All of us expect SaaS to be a bright spot in a dark economic picture, but Treb Ryan of OpSource points out that even SaaS vendors will have to work hard to survive in a tough market where customers are disappearing and cutting back.
I especially like his suggestion of looking for customers in new verticals where you haven't sold before - he suggested healthcare, the federal government, and bankruptcy lawyers!
He doesn't like hybridizing your business model -- that is, moving away from the pure SaaS model of delivering on-line in order to get another customer. I wouldn't change anything for one more customer -- it's just a distraction and you won't actually make a profit that way.
On the other hand, I don't see anything wrong with testing your market to see if customers would buy from you if you had an appliance offering, for example. (That means loading your software on a server which attaches inside the customer'r firewall; it's optional whether the SaaS ISV manages the software or whether it becomes the customer's responsibility to manage updates and patches.)
I also think the OEM market can be an excellent "tough times" opportunity. Look for a partner who also needs a new revenue source and who has customer for your SaaS product (or some part of it). Let the OEM do the marketing; the two of you can negotiate who does the hosting, operational support, and so forth, at what price.
Tough times call for smart tactics.
Comments