Technology isn’t just changing our world, but changing the way our business operates and functions. And SaaS software development services are one of the popular technologies that are thriving. Its agility and affordability are what make it one of the preferred choices of most businesses. Regardless of the size, most businesses have already integrated SaaS application development services. PaaS and IaaS are the other two major cloud solutions, but SaaS has gained the most popularity, securing its place in many businesses due to its higher ROI. However, if you are also planning to implement SaaS app development services in your business, then you should follow a careful strategy for how you are going to implement them. Moreover, choosing the right SaaS application development company is also equally important.

In this blog, we will help you with how you can build your SaaS app successfully by carefully choosing the right SaaS application development company.  

What is a SaaS application?

SaaS apps refer to software which are hosted and accessed only through an internet connection. If you want to access these apps, it is not compulsory to install them first in your local systems. They can be accessed through any web browser, making it easy for everyone to access the features from anywhere, anytime. A few of the most well-known examples include Salesforce, Netflix, Slack, and Google applications. 

What is SaaS App Development?

Developing applications through a software-as-a-service approach is known as SaaS app development. This process utilises a microservices approach and includes several steps, from idea generation to product deployment. As these apps can be accessed through any web browser, this eliminates the need for traditional software installation. 

SaaS Application Development: Step-by-Step Guide

To build the SaaS app successfully, it has to go through several development stages. Below, we have discussed each SaaS application development process briefly: 

Stage 1: Ideation & Market Research

The very first stage involved in SaaS app development is identifying the problem and understanding what goal we have to achieve. Based on the problem, thorough market research is done to understand the target audience and research what your competitors are up to. 

Stage 2: Planning & Strategy

Once done with the ideation & market research, move to the next stage, which is planning & strategy. This stage involves idea generation, planning, assessing the project’s feasibility, and choosing the right business model. Core features that need to be implemented and the tech stage we are going to use are also defined in this stage. 

Stage 3: Choosing the Right Technology Stack

The right technology stack is selected to develop both ends. For the front end, scalable design tools and frameworks are utilised, and for the backend, the right database technology, APIs, and cloud infrastructure are deployed. 

Stage 4: Design (UI/UX)

The third stage in SaaS app development is the design phase, which involves designing a user-friendly interface. This is one of the crucial stages because creating an appealing design shows users your strength and helps them build trust in your brand or business. This stage involves creating wireframes, prototypes, and user flows. Your designs need to be user-centric, which resolves their issues and understands their user behaviour to deliver a personalized experience. 

Stage 5: Developing Scalable SaaS Infrastructure 

Developing a SaaS app that can handle a variety of data requires designing a scalable architecture. Hence, choosing the right cloud infrastructure is important to handle the growing demand. Here we have listed the three major cloud types commonly used for developing scalable SaaS infrastructure:  

1. Public Cloud

Public clouds are one of the affordable options that enable businesses to only pay for services they use. Businesses can easily scale up their requirements based on their changing requirements using a public cloud approach.  

2. Private Cloud

Adapting to a private cloud is one of the secure ways to store your organization’s data. The infrastructure is set up by the cloud providers, where only your organization’s data is saved. However, since they offer greater security by storing only your organization’s data, they also tend to be more costly.

3. On-site

The third option is on-site storage, which allows organizations to control their entire data. This eliminates the money spent on external firms for maintaining and managing your infrastructure.  

Stage 6: Developing MVP (Minimum Viable Product) 

When developing a SaaS software, you don’t develop the whole software at once. Minimum viable product, which is a basic version of software, is developed before its launch. MVP, as the name suggests, consists of only a few of the core functionalities. This helps you test the software and get feedback earlier. 

Stage 7: Testing & Quality Assurance

Once done with the MVP, the software is shared with customers, investors, and other team members for testing purposes. After evaluating the products, they give their useful feedback. Based on the valuable feedback, QA experts build the next iterations of the project. 

Stage 6: Deployment & Launch

After completing the development and testing phase, the next phase comes, which is deployment & launch. Now it’s time to launch your software in the production environment and make it available to all users. However, after deployment, the product must be updated with new changes to keep customers engaged.  

Challenges Faced in SaaS Application Development 

Many SaaS application development companies face some common challenges during SaaS app development. However, these challenges can be resolved by following careful planning and a thorough approach. Here are some of the major SaaS App Development challenges:   

1) Secure and Compliant Data Management

Securely storing customers’ data poses a major challenge, especially when we are saving our entire data in the cloud. As data is stored in the cloud, it becomes more prone to errors. Moreover, with increased cyber threats, protecting data from unauthorized access has become increasingly difficult. Your SaaS cloud development partners must implement strong security measures to avoid such complications and data theft.         

2) Third-Party Integrations Issues

Integrating third-party services with your SaaS application requires thorough research to ensure credibility, consistency, and constant support. Sometimes it becomes a complex and challenging task to integrate and manage multiple APIs and services. 

3) Zero-Interruption Deployment

Zero-interruption deployment is crucial to maintain seamless customer satisfaction as well as to eliminate disruptions. However, blue-green deployment is a method that lets you switch between app versions smoothly, making it a reliable strategy.  

4) Structuring the Database

Structuring the database can be challenging when the organization deals with different types of data. Managing diverse data while handling a huge amount of data makes it difficult for SaaS developers to build a scalable database. However, if not designed right, a poor database can lead to storage issues, slow performance, inconsistent data, and limited scalability. 

5) User Authentication and Authorization

Managing user identities and access (IAM) is one of the major challenges faced in SaaS app development. SaaS applications deal with many users who have different roles, permissions, and access needs, making it difficult for them to manage user authentication and authorisation.

In addition, companies must deal with issues like weak passwords, users logging in from multiple devices, and ensuring smooth access across different platforms.

Conclusion 

The growing demand for cloud solutions has significantly increased the number of companies offering a variety of SaaS application development services. Developing a SaaS based app successfully requires going through several stages, which we have discussed above. However, selecting the right tech stack and careful planning and strategy are key to maximizing ROI. 

Additionally, companies providing SaaS software development services must implement standard security measures to ensure data security and compliance.