Is it time to focus on your B2B SaaS Application?

We are undergoing a digital revolution. These unprecedented times have certainly seen a surge in digital dependency. And thus, there is a massive surge in demand for B2B SaaS products. 

SaaS products like Zoom, Slack, Cisco Webex, Salesforce, and many more tools are widespread in the current digital market. But, as a product owner, one question arises frequently, is it time to focus on another B2B SaaS solution? How can the new product make a mark in the already crowded market? Well. let’s dwell deeper…

What does the research say?

A survey conducted by McKinsey and Company about the impact of COVID-19 on Global decision-makers responses clarifies the place of SaaS amidst the global pandemic. Here are the conclusions I drew from the survey:

• Digital self-service has turned out to be the new dominant element with which the tide has turned.
• 90% of the B2B decision-makers expect the new model as or more effective than the pre-COVID model
• Indications prevail not to count on returning to the normal and accept the new-normal (models)
• 90% of the decision-makers believe that the newness is here to stay
• 97% of the buyers are comfortable to spend $50K or more online to purchase a digital self-serve model

Gartner has anticipated that the SaaS solutions are going to generate a revenue of approximately $105 billion in 2020. This number is almost $20 billion more than in 2019. We can attribute this manifold increase in the demand and revenue to the pivotal transformation towards remote working. 

The answer to the coveted question:

SaaS has been leading the cloud solution list for a long time due to its ease of adoption. Looking at the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) projections, SaaS is expecting a good 12% growth in the year 2020 and beyond.

Considering the profitable recompense, and the growing demand due to the significant shift towards the digital self-service products and remote working environment; I say, “Yes, it is the right time for the question in focus”.

However, when the blurring boundaries between SaaS and application design still need definition; it is essential to enforce UI consistency that would aid us in, efficient designing and testing procedures. That’s where these 5 design strategies for the B2B SaaS platform can help.  

B2B SaaS product trends:

So, what are trends that are currently working in the B2B SaaS scenario? Here is a list of 5 trends that we have been observing across the industry:

Design Trends:

Long gone are days where extravagant designs and elaborate complex fonts were thought to be attractive. With the growth in digitization, we have progressed towards an era where clients and users prefer a simple and minimalistic approach and view. The most desirable attribute of any application and intention indicated through its design is that the proposed software or application is effective and simple.

Here are a few points that would help you summarise the gist of designing trends.

• A minimalistic approach which primarily involves the merger of the two-color palette and another accent color.
• Sharp but minimal and simple logos
• Valiant value proposition
• The clean font in a fortifying UI
• Illustrations and videos for a better user experience

Shifting towards Intelligent system through AI & ML:

Artificial intelligence and machine learning have become the central asset that rigorously helps in targeting, acquiring, and retaining clients. These game-changing technologies target clients by providing better products and customizable personalized services. Being one of the top business intelligence technologies, this autonomous and self-learning variety has been enhancing the responsiveness and interaction between customer, business, and technology.

To summarize the section, AI/ML optimized SaaS applications can help improve in the four important areas; Automation, Personalization, Speed, and Security. Essentially, they can help create a better and rewarding user experience. 

Vertical SaaS:

Customizations considering the user flow have become a dire necessity. Additionally, they are a desirable feature in the new-age digital products and smart markets. And, while horizontal SaaS is determined towards clients of various sectors, Vertical SaaS is the one that targets specific clients from a defined sector, industry, or supply chain.

In most cases, this customization helps companies who tend to get benefits from specialized sectors. Vertical SaaS enables adaptation scenarios according to the client/user demand. It helps in proper and definite addressal of a client’s need within the provider’s niche. 

Mobiles are ubiquitous:

In a transformative age where almost every individual around the nooks and corners of the world are accessible irrespective of the time of geographical conditions, it becomes an important factor that shall drive and shape the future of SaaS applications. B2B SaaS applications are easy to adapt to the mobile-first mentality. And, the mobile will obviously be a suitable and preferable host. 

API & Integrations:

For years now, the Application Programming Interface has been a primary asset of the developmental software lifecycle. In such a scenario it is worth the mental turbulence that there is a growing need for API connections to integrate the solutions provided by SaaS into an existing business system.

But in the process, there were failures when the vendor wanted to completely move and integrate into the cloud. Thus, vendors started having dependencies with third-party APIs which would reward them with time and save cost on resources.

However, this proves a major factor that indicates the vendor falling short of the client requirement. Thus, provisioning of integration and of greater capabilities in integration is a huge boon to vendors, thus making API connections a preferable trend to follow.

What’s next?

The growth of the SaaS industry is expected to keep pace with what it has gained, after all its 2022. And, it is not going to cease anytime soon. The recent growth, trends, and statistics denote a flourishing future for the SaaS enterprise throughout this decade considering the Digitization happening around the world. SaaS has efficiently enabled adaptation and accommodation into a new transformation. Thus, let’s start focussing and venturing new heights of the SaaS industry.

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