The Power of Software-As-A-Service (SaaS)
With the advent of Softare-as-a-Service, companies can use sophisticated tools of communication and production without major investment. The software is billed monthly or quarterly keeping expenses consistent and predictable. There is never a need to purchase new releases or use the disk drive to update – the software updates on an ongoing basis and can be used anywhere. No large upfront spending necessary but all the power of major enterprise if you want it.
Makervillage anchor, SAI Digital, counted that on any given day the team is using around 13 different pieces of software, not including those tools that are client or project specific. Here’s the list of SAI Digital’s can’t-live-without apps:
Daily SaaS Tools Used by SAI Digital
Basecamp – project management and tracking
Slack – chat and real-time collaboration
Freshbooks – time tracking, billing, estimates
Xero – full accounting suite
Google Apps – email, shared docs, shared calendar, internal sites
Sauce Labs – simulate all OS + Browser combinations for QA testing
Balsamiq – is for building wireframes
Dropbox – We use Dropbox for file sharing and passing off client files after a project is finished.
Adobe Creative Cloud – for shared access to most up-to-date design software at all times
LayerVault – We LayerVault for design revision control
Zapier – Zapier is a way to easily integrate actions and behaviors between various software. It’s like the robot version of the most thoughtful personal assistant who is constantly working to make sure things just happen when they should.
ClientManager – CM is our very own password management app for all internal and client accounts. You can contact us if you want to hear more 😉 but other tools that are good for passwords include EverNote or another team favorite, LastPass
Other SaaS Tools
Hootsuite – social media management
Mailchimp – email marketing
Constant Contact – email marketing, survey, social publishing
Squarespace – websites for more design-centric clients or projects
Wufoo Forms – a starter form management tool
Formstack – Gorgeous form creator with lots of additional features
Hubspot – all-in-one inbound marketing software