Why Partnering With a Trusted MSaaS Provider Yields Better ROI
Most likely, your company has already achieved return on investment (ROI) by replacing old-fashioned on-premises software with cloud-enabled software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions. Yet by adopting managed services for core SaaS apps like IT service management (ITSM), your ROI can get even better.
Business adoption of SaaS continues to soar. Market analysts agree that the same holds true for offerings from managed services providers (MSPs). Now, pioneering partners like GSI are combining SaaS with managed services, known as managed SaaS (MSaaS),
To give just one example, as a ServiceNow Service Provider partner, GSI offers value-added MSaaS services for ServiceNow's workflow automation SaaS in a solution called GatewayNow. GatewayNow by GSI enables deployment of a preconfigured, maintenance-free instance of ServiceNow with more flexible license structures, built-in IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) compliance, and access to all ITSM applications offered by ServiceNow—all launched in a fraction of the usual deployment time.
Calculating MSaaS ROI
ROI is a measurement that compares investment gain or loss relative to cost. To determine the ROI of MSaaS, it’s useful to first look at both the tangible and intangible benefits SaaS provides before figuring in the value-add you can expect to receive through managed services.
ROI Benefits From SaaS
1. Greater Efficiency Through Remote Access and Abundant Storage
By allowing browser-based access to cloud-enabled apps, SaaS supplies the agility required to support employees working on a variety of devices from a choice of remote, traditional office and emerging “hybrid” environments. What’s more, due to the unlimited storage space available in the cloud, organizations can quickly and easily access and analyze real-time data, arriving at insights that can improve business decision-making to yield higher revenues and faster time to market.
2. Reduced Investment Costs for Hardware and Software
One of the main ways to cut costs with SaaS is by transferring hardware and software costs from a capital expense (CapEx) to an operating expense (OpEx) model. Instead of purchasing on-premises server hardware that will ultimately grow outmoded, SaaS lets you subscribe to cloud-enabled services on a monthly or yearly basis while also laying out additional funds for multi-year software licenses. In doing so, you eliminate the huge upfront costs of technology investments.
3. Lower Risks Through Higher Uptime
Typically, SaaS software vendors offer service level agreements (SLAs) promising at least 99% uptime, greatly reducing the risk of costly downtime. After all, 90% of businesses fail within a year if they can’t get up and running within five days of a disruption to their operations. Software maintenance, patching, and upgrades are generally conducted more efficiently and reliably through SaaS than with on-premises software—and with less downtime and fanfare. What’s more, initial deployment can be done much more quickly and effectively.
Added ROI Through MSaaS
Signing on with a managed services provider for SaaS can further improve ROI across all three of these areas. The benefits of MSaaS are particularly compelling for complex apps such as ITSM. Here’s how GSI’s GatewayNow can provide additional boosts to your bottom line.
1. Extra Reductions in Implementation Costs
Although ServiceNow cuts implementation costs through SaaS, the financial bar for entry remains significant for many lean organizations, generally running $200,000 and up. Through GSI's ServiceNow services, however, you can lower the bar by up to 90%, obtaining full advantage of the ITSM application suite by beginning with as few as five licenses.
2. Speed Deployment for 8X Faster ROI
Not only will you get far better ROI, you'll also get it much faster. Typical implementation time for ServiceNow instances is 25 weeks. By signing on for GatewayNow, though, you can get started with using ServiceNow’s Incident Management, Knowledge Management, Change Management, Service Catalog, and Service Level Management in three weeks or less. Through accelerated implementation, you’ll also greatly reduce the risk of costly downtime during the deployment phase.
3. Value Optimization of IT Spending Over Time
With GatewayNow, you can grow your ITSM instances at your own pace, smoothly adding more licenses and efficiently managing your IT costs along the way. In the process, you'll free up your internal staff for other business-essential tasks, avoiding staff burnout, improving IT productivity, and building retention.
Even better, you can avoid the high costs of specialized training by leveraging GSI’s in-house expertise. In many cases, SaaS services are not cookie-cutter, "one size fits all" applications. Working with an MSaaS provider such as GSI, whose experts are well-acquainted with the ins and outs of core business apps, will save money for your company in the long run. If you need to add a customization to your ITSM software, for example, you can do so directly through your trusted ServiceNow experts, rather than undergo the hassle of hunting down and hiring a developer with that kind of hard-to-find knowledge.
Beyond all that, by taking advantage of GSI’s AppCare service, you can obtain application maintenance and administration with two managed upgrades per year.
Multiply Your ROI With GSI's MSaaS Offering
By adding managed services from a trusted partner to your business strategy, you can easily multiply the types of ROI benefits you get from SaaS software adoption alone in many ways. Contact us today to find out more about GSI's latest MSaaS offering for ServiceNow.
Contact GSI to learn more about GatewayNow or any of our ServiceNow consulting services offerings.