INTRODUCTION:
SaaS (Software as a Service) is the future of eCommerce. Forrester predicts that SaaS will account for over 65% of eCommerce investment by 2019. That is over 40% increase since 2013.
This is not good for merchants. It's great for merchants.
In this article, we'll expose the truth about BigCommerce SaaS eCommerce that on-premise eCommerce website platforms don't want you to know.
By the end of this article, you will have a clear picture of costs of SaaS versus on-premise eCommerce, performance, go-to-market speed, ongoing IT maintenance, and security.
FACTS:
1. Total Cost of Ownership
On average, on-premise solutions have a total cost of ownership over 5x that of SaaS. The costs will be explained throughout this article. The biggest costs can be attributed to hosting, hardware/cloud server maintenance, security patches, software updates, and IT staff or professional services.
2. Performance
Online sales generated from SaaS platforms account for over 2x industry peers. Autoscaling SaaS eCommerce platforms like BigCommerce scale up with demand, leaving merchants breathing a sigh of relief during peak selling spikes.
Scaling up an on-premise eCommerce platform requires planning and incurs significant costs. If one configuration is not correct, the whole system can suffer, leaving merchants in the lurch during peak sales spikes.
3. Go-To-Market Speed
Launching a SaaS eCommerce website takes an average of 55 days. Compared to custom on-premise solutions, 55 days is a fraction of the delivery time.
With fewer moving parts to deal with, system integrators can focus on design, features, and functionality that will improve sales.
4. Maintenance
Ongoing maintenance of a SaaS eCommerce platform is included by SaaS eCommerce providers like BigCommerce. When a server goes down, when a disk fills up, or when a router dies, BigCommerce will resolve the issue before you or your development staff are aware of the problem.
After-hours maintenance can be a headache that every eCommerce business wants to avoid. BigCommerce has a team in place ready to deal with outages around the clock.
5. Security
As eCommerce continues to grow, online security threats grow proportionally. New server software and technology bring with them new security vulnerabilities. Software vendors continuously release patches and bugfixes to maintain software security.
Security patches are only as good as the frequency they are applied. If your eCommerce team is not applying the latest security patches at regular intervals, weekly or monthly, then those patches are useless to your eCommerce business.
SaaS eCommerce platforms like BigCommerce are constantly monitoring software security and applying security patches while you sleep to ensure your eCommerce business stays online, continuously.
CONCLUSION:
Common misconceptions about SaaS eCommerce by BigCommerce include the following:
- SaaS is only for small companies - small companies reap the same benefits as mid-size businesses, which are lower IT costs, more uptime, and faster evolution of technology
- Data is not owned - not only does your data belong to you, BigCommerce protects your data with the latest redundancy technology
- Poor security - eCommerce running on your own servers is only as secure as your ability to frequently apply patches and test for vulnerabilities. When was your last security audit?
- Customizability - SaaS customizations on BigCommerce can be more robust than an open-source on-premise platform because the customizations must be done in the form of apps that are validated and approved globally whereas open-source on-premise solutions may have multiple apps that conflict with each other
Why use BigCommerce SaaS eCommerce?
- Business Agility - leverage the use of best-in-breed software solutions
- Speed of Implementation - on average, bringing an online store to life takes less than two months on a SaaS platform
- Simple Deployment - without servers to configure and optimize, development is done on the pre-production environment
- Instant Access to New Functionality - SaaS eCommerce provider BigCommerce releases features based on customer feedback and it is accessible to your online store immediately
- Low Total Cost of Ownership - hosting, application support, security patches, and software updates are included
- Lower Capital Expense - lower upfront investment means more funding available for growing the business
- Free Capital for Marketing and Growth - return on investment (ROI) becomes very easy to calculate because each dollar invested can be traced to an online sale; learn about Growth Hacking to dramatically increase marketing ROI
Still have questions?
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