7 Surprising SaaS Apps to Boost Your Business
These seven will boost your business next year and prepare your company for an ever-changing future.
December 26, 2018
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You’ve heard of business-intelligence (BI) apps, most of which are cloud-based. Now there are Edge Intelligence apps that deliver much the same thing – data processing, real-time data analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence – except on edge devices in the tiniest of computing footprints.
This category of apps can boost your business in numerous ways including automated machine repair; preventive predictions on machine performance; self-decisioning for autonomous devices from fleet vehicles to drones; and remote-asset management such as of offshore oil rigs and devices in dangerous environments.
Most companies will continue using cloud-based apps in traditional ways; however, some – especially those that are cloud-native – might push these apps to the edge (micro data centers) instead of (or in addition to) their use of these apps in the cloud. According to a TECHnalysis Research report, 61 percent of apps used at the edge are migrated cloud apps.
Almost all SaaS apps contain machine learning or AI elements these days because they add speed and efficiencies that humans alone can rarely reach.
AI is so good at getting things done that it’s also disrupting some established business processes, such as those in human resources. 2019 will see more businesses choosing SaaS apps based on the strength of their AI or ML components. One popular example of an AI-powered app for hiring new employees is Google’s Cloud Talent Solution.
Timesheets are problematic for tracking time worked in today’s workplaces as they often lack both accuracy and context.
Time tracking apps on desktops are also limited in usefulness as they only track keystrokes and not time spent thinking, researching, in meetings, on the phone, asking questions of co-workers, or other work-related activities. By comparison, business apps for wearables can automatically track where an employee is all day, what they were doing at the time, and how that matches with work produced for the day, week or month.
By measuring activity in the context of total productivity, employers get a better read on how productive employees are, which processes are time sinks, and what wages are due. SaaS employee productivity apps provide individual, group and aggregate data for analysis by employers too.
Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) apps are expected to see higher adoption rates for employee training, particularly where the job is complex and highly detailed.
Think airline mechanics, appliance repairmen, and even doctors and surgeons and their support teams. VR-AR tech is a sophisticated blend of video and hands-on training, with little risk to the company as employees learn. There is even a virtual desktop app available in VR that can help train employees on enterprise apps.
Smart supply-chain apps can fulfill numerous business needs from environmentally or socially responsible sourcing to planning for material availability, cost containment and just-in-time deliveries. They can even incorporate external data such as shipping schedules, weather forecasts, road construction and other factors that can affect the supply chain.
Some smart supply-chain apps can be integrated with customer orders across the multichannel to sync orders with suppliers. One example is Supply Chain Apps, an Excel Add-in available on Microsoft AppSource, which provides a diverse selection of smart supply-chain apps.
Software-defined infrastructure (SDI) in the cloud separates the software from the hardware layer so that third-party apps and services can be added on top.
The next generation of that is AI-defined infrastructure (AiDI), which is structured much the same way but is AI-driven. While this is emerging tech, it’s picking up steam fast. Keep an eye out for SaaS apps to emerge with greater frequency. Ultimately, AiDI will lead to “dark” data centers, be they in the cloud or in micro datacenters (edge), meaning they can run with no human interactions at all. Because AiDI is only one piece of the AI-driven enterprise, apps to converge the AI apps across the business will also emerge soon.
Software-defined infrastructure (SDI) in the cloud separates the software from the hardware layer so that third-party apps and services can be added on top.
The next generation of that is AI-defined infrastructure (AiDI), which is structured much the same way but is AI-driven. While this is emerging tech, it’s picking up steam fast. Keep an eye out for SaaS apps to emerge with greater frequency. Ultimately, AiDI will lead to “dark” data centers, be they in the cloud or in micro datacenters (edge), meaning they can run with no human interactions at all. Because AiDI is only one piece of the AI-driven enterprise, apps to converge the AI apps across the business will also emerge soon.
Most analysts say the Year of Software as a Service (SaaS) was 2017. That was the year when apps like Salesforce’s Sales Cloud, Microsoft’s Office 365 and Google’s G Suite first dominated the business scene. This year was expected to be the one when SaaS matured, which would render 2019 a ho-hum year for this category of apps.
But that was before artificial intelligence (AI), edge computing (aka distributed cloud or micro data centers), and the internet of things (IoT) took SaaS in new and unexpected directions. So instead of the SaaS market simply maturing in 2018 and merely stagnating next year, it’s off on another growth spurt.
Amalgam Insights’ Hyoun Park
“SaaS apps with a machine learning or AI component will see massive growth in 2019 both as AI becomes easier to embed and users find these solutions solving new and innovative problems that reduce cognitive load,” says Hyoun Park, CEO and principal analyst at Amalgam Insights. “AI-based SaaS solutions as a whole will exceed the 20 percent year-over-year revenue growth expected from SaaS, in general.”
Meanwhile, edge computing was once predicted by a Gartner analyst to be ready to “eat the cloud.” Somewhere between that 2017 prediction and now, edge computing lost its appetite for its predecessor, despite the rising need for faster real-time data analyses for things like autonomous cars.
While distributed, on-site computing renders faster analysis outputs and reduces latency for IoT, the centralized cloud model maintains its stark advantages in data storage and the use of multiple data sources.
Throughout the fourth quarter of 2018, as part of our “In Focus” series, we are featuring a series of galleries designed to help partners grow their businesses in 2019 and beyond. |
In other words, while a single autonomous vehicle needs edge computing for an instant decision on what move to make to avoid an accident, the centralized cloud is better at analyzing data from many autonomous cars on everything from general performance to quality control.
Just like there are SaaS apps for the traditional, centralized cloud, so too do they exist for edge computing. Many developers are working on this front and progress is steady. One example: AT&T Foundry launched an edge computing test zone earlier this year. Developers first focused on media applications for the edge, such as virtual reality, augmented reality and cloud-based games.
AT&T developers have since moved on to business applications for the edge. One example is the recent launch of Akraino Edge Stack, an open-source software stack that supports cloud services for edge-computing systems and applications. This class of SaaS apps, optimized for edge devices, is expected to explode next year from a variety of vendors.
That’s not to say that the previously dominant SaaS apps won’t still hold sway in organizations everywhere, because they will. But those are likely to provide the foundation for your business, whereas other apps are more likely to boost your business in the face of new opportunities and challenges in the marketspace. In any case, the entire SaaS sector is slated for strong growth.
Gartner predicts “cloud application services – or software as a service (SaaS) – remains the largest segment of the cloud market, with revenue expected to reach $85.1 billion in 2019 and $117 billion by 2021.”
Scroll through our slide show above for seven surprising SaaS apps to boost your business next year and prepare your company for an ever-changing future.
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