Post Link: 3 Reasons Why SaaS is the Obvious Choice for Mid-Market Wholesalers

3 Reasons Why SaaS is the Obvious Choice for Mid-MarketWholesalers

According to the 2015 Middle Market Power Index published by American Express, mid-marketcompanies, defined broadly as companies with between $10 million and $1 billion in annualrevenue, have created 92% of net new jobs since 2008. In a recent HSBC report, it was foundthat mid-market firms contributed $1.7 trillion in economic output in the United States alone.Says Derrick Ragland, Executive VP and Head of US Middle Market Corporate Banking forHSBC Bank USA, “Middle market companies tend to be highly productive, contributing more toGDP for each employee than other segments."

Among the 55,700 U.S. companies in the mid-market, wholesale and retail firms account for alarge chunk––25%, according to the Middle Market Power Index.

But while wholesale companies in this segment are on the rise, they have their fair share ofchallenges, notably in the realm of technology. According to Venture Beat, “The mid-market isstill extremely fragmented, served by a multitude of highly specific software solutions for certainbusiness types....Additionally, many vendors in this mid-market segment target specificgeographic regions due to the complexity of their solutions and limited sales resources.”

Increasingly, however, mid-market firms, including wholesalers, are reaching for a much moreflexible, modern approach to their technology needs, and Software as a Service, or SaaS, maybe the catalyst for the segment’s continued growth. Here are a few reasons why SaaS is a no-

brainer for any mid-market wholesale brand.

Why SaaS Makes Sense:

1. Low-Cost, Low-Risk

Traditional enterprise software is purchased and installed on-premise on the user’s ownservers. They are large up-front investments, and often difficult and expensive to maintain overtime, requiring significant internal IT resources.

By contrast, SaaS is defined simply as a software distribution model that involves softwarethat’s hosted and maintained by a vendor, run in the cloud, and essentially “rented” to the user.As such, these solutions enable rapid time-to-value and require a smaller initial investment.

Because the vendor is responsible for any maintenance, updates, infrastructure, backups, etc.,the total cost of ownership is significantly reduced. This is especially attractive for mid-marketwholesale companies, who may not have as extensive an amount of resources to expend on ITmanagement as their enterprise counterparts. Indeed, in a fast-growing company, businesscomplexity can quickly outpace available IT resources.

2. SaaS Helps Mid-Market Enterprises Scale More Easily

Many mid-market companies have technology needs just as robust as those of largeenterprises. They are, however, much more agile, and can therefore “benefit disproportionately”from the flexibility that SaaS has to offer, says Venture Beat.

For instance, because SaaS vendors allow companies to cede the responsibility of allmaintenance and future updates, such software is infinitely more scalable. A great SaaS vendoris one that accommodates a company’s rapid growth without breaking stride. It’s future-proof,constantly improving and perhaps already serving much larger customers.

In fact, because such solutions tend to streamline business processes and free up internalresources, SaaS software can actually engender business growth in the mid-market.

3. The Pressure to Provide an Optimal User Experience

In our world of smartphones, tablets, apps, and incredibly intuitive interfaces in our consumerlives, the workforce is looking for similarly simple experiences at work. People want businesssoftware that is easy to use, which is not a phrase generally applied to clunky enterprisesoftware. Underlying that fact is the reality that companies are expected to deliver results moreefficiently than ever before––with fewer resources.

As information moves to the cloud and technology goes mobile, there is therefore significantpressure for businesses to streamline and modernize their software systems. The advantage ofSaaS solutions, is that they were often developed with the user in mind. Vendors seek to maketheir offerings as easy to implement as possible, and they’re constantly improving the overall

user experience.

Ultimately, SaaS solutions are the obvious choice for companies in the mid-market, who havethe business complexity that requires robust solutions, as well as the relative resource scarcitythat begs for a fast implementation––and even faster dividends.Post originally located at: https://www.handshake.com/blog/why-saas-mid-market-wholesalers/

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