SaaS Vs. On-Premises: Choosing A Field Service Software Deployment Model

Like any business, field service organizations are concerned with improving business performance, productivity in the field, and customer satisfaction. Field service management software is essential in order to access customer data, provide better customer service, and increase sales. Businesses looking to invest in or switch software platforms have a lot of tough decisions to make; a major one is whether to deploy software in the cloud or on-premises.

With growing advancements in cloud-based technology, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) deployment is emerging as a best practice for companies looking for the most functionality at the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO). Even organizations currently using on-premises solutions are realizing that the SaaS delivery model holds promise for lowering operating costs and reducing service maintenance stress.

Understanding Deployment Options

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). The SaaS delivery model is rapidly gaining traction because it offers faster deployment speeds, lower upfront costs, and ongoing flexibility to scale up or down as company needs change. You also can provide your clients regular scheduled maintenance and software upgrades with little to no involvement from them. Because SaaS solutions have subscription-based licensing, they typically have little or no up-front cost.

On-Premises. On-premises solutions are installed and hosted in house on your clients’ own data center and managed by their internal IT staff. On-premises deployments are typically purchased with a larger up-front investment, and though it doesn’t require incremental costs throughout ownership, it does require regular service and maintenance expenses from your clients’ IT department — or from you. It’s often difficult on the IT team to manipulate existing on-premises solutions to support new applications, integrations, and updates.

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