At Sixteen Ventures we, and our Ecosystem Partners, believe that 80% of all SaaS applications will come from productized expertise, repeatable workflow, and stagnant or dormant Intellectual Property, while only 20% will consist of horizontal or "traditional software analogs" such as ERP, MRP, CRM, etc.
Sixteen Ventures helps companies of all sizes and in a variety of verticals productize expertise and deliver that product on-demand to customers through Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). We guide companies through the process of extracting repeatable business processes from their business operations and expose those to clients and the market in general via SaaS.
Benefits of Monetizing Expertise with SaaS
The benefits of leveraging stagnant intellectual capital or manual processes by monetizing it in a repeatable and scalable way through SaaS are significant. The most significant benefit is that it allows a company to turn processes that were once an operational expenses into additional revenue streams for the company. Processes, workflows, etc. that would normally have been done by hand by employees, often on behalf of clients, can now be leveraged directly by the clients or other firms for a fee.
Other benefits include transitioning the Information Technology department from a cost center to a profit center. Moving to "the cloud" is always an option, but recognizing existing IT assets that can be leveraged for additional revenue streams is certainly valuable.
And it is not just IT that could become a profit center. What about other business units? Have you created an application that others in your vertical or nearby verticals might pay money for? The possibilities are significant.
Of course since the product is being exposed via SaaS, this is where the opportunity truly shines. Remembering that these products are ancillary revenue streams to your core business so their use by others in the market, or even adjacent markets, could provide you with visibility into how analogous business operate. This data, properly aggregated and anonymized could also be leveraged for revenue in various ways.
SaaS Opportunity Recognition
Sixteen Ventures helps Enterprises and SMBs alike with SaaS Opportunity Recognition. The process includes both identifying processes that could be exposed and monetized via SaaS, but also market validation and commercial product development.
Overall, the process includes identifying non-technical processes, internal projects and tools, and custom software projects. A good rule of thumb is that if it can streamline your operations or you benefit from it, there is a good chance others will too and might be willing to pay money for it.
But We Are Not a Software Company!
The fact is that Legacy or On-Premises Software companies need special guidance when moving to SaaS specifically because they *are* a software company. The key to success with Software-as-a-Service is to not think like a software company. Therefore, coming to market from a vertical or domain knowledge position rather than a "software company" position could potentially give you a heads up.
Yes, there are technology concerns to product development and on-going operations, but core value proposition of your SaaS offering is the business problem it addresses and not the technology. In fact, with traditional Software Companies, often the clients must first figure out if there is a technology fit before asking if the product truly meets their needs.