I am really taken aback at the SAAS vs the rest debate in terms of the sheer audacity of the SAAS proponents that anything non-SAAS is dead, almost.  So let me take the opportunity to ruffle their feathers by saying that SAAS is nothing more than a refined version of the earlier mainframe model where it was too expensive to own and hence people paid for their usage in terms of time.  It has come a full circle via desktop and client server computing.

Having said that, let me share my point of view by relating the debate to a situation that I’m very familiar with.  For those who do not know us (there will be many I’m sure), NRich Software (www.nrichsoft.in) makes and sells Personal Finance Software products.  These are offline products in the sense that users do not need any internet connection at all to use the software.  Not only are we selling an offline software, we also use pretty offline methods to sell them.  Why we are doing this is a subject matter for another discussion.

We offer 2 means for our customers to get our products.  In the language that we all understand, one is Pre-Paid and the other is Post-Paid.  In the Pre-Paid option, the customer pays into our accounts in select banks by means of cash, cheque or fund transfer and once we receive the confirmation, we courier the product to them.

In the Post-Paid mode, the customers mention their address in their order and we send the software by VPP (Value Payable Post) a service offered by India post better understood as COD (Cash on Delivery).  If the customer honors the order and pays the cash to the postman, he gets the software and we get our money after a few days.  If he doesn’t or is unable to receive it, the package comes back to us after a fortnight or so.

Is VPP better or courier better?  There is no correct answer.  For some, VPP might be suitable and for others the prepaid option will be preferable.  For us, the prepaid option is better because the costs are (sometimes) lower, we have the money upfront and we do not have to wait for 10 days or so to know if the order was accepted by the customer.  But our convenience is not our consideration.  If our customers want it, we will provide it.

When we first offered the Pre-Paid option, we thought it was an obvious choice and that people would not think of VPP given a higher cost for them (Rs.50 extra for the service payable to India Post).  We were baffled when we continued to receive VPP orders and we did ask some of our customers on why they want to pay more. Their answer “They did not want to or have the time to go the bank to make the payment.  For some, the bank was too far to make the effort.  Some wanted to be doubly sure that they get something before they part with the money.  Hence they opted for the VPP option.  We have even had people from places like Coimbatore, Erode, Bangalore etc who come to our office whenever they visit Chennai, pay cash and take the software.  Customers come in all sizes and flavours, don’t they?

I can hear you screaming “Come to the point will you?” and I will do that now (if you had got it, I made my point already, albeit subtly)

SAAS and non-SAAS, imho, are only means of fulfilling a latent or explicit customer need.  There are advantages and drawbacks as well in both.  Some of us have chosen the SAAS bandwagon and some haven’t.

If our choice is based on our convenience and our internal considerations, we are in for a rude shock in the market place.  But if our model delivers value to the customers and addresses their limitations, then it might take a while to take off but once it does, there is no stopping.

I am neither a SAAS bigot nor protagonist but merely customer-fanatic.