Software as a service examples abound. One of the earliest came from Marc Benioff, Chair, Co-CEO, and Co-Founder of Salesforce, who started the company in 1999 with a mission to “End Software” with cloud computing. He envisioned a new kind of software: internet-based applications that users could “access” instead of “install.” Soon thereafter, SaaS revolutionized business technology and cleared the path for big data and analytics.
Today, the Salesforce CRM Platform offers companies of all sizes a centralized place to store data as their business grows.
With SaaS applications that work together — like Sales Cloud and Slack — teams can improve communication, collaboration, and workflows. Slack, for example, is a communication and instant messaging platform. Each complements the other. To better understand how, consider this scenario.
Imagine a growing startup. To keep costs low, the business initially pays for only three users to have access to the aforementioned applications: the owner, the sales manager, and a salesperson. Six months later, the growing company adds more users and other SaaS platforms — for example, Marketing Cloud for its marketing team.
To keep overhead low, the business eventually embraces a virtual office. Whether they’re working from home, the office, or the road, employees can therefore collaborate on documents and update records so that everyone has accurate, up-to-date information at all times. That includes the owner, who during an important meeting with investors pulls out their smartphone, opens the Salesforce mobile CRM app, and accesses real-time data with which to answers investors’ questions.
By running an integrated system, the company enjoys a single customer view. From sales to marketing to customer service, everyone who uses the SaaS CRM platform can access the same information. In turn, the business can serve its customers with increased speed, accuracy, and quality.
