New information includes:
-
The complete results of our SaaS survey. Over 204 pages of information and responses from publishers detailing how they're selling and marketing SaaS, structuring their services, compensating their sales personnel, managing their infrastructure, developing and updating their product and more!
The SaaS Survey Report Covers:
And much, much more!
The Softletter Software as a Service Handbook is the most up-to-date source of information available today on software publisher's attitudes and best practice approaches to the SaaS tsunami sweeping the industry. If your business is SaaS-based or will be impacted by SaaS, this handbook is a must purchase.
Complete Table of Contents
SaaS Today
The Economics of Subscription Software 8
The New High-Tech “Bubble” (Not the Same as the Old) 11
SaaS In The M&A Arena 14
Comeback Kid: SaaS Comes off the Canvas 15
SaaS Sales Compensation Models: Another Approach 18
ASP/SaaS Pricing Models 23
Complexity and Pricing 26
Building a SaaS Software Pricing Model 29
The Odd Couple: Desktop Software Meets SaaS 31
Timing Disruption 34
The SaaS Channel: A Work in Progress 39
Building a SaaS Channel 42
Licensing Complexity: A SaaS Driver 45
Product Management and SaaS 46
The Codies and Hosted Applications 47
The 2006 CODIES: Impressions and Comments 48
Escrow Agreements in the Age of SaaS 49
Salesforce.com, AppExchange, and the Platform Wars Redux 52
Winning Business Models: Evolve or Die (Adobe), Part I of II 56
Winning Business Models: Evolve or Die (Adobe), Part II of II 57
Winning Business Models: New Products or Markets Often Require New Business Models (SAP) 58
Four Critical Success Factors for Your Products 59
SaaS “Banks”: The Right Solution to Funding Your SaaS Startup? 62
A SAS 70 Audit: Should You Make the Investment? 65
States of Seduction: How to Work with State CIOs 68
The 2008 Softletter SaaS Survey Results
Introduction and Methodologies 72
SaaS Company Profiles and Primary Markets
Results
What are your current yearly revenues? 74
For how many years has your company been selling SaaS systems? 75
What percentage of your gross revenues currently comes from sales of SaaS software? 76
What is your primary market for your SaaS product? 77
What is your primary means of selling your SaaS product? 78
What percentage of your SaaS sales come from international markets? 79
SaaS Feature, Pricing, and Upgrade Options
Does your SaaS product offer more than one level of functionality (for example, Standard vs.
Professional)? 81
If you answered yes to question seven, how many functionality levels do you offer? 82
How often do you push a “major update” of your SaaS product to your customers? 83
Do you charge for major new capabilities when they are introduced into your software? 84
Do you price your SaaS software on the basis of (pick all that apply)? 85
What is the average size of your typical initial sale in seats, users, or projects? 86
How many additional seats, users, or projects do you typically sell to the customer during the twelve
months after the initial sale? 87
What type of payment options do you offer your SaaS customers? 88
If you charge on a per seat or per user basis, approximately how much do you charge for your SaaS
software per month? (Please skip directly to question 16 if you charge on a per project basis.) 89
If you charge on a per project basis, approximately how much do you charge per project on a
monthly basis? 90
How often do you push a “major update” of your SaaS product to your customers?, Companies Under $1M in
Revenue 91
How often do you push a “major update” of your SaaS product to your customers?, Companies $1-$5M in
Revenue 92
How often do you push a “major update” of your SaaS product to your customers?, Companies $5-$10M in
Revenue, 93
How often do you push a “major update” of your SaaS product to your customers?, Companies $10-$99M in
Revenue 94
How often do you push a “major update” of your SaaS product to your customers? Companies $100M+ in
Revenue, 95
How often do you push a “major update” of your
SaaS product to your customers? 96
Do you allow your customers the option of installing your SaaS software behind their own firewall
rather than on your servers? 97
If you answered “Yes” to 20, then please tell us “What percent of your customers choose the option of
installing your SaaS software behind their own firewall rather than on your servers?” 98
Are you using commercial SaaS components or services in developing your SaaS system? 99
Product Architecture and R&D Results
Are all your SaaS customers served by a centralized data architecture (multi-tenancy) or do you have
separate databases for each customer?, Companies Under $1M in
Revenue 101
Are all your SaaS customers served by a centralized data architecture (multi-tenancy) or do you have
separate databases for each customer?, Companies $1-$5M in
Revenue 102
Are all your SaaS customers served by a centralized data architecture (multi-tenancy) or do you have
separate databases for each customer?, Companies $5-$10M in
Revenue, 103
Are all your SaaS customers served by a centralized data architecture (multi-tenancy) or do you have
separate databases for each customer?, Companies $10-$99M in
Revenue 104
Are all your SaaS customers served by a centralized data architecture (multi-tenancy) or do you have
separate databases for each customer?, 105
Are all your SaaS customers served by a centralized data architecture (multi-tenancy) or do you have
separate databases for each customer? 106
Is your SaaS product based on Open Source software? 107
Is your SaaS product based on Open Source software? Companies Under $1M in
Revenue 108
Is your SaaS product based on Open Source software?, Companies $1-$5M in
Revenue 109
Is your SaaS product based on Open Source software?, Companies $100M+ in
Revenue 110
Are you developing a SaaS product on top of a third-party platform such as AppExchange (Force)? 111
If you answered “yes” to question 25 or “no, but we evaluating this option,” please tell us the
platform(s) you are evaluating 112
What % of your overall company revenue is dedicated to research and development? 113
Do you maintain your own hardware infrastructure (servers, storage, security, backup, etc) for your
SaaS system in-house? Or do you outsource this operation? 114
If you are hosting your SaaS product in-house, what percentage of your gross yearly SaaS revenues do
you spend on your SaaS hardware infrastructure? 115
If you are outsourcing the hosting of your SaaS product, what percentage of your gross yearly SaaS
revenues do you expend on the outsourced hosting services supporting your SaaS product? 116
SaaS Privacy and Security
Has your firm undergone a SAS 70 audit? 118
If you answered “yes” to question 32, please tell us what type of SAS audit you have undergone 119
Please tell us the total cost of the Type 1 audit 120
Have you undergone a non-SAS 70 security and privacy audit by a third party? 121
Please tell us the total cost of your non-SAS audit 122
Does your company provide an escrow option for your customers in the event of a service interruption
or your company going out of business? 123
SaaS Resellers and Channels
Alternate Channels
Do you have a recommender program for your SaaS product? 126
Do you resell your SaaS product via an affiliate-label reseller program? 127
Do you resell your SaaS product via an aggregator? 128
Do you resell your SaaS product on an OEM basis? 129
SaaS Resellers and Channels
Regular Channels
Are you reselling your SaaS product via a distributor? 131
Do you have resellers? 132
How many resellers do you have? 133
What is average recurring revenue payment paid to your resellers? 134
Does your reseller program provide a branding option? 135
What types of professional services do your resellers offer their customers (choose one)? 136
What percentage of your total gross SaaS revenues does your channel represent? 137
SaaS Sales Management and Compensation
When and how do you compensate your SaaS sales representatives? 139
When and how do you compensate your SaaS sales representatives?, Companies $1-$5M in
Revenue 140
When and how do you compensate your SaaS sales representatives?, Companies $5-$10M in
Revenue 141
When and how do you compensate your SaaS sales representatives?, Companies $10-$99M in
Revenue 142
Do sales representatives receive additional compensation for incremental sales to existing SaaS
customers? 143
SaaS Sales Direct Sales and Compensation Metrics
Percentage of Direct Sales Personnel Who Achieved Quota Totals 145
Percentage of Direct Sales Reps Exceeding Quota Totals 146
Percentage by Which Direct Sales Reps Exceeded Quota 147
Base Salary for Software Direct Sales Reps 148
Average Yearly Salary for SaaS Direct Sales Reps 149
Median Base Salary for SaaS Direct Sales Reps by Company Development State 150
Median Base Salary for SaaS Direct Sales Reps by Company Revenue 151
Medians of Sales Personnel Achieving Quota by Software Type 152
Medians of SaaS Direct Sales Personnel Achieving Quota by Development Stage 153
Medians of SaaS Direct Sales Personnel Achieving Quota by Company Revenue 154
Medians of Percentage of SaaS Direct Sales Personnel Exceeding Quota by Development Stage 155
SaaS Direct Sales Force Close Rates 156
SaaS Marketing Programs and Opportunities
What do you believe is the primary reason your customers choose a SaaS system? 158
SaaS Marketing Opportunities: Why SaaS Sells
We can sell in markets where no applications are available for customers 160
We can sell to customers who cannot/would not purchase existing applications 161
We can sell to new classes of users or new departments within existing accounts 162
We can sell SaaS to customers replacing desktop or client/server applications 163
Marketing Programs and SaaS
E-mail 166
Direct Mail, 167
Videos 168
Business Blogging 169
Web-based Forums and Communities 170
Customer Concern Surveys 171
Webinars 172
Web Collaterals 173
Print Collaterals 174
Print Advertising 175
Public Relations 176
Public Relations 177
Web-Based Advertising 178
Search Engine Placement 179
Search Engine Keyword Purchase 180
Who are the analysts most likely to influence purchases of your product 181
Please tell us what percentage of your overall gross revenues is spent on your SaaS marketing
activities 182
SaaS Initial and Professional Services
SaaS Initial Services
How do you charge for initial deployment services (these include training, application testing, and
deployment)? 185
If you answered “We charge up front” to question 100, please tell us “What % of your SaaS revenue
is derived from the sale of initial deployment services?” 186
SaaS Initial and Professional Services
SaaS Professional Services
Do you have a professional services group? 188
What service options does your professional services group offer 189
What percentage of an average sale over 12 months of your SaaS system can be attributed to revenue
generated by your professional services? 190
What are your plans for your professional service group? 191
Product Management and SaaS
Does your company implement “Agile”methodologies in its R&D? 193
Does your company employ product managers? 194
The Impact of SaaS on Product Management
Methodologies and Practices
Develop MRDs 197
Develop PRDs 198
Requirements development . 199
Understanding customer’s business processes 200
Regular contact with development 201
201
Regular contact with Marcom 202
Regular contact with the press 203
Regular contact with customer Service 204
Order Now |
