Service As A Software – A New Way To Think About SaaS

Most companies don’t need new software. They need to get better at using what they already have.

I’ve seen this called “Service as a Software”, rather than the traditional SaaS phrasing.

Traditional development is based on building solutions to client problems. But developers are often separated from where the work is being done.

But if you actually go and spend time with the people doing the work, or try doing it yourself, you’ll find that it’s less about a solution and more about improving what they’re doing already.

For example, I’m willing to bet that any potential client of ours has some kind of carbon reporting system in place.

It’s probably built using spreadsheets. It was probably made in-house or by a consultant. It probably takes a long time to collect and enter data. And it probably has broken formulas. And it’s probably stressing people out as they try and get their reports out.

A solution oriented approach says – let’s get rid of all that. Here’s some software that we’re hosting – put everything there and it will be fine.

There is an alternative approach – an inquiry-led one.

This is where we go and look at what’s being done now, talk through the situation, and see how we can improve it – make things better.

Every single one of the issues I’ve listed can be solved using tools you already have, and the whole process can be improved with simple processes.

Why not wrap these processes in software and offer them as part of your service to clients?

That’s Service as a Software. The service comes first, because that’s what matters to clients. The software is implementation, but the service delivers the impact.

And that makes the difference between services that make people’s lives easier and platforms that just give them more work to do.