SaaS Trends : Opportunities and Challenges of SaaS Industry 2023

Covid Pandemic was disastrous in its wake. While many businesses shut down and industries came to a halt, few industries also benefited from it. One such industry has been the SaaS industry. SaaS or Software as a service, has grown from $31.4 billion to an estimated $1670 billion industry in 2023. That equates to over 500% growth in just 7 years! With size and potential so big it is safe to say that SaaS is the future. Best Software as a service examples include Hubspot, Salesforce, and even OTT giant netflix.

What does SaaS stand for?

As the name suggests, SaaS provides a complete software solution that businesses can avail and use on a pay-as-you-go basis from a cloud provider. When a company wants to use software all they need to do is connect to a cloud provider organisation, and access the software over the Internet, usually with the help of a web browser. The company can access infrastructure, middleware, app software, and app data that are located in the service provider’s database. The SaaS company manages the hardware and software, both will ensure that the software runs smoothly and securely. The company offering SaaS is also responsible for all client and customer data. SaaS was first introduced for small and medium enterprises who had neither the purchasing power of bigger softwares nor its use. SaaS software instead can be set up quickly at a minimal upfront cost and is an economic option for small businesses.

SaaS Opportunities and Trends of 2023

SaaS technology is constantly evolving and growing at a rapid pace. Each year we witness innovative trends becoming popular amongst the SaaS industry. The cutting edge solutions are proving to boost businesses and their revenues. 2022 saw some of the best haul of SaaS trends. Here is a list of expected SaaS trends for 2023 which can be great opportunities for SaaS development.

Artificial intelligence

Ever since Chat GPT was introduced in November 2022, it has become very evident that artificial intelligence was here to stay. ChatGPT is an artificial intelligent chatbot which was introduced by OpenAI and has quickly become a crowd favourite. Artificial intelligence is considered as revolutionary as the discovery of fire and electricity and is bound to be a part of our daily lives in the coming years. Some of the benefits that AI delivers includes :

• Personalisation: AI helps businesses enhance customer experience by tailoring services and products with the help of past purchases and preferences of the customer.
• Security : AI enabled automation helps recognize patterns which enhances security of the service and client data by instantaneous identification and remedy of potential threats with the help of built-in self-recovery.
• Speed : SaaS promises speedy product delivery and fast internal processes for the users and clients. AI reduces response time considerably and eases work processes.
• Precise Predictions: With the help of existing customer studies and preferences , AI helps make precise predictions of customer behaviour and their inclinations. This brings the company one step closer to its clientele and enhances customer service.

Machine Learning

Artificial Intelligence that focuses on its learning capabilities and processing data with the help of existing patterns is called Machine Learning. Machine Learning in Saas comes with multitudes of uses. Some of them are:

• Machine Learning helps the platform to map customer’s existing habits and preferences enabling businesses to tailor products and services unique to each customer.
• Helps organise numerous insights to help companies optimise their offerings and market positionings;
• Makes all internal communication flawless and operations effective;
• Encourages the users/customers to engage more ;
• Promises superior data security with advanced tools;

One of the leading SaaS products that showcases the power of Machine Learning is Salesforce. Hailed as the world’s leading and most powerful CRM, Salesforce helps identify patterns in customer behaviour that are usually undetectable to the human eye. Machine Learning helps technology become humane and versatile.

Data as a service

Data as a service (DaaS) is an up and coming cloud computing model that delivers data storage, helps with software integration, processing, and/or analytics services, all via a network connection. DaaS is similar to software as a service, or SaaS, as both deliver applications to consumers over the internet, rather than having to get the software and maintain it. Basically where SaaS makes software accessible over the internet, DaaS outsources most data storage, integration, and processing operations to the cloud.

Inexpensive cloud storage and bandwidth have nowadays allowed DaaS to be just as popular as SaaS. Combined with cloud based platforms, large scale data holding infrastructure and state of the art processing facilities has made DaaS just as practical and beneficial as SaaS.

SaaS Superapps

Yet another great invention of the era is the SaaS superapps. A superapp is an app that provides its users a set of important features along with access to independently created smaller apps. A superapp delivers these smaller applications in an ecosystem wherein users can choose for personalised app experiences. Superapp comes with many benefits including significantly reducing friction and enhancing the smooth digital experience for a business. Such a creative and cohesive platform is very flexible in switching from older versions of apps to new upgraded versions while retaining user engagement and faith.

Superapps have also proven to be given high ROI’s and are more popular amongst the masses for the convenience they provide.

Demand for Low code capabilities

According to a recent survey by Gartner, the worldwide market for low-code development technologies is projected to total $26.9 billion in 2023, an increase of 19.6% from 2022. This is a clear indication of inclination towards low code technologies worldwide. Low-code technology helps fill the IT talent gap because it allows virtually anyone to be a developer. Technologies such as low-code and no-code platforms automate highly customised automation workflows speedily and help workers accomplish tasks in minimum time possible.

The Growing Need for API Connections

The API (Application Programming Interface) has been very crucial for software development. What is API? Well, API is a type of software interface which offers services to other pieces of software and an API specification is a document that describes how to build or use such a software interface. API is being called as the next big SaaS wave sure to influence most if not all industries. API’s help simplify complex codes which in turn makes it easier for customers to integrate them. While SaaS laid the foundation for outsourcing software, APIs became the next step for the easiest integrations for the same.

Challenges of SaaS

Despite the SaaS trends catching on like wildfire there are quite a many challenges that the SaaS industry will have to witness. Few of them are:

• Market Saturation: There are countless SaaS products already in the market. To create a niche is and will be a herculean task.
• Businesses are reimagining the workforce and workflow, SaaS products will have to be flexible enough to meet evolving needs and team compositions.
• Even easier integrations are being demanded and SaaS must evolve to cater to these demands.
• Ever changing privacy and compliance policies for SaaS business.

Conclusion

The SaaS market is future ready. With seamless benefits and creative, flexible deliverables, SaaS is bound to grow manifold. Despite the challenges, SaaS will soon have penetrated every major industry, market and community! The SaaS environment is one of the most accessible, scalable and pocket-friendly computing models out there and is proving its mettle in the software market.