Features: SaaS products you should know about

INTEGRATION

Integration is easier in the SaaS world as vendors will typically leave their APIs open to encourage connectivity with other applications. But building a business around integration is going to be difficult unless you specialise in detailed projects that venture further than basic contact synchronising.

SaaS vendors will work on connecting to the more popular products such as the cloud productivity suites Office 365 and Google Apps, or enterprise veterans such as SalesForce. And then you have vendors like OneSaaS that have repeatable, scalable solutions that can be sold very cheaply.

OneSaaS

OneSaaS is not a SaaS product you can resell, but it is a SaaS service of sorts that is worth keeping an eye on. OneSaaS has commoditised integration of cloud applications by charging $35 per month. If you are a software integrator then keep in mind that businesses looking for standard integration will probably be tempted by this solution rather than a $10,000 project for a bespoke solution.

Of course, if a company wants a highly specialised level of integration, OneSaaS is too generic to be a threat.

FINANCE

Accounting software is not usually an area in which resellers have a great deal of involvement. However, the cloud accounting packages

on the market can make a huge difference in simplifying how a business manages its expenses. It can also provide valuable insight into cash flow and financial trends.

These accounting programs are an easy sale to small businesses which will easily save them time and money through automatic bank feeds and one-click BAS statements. Even if you pass on the recommendation to a cloud- ready accountant, a customer will appreciate the good advice.

Xero

Xero markets itself as “beautiful accounting software”, a somewhat difficult thing to imagine until you actually try out the program. It is very easy on the eye, indeed light years away from the '70s interface of MYOB.

Xero claims to already have over half the accountants in New Zealand using its software and hopes to repeat that feat in Australia

within two years, according to the ebullient chairman Rod Drury.

The company already has amassed customers in the UK and intends to take on the mighty American market, which so many Australasian accounting vendors have failed to penetrate.

Saasu

Saasu has been around for a decade – quite amazing. It is a strong competitor to Xero but has a much broader feature set, the most notable additions being payroll and inventory. In some instances companies have “downsized” to Saasu from ERP systems, which demonstrates that the software is highly capable.

The enterprise edition upgrades the inventory to serialised with item attributes such as size, weight and colour to manage specific stock. You can set expiry dates for food, licences and other time-based uses.

Jcurve

Few people would have heard of NetSuite reseller JCurve, but that will likely change in the coming year. The reseller-cum-developer is releasing cut-down versions

of NetSuite for small business, including one product that will compete with Xero and Saasu and cost as little as $50 a month.

Even though JCurve is coming late to the cloud accounting party, it does have one pretty special advantage. The entry-level JCurve Financials, a basic MYOB competitor for small businesses,  is built on the same platform as the enterprise-grade NetSuite. A fast-growing company just has to turn on more features to move from accounting package to full-blown ERP, with no upgrades necessary.

That’s quite an incentive for ambitious business owners.