It’s your first day at work and you feel like a kid again, starting your first day of school; you’ve got butterflies in your stomach and your hands are clammy. This time, instead of your mum laying out your school uniform for you, you have to decide what suit you’re going to wear, which tie you’re going to put on and whether you should chance wearing your new shoes that you haven’t worn in yet! You can either decide to go for your old but comfortable worn-in leather Barker’s that you forgot needed a good polish, or you can step into your brand new shiny leather Loakes?
Over recent years there has been a steady emergence of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) based technologies, looking to solve industry old problems in new, innovative ways but is the market ready to step into the future and embrace the potential of these new solutions?
I have recently joined the Financial Services Industry and have found that when a company is looking for a solution to target their operational, regulatory or financial requirements, there are three main options: build In-House, install enterprise style hardware-based solutions or look to the future with cloud-based, SaaS Models.
If you’re lucky enough to have the budget and dedicated resources to create a specially built In-House solution, then you may have found an option that is capable of targeting particular nuances required by both you and your customers. Nevertheless, this solution can also fall short when needing to adapt quickly to new requirements and regulations. With a number of regulatory changes already set in motion for the coming years, it is very important that firms stay flexible to these changes and have a suitable system that does not require a large upheaval every time a new regulation or changes are put in place.
The second option, open only to those with deep pockets, is to go down the enterprise style hardware-based route. These solutions are well established in the market, providing a comfort blanket for those seeking opportunities from vendors that have long dominated this area. Nevertheless, dependent on your budget and the amount of time you have to play with, you will probably find that these options are not suitable for you.
So what next? Spreadsheets? Let’s not even go there, with their clunky need for manual processing, increased risk of inaccuracy due to human error and limited auditing and reporting facilities, they are not exactly the most reliable option.
But don’t despair, another option is now available to you and that is SaaS technology. Often cheaper than other alternatives due to the fact they do not require additional hardware. There is no need for software to be installed or costly IT teams to oversee maintenance and integration into your current environment. They are easily scalable and just as, if not more, functionally rich than most of the other solutions in the market.
But are you ready to take the next step into the future? Some say that the bountiful functionality combined with the incredibly low price just sounds ‘too good to be true’, but actually, unlike the new shoes analogy above, you’ll find that from the first step and those thereafter you’ll be provided with a smooth and comfortable journey, fitting like a glove, supporting you every step of the way into the new, up and coming FinTech landscape. Even though SaaS models may be new, they are well made and easily adaptable to suit new requirements. All you need to do is sign up to the community.
We’d love to hear your thoughts; do you think the industry is ready to take this next step? If you think you are, register your interest through our website.