The SaaS model has a number of advantages over conventional, self-operated PC-based technology and in-store systems linked by dial-up connections. Among them are the following:
- Manage your business from anywhere, anytime on the web. You do not need to be in your store to manage your business. You can add new items, change pricing, put items on sale and take items off sale at a press of a button from anywhere and anytime
- Lower up-front capital expenditures for software and installation services, because SaaS customers "subscribe" to applications rather than buy them. SaaS subscription rates often are based on different level of the product and the number of remote terminals that customers use to access those programs.
- Lower initial capital costs for hardware, because MTI data centers hosting powerful master Servers, permit the use in the field of less complex, less costly computer terminals, some of which need only run Web-browser software. Any of your old computers running Windows operating system works.
- Faster and cheaper software upgrades, because changes need only be made to MTI servers eliminating the need to load revised applications to every terminal in every store.
- In Multi-Store chains, real time or near-real time access to store and enterprise wide sales, inventory and other important data, because that information is stored from the start in centralized databases. Such centralized data storage eliminates the need for remote polling systems that typically only collect and aggregate store-level data once, or a handful of times, daily.
- Easier data-backup and disaster recovery procedures, thanks to centralized storage.
In some circles, the theory is that companies might be less interested in SaaS, because they would rather maintain internal IT departments. For large companies, with larger operating capital, this might be true. For the most part, however, is not necessarily true in the case of small to medium sized business. Think about it this way:
What business do you want to be in?
Did you decide to go into the Retail business or did you decide that you wanted to be in the IT business? Unless you are a very large company, you probably would not want to assign a substantial part of your staff to the tasks of supporting your retail system, on-line and store sales and inventory management systems. You'd rather be making sales, not managing infrastructure decisions such as:
- Where is the redundancy in your current system?
- What happens if lightning strikes your building?
- What does your wide area network look like?
- Can you afford the latest applications?
- Do you have the capital budget to continue to upgrade systems and software?
- Do you have the available skills in-house to take on this project in the timeline required?
By using an SaaS model, the implementation cycle is shortened. Extending IT support to new stores is simplified. Even your businesses’ bottom line is positively affected, when you are able to seize growth opportunities more rapidly than you would otherwise be able to.
Advantages to the SaaS model
One of the main benefits to receiving software via an SaaS is not having to maintain an in-house IT staff. With knowledgeable, skilled IT professionals a challenge to find and retain, it can be tempting to delegate staffing headaches to MTI which offers highly trained and skilled technical staff.
SaaS can help organizations stay current with software trends and upgrades. MTI provides upgrade constantly, your system will always be up to date with the latest technology.
SaaS can also offer considerable up front cost savings, especially for newer cash poor businesses. Many software applications would be cost prohibitive if an organization had to pay hefty initial licensing fees, but can be more easily budgeted for with a set monthly payment.
MTI offers guaranteed service levels or up time (see Service Level Agreements below), assuring higher performance than might otherwise be achieved.
MTI™ and SaaS
In a traditional retail point of sale environment, the registers in a store are connected to a master store server, which holds pricing and inventory data. While common, this can pose a possible point of failure: what if disaster strikes the store?
In a pure SaaS environment, the master store MTI™ server is removed from the store and hosted at MTI. Individual registers connect to this server, usually via the Internet, and remain connected during the business day. This affords the most flexibility in disaster recovery, and software upgrades and troubleshooting can be performed directly by MTI™ without customer intervention being necessary.
This is, of course, not necessarily the only method and model of SaaS hosting, and if you wish you may contact MTI™ for more information here. An SaaS Consultant will contact you within one business day to discuss your needs and recommend a solution that suits your business requirements.
What to look for in a SaaS Solution:
Redundancy is very important to ensure that floods, earthquakes and other natural disasters do not spell disaster to end-users hundreds of miles away. SaaS with multiple data centers can store backed up data at another site and restore lost data when necessary. Some of our customers have gone so far as to purchase their own back up servers or to own the servers hosted by MTI.
Customization is another issue to consider when choosing an SaaS vendor. MTI will customize the product for chain store with the required budgets. A long-term contract is usually needed to make the arrangement worthwhile to both parties since custom programming is costly. As with any software proposal, time and expenses related to modifications should be agreed to in advance as part of the contract.
Service Level Agreements (SLAs)
The SLA (or Service Level Agreement) is a contract between MTI and end user that covers allowable downtime, security issues, connection speed, bug resolution and other performance areas.
Please contact our office for further information.
