Bulgarian consultancy company Balkan Services now offers ERP system Atlantis ERP as a monthly subscription service too, under the SaaS (Software as a Service) model. The offering has two versions – using Atlantis ERP licenses on top of client’s own infrastructure or using both licenses and infrastructure as a service.
The SaaS model, which has been making progress quickly in the recent years, represents a way for a given software product to be used under a monthly subscription rather than being bought. Thus the software is used as a service – similarly to Internet access, electricity or other utility services. This approach has a great application in the business software sphere (ERP, CRM, BPM systems, etc.), since such solutions are critical for companies but at the same time the investment is considerable.
One of the big advantages of software as a service is the lower initial investment. In this model there is no primary investment in licenses, which traditionally is a significant chunk of the value of a project. And if the client chooses to rent infrastructure too, the need to purchase expensive hardware disappears as well. Furthermore, the customer does not have to take care of maintenance either – it is the provider’s job to update software and hardware, archive, and deal with security and access.
Also important is the fact that this way key business software systems can turn from capital expenses into operating monthly costs.
“Right now it is hard for a lot of companies to purchase and implement a business management system at their own cost and many of them are postponing this important step for later or are expecting to be financed under operational programs. This way, however, they are decreasing their current competitiveness. By offering the Atlantis ERP system as a service we can solve that problem. Companies can now have an ERP system when they need it, and this will be at a flexible monthly cost that represents an operating activity,” said Philip Mutafis, managing partner at Balkan Services.
SaaS is more efficient and more advantageous than an on-premise installation, especially at a time of crisis and tight budgets, not only because of the lower investment but also because it is more scalable. “You pay as you go – if you need to expand the system because your business has grown, this can be done immediately. But the same can happen the other direction. If you need to limit the functionality or the number of users, the fee simply goes down. There is no risk that you might have chosen an inappropriate system or that the project may end up unsuccessful, since the company has not invested money in hardware and licenses that turn into long-term assets. ERP SaaS is an operating cost which can be increased, decreased, or stopped at any moment,” explained the other managing partner at Balkan Services Vladimir Rashev.
