Typical SaaS Application Types
At Scio Consulting we have found that most SaaS Application Development projects fall in one of three main categories:
| Starter App |
This is typically an application that provides functionality to solve one or just a few problems or needs of the target market. It can be directed to consumers, but more frequently it is targeted to small and medium sized businesses. |
| Standard App |
In general these are applications that provide a Line-of-Business solution to a niche in a specific industry or they are applications that offer a basic, low-cost horizontal solution (CRM, ERP, HRM, etc.). The majority of times they are targeted to businesses instead of consumers. |
| Advanced App |
These are applications that provide an advanced Line-of-Business productivity solution to an industry or a typical horizontal solution. These applications are also mainly targeted to business users and not to consumers |
The table below shows the typical parameters of each of these types of project:
In this comparison all applications include the core architectural and business elements of a complete SaaS product:
| * Multi-tenancy |
* Parameterized Pricing Engine |
| * Scalability |
* Tenant & User Management |
| * Provisioning |
* Metering & Usage / BI |
| * Billing & Payments |
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As with any other type of software, SaaS applications come in all sizes and flavors. Because of this, the budget and time necessary to build a particular SaaS application can vary greatly from project to project. The main factors that influence the cost and schedule of developing a SaaS solution are:
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Application Size |
This is the number of screens, reports, data objects, transactions, etc. that the application will have. |
|
User Interface (UI) Approach |
This refers to the level of effort that is put into creating a customized look and feel and interaction elements. It can range from using a minimalistic UI based on standard HTML, CSS and AJAX to designing a full set of custom UI controls (buttons, icon, grids, etc.) using a Rich Internet Application technology (like Flex, Silverlight or advanced AJAX controls). |
|
Business Logic Complexity |
This refers to the types and volume of calculations, validation and data manipulation that the application will deal with. It can range from having only simple validations for data type and required fields, all the way to performing sophisticated work flow resolution and data processing in high volumes. |
|
Integration Requirements |
This refers to the ability to exchange data on an automated way with other systems and applications. It can range from not having any integration capabilities to exposing a comprehensive API and having automated triggers to push and pull data to and from other systems. |
|
Globalization Requirements |
This refers to the ability to support multiple languages and multiple currencies. |
|
Device/Hardware Support |
This refers to the ability that an application has to connect with non-standard devices or hardware, like meters in a production line, proprietary hand-held devices, etc. |
|
Application Criticality and Reliability Requirements |
This refers to the degree to which customers depend on the availability and performance of the application. It ranges from applications that are used sporadically for non-core business tasks, all the way to applications that enable mission critical, high-volume, high-value transactions. The more critical an application is for customers, the greater redundancy, performance and contingency provisions will be needed. |
Would you like to know how much your SaaS Application Development costs would be? Please fill our Project Scoping Request or call us at 1 800 642 6143 to get started.
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