new market opportunities that must be integrated into the product.

In short – the changing nature of the market for applications is forcing many ISVs to consider SaaS products, but getting involved in a SaaS can take them away from their core business and existing customers in a dangerous way.

The Solution

Outsourcing is an obvious choice, but in new technologies like SaaS – finding an experienced partner is key. Scio was developing SaaS and On-Demand products before the names for them were widely adopted. Scio offers a range of services, but for ISVs moving to SaaS, our targeted assessment services are an especially important offering to consider. These short, planned engagements can help you assess your needs and make informed decisions on what is core to your business and you must retain in house, and where you can benefit from outside services that are still closely integrated with your team.

Our Approach

All our services are available as you need, but the core services we offer for ISVs moving to SaaS products are:

• Design Reviews – There are several areas of design that are specific to SaaS applications that are critical to assess before development begins. These short reviews can focus on the elements you need to ensure you have covered all the bases.
• Technical Assessments – We offer a range of technical assessments to help you determine both the value of your existing product in a SaaS context and what will be needed to develop a SaaS product for market.
• Operational Reviews – Will your SaaS application support your backend business operations or just tax them further? Our Operational Reviews help you establish a benchmark for where you are today and what you need to support operations under SaaS. Then, you can design to fill the holes intelligently and leverage your application to automate critical operations that insure customer retention.
• Release Management Reviews – On-Demand products don’t generally take the same approach to release management that licensed products do and the differences can be surprising to your product team if you are not ready for it.
• Team Augmentation – Maybe all you need is just some experienced hands to fill in the spaces while you develop your new product. Our dedicated teams are integrated into your operation more like they are “down the hall” than remote.

Key Value-Added Elements

Scio brings experience from many successful product launches in the SaaS space along with practices and services that you can leverage as needed. We understand the challenges of outsourcing as well as the technology and operations shifts you are undergoing. As a partner, Scio strengthens your product development and your ability to focus on your core business value.

Value Received

• Trained, experienced resources at your fingertips – available when you need them at a price that fits your budget
• Quick, third party assessments of your needs to support your decisions without a commitment for further work
• Flexible staffing that can be ramped up or rolled back as needed with the assurance that there are knowledgeable resources available when you need them
• Experience you can use to help move your team into SaaS products smoothly while you continue your existing business