Is Software as a Service (SaaS) the latest business fad, or does it deliver value?
TORONTO, May 11 /CNW/ - In the old days, you would drive to the software store, purchase your new software on a packaged CD, drive back to your office, then install your new software on your PC. If you were lucky, your software would work the first time you ran it. If you were unlucky, your software would crash, slow down your computer, or simply not work at all.
Today, many mainstream software applications have found a new home on the Web. Instead of running applications locally on your PC, you simply visit a website. It doesn't matter where you're located, as long as you have access to the Internet. If your PC crashes, you don't have to worry about your data - it exists securely on remote servers known as "the cloud".
The age of Software as a Service, or "SaaS" has arrived.
Examples of successful SaaS companies include the financial website Mint.com, which was purchased by Intuit last September for $170 million, iCIMS, which provides HR recruitment services via a website, and ShipGooder.com, which calculates instant comparisons of shipping rates from local, regional and national delivery companies. CubeTree, a provider of web-based enterprise-wide social networking applications, was purchased this week for $50 million by SuccessFactors, a provider of cloud-based business execution software services.
At the core of all of these companies is the ability to provide a valuable web-based service quickly on-demand, with simplicity and measurable effectiveness.
"On the surface, ShipGooder supplies millions of shipping rate comparisons to our growing base of website visitors," said Nancy Chafee, VP of Marketing for ShipGooder, Inc. "Below the surface, ShipGooder is providing immense value to SMBs (small and medium businesses) and our enterprise clients by harnessing the substantial benefits provided by SaaS, as well as allowing these companies to select carriers based on comparisons of services and rates," she added.
"ShipGooder's RRS (Rapid Rate Search) technology was engineered at its inception as an on-demand service, via our front-end website as well as through our API (application programming interface)," added Franc Vodopivec, President of ShipGooder. "Interest from the enterprise segment has increased tremendously recently as large organizations realize the substantial benefits and savings of SaaS over traditional enterprise software licensing," he added.
About ShipGooder, Inc.
Toronto-based ShipGooder, Inc. was founded in October 2006 and developed a multi-carrier rate engine that allows users to quickly compare services from national, regional and local couriers in the U.S. and Canada. ShipGooder.com provides an easy, fast rate engine to obtain the best shipping rates.
For further information: and additional media resources, please contact: Nancy Chafee, V.P. of Marketing, [email protected], (416) 930-3043, www.ShipGooder.com
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