Should You Be Using Software as a Service?

Moving your franchise from software that has a defined physical location (i.e.: your desktop computer) to "software-as-a-solution" (SaaS) that you access via a server (the cloud) means that your franchise can be run from a desktop, laptop, tablet or on-the-go with mobile.

What is cloud computing?

Cloud computing is the centralization of data in a secured location on the web. Since the data is accessed via the web and not from a computer drive, the information is accessible anywhere 24/7 from multiple types of devices.

Benefits of the cloud

Having your business's data in one central location is not only convenient but also cost-effective. SaaS businesses have the ability to offer competitive pricing because they give their customers the exact software needed -- no more, no less.

For example, a traditional franchise software company may have set tiers of pricing that are based on the number of licenses needed. Due to the inflexible pricing tiers, there will always be customers that must purchase more licenses than needed (a waste of money). On the flip side, SaaS businesses are able to provide a more flexible pricing structure to fit the exact needs of each customer, eliminating wasted dollars.

Last year, 82% of companies saved money by moving to cloud-based software. Why would you waste your valuable budget on a software that isn't providing you with the exact requirements you need?

Creating efficiency for your franchise is another benefit to cloud computing. Cloud computing provides you with greater visibility into all the operations of your franchise, giving you insight into patterns and areas of improvement. Franchise operations shouldn't be so disconnected, especially when the data is easily accessible.

In addition to saving you money and creating efficiencies, cloud computing is environmentally friendly and cuts down on printing (since you are sharing information from one central source).

Is it safe?

With various data breaches at places like Target and Home Depot, you might feel like the cloud would be putting your business's data at risk. While some industries are more at risk in cloud security than others, the vast majority of businesses currently store and share sensitive or confidential information over the cloud.

While there are some risks in cloud computing, there are also risks with traditional franchise software. It is important to remember that traditional software is vulnerable to computer viruses or hardware malfunctions that can cause you to lose all of your data.

The cloud is not where the business world is moving to, it is where it currently operates. By joining other businesses that use cloud computing and SaaS, you will see improvements to your franchise in just six months.

Marketing from one touch point

Customer decisions are increasingly being influenced by online and mobile information (i.e.: "where should we go get dinner?" "Yelp says Joe's Restaurant down the street from here got five stars, let's go there") making it critical that national franchisor marketing strategies support local franchisee online marketing plans.

LocalVox is the leading franchise marketing platform for social, local, mobile, email, directories and more - providing clients with up to 20x the value of traditional advertising dollars. Our cloud solution helps franchisees and franchisors manage their entire local online marketing plan from one-easy-to-use platform.

The post Why Franchise Software is Moving Into the Cloud appeared first on LocalVox.

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