Introduction

The adoption of cloud computing has facilitated SaaS applications to deliver the best services to end-users via web browsers, APIs, or mobile apps which has led to a massive increase in the development of SaaS web applications. Such apps provide the required services to end-users like task management, email, shopping, calendar, etc. However, developing a Cloud-based SaaS application from scratch is really a tedious task. But if you invest a good amount of time to build one, it becomes easy for you to overcome challenges that might occur while building a SaaS app. But if you want to build a SaaS app from scratch, make sure to follow the necessary stages of the software development process that will help you to meet the needs of the users and help you to stay ahead of the competition.

Software as a Service is currently the new buzzword in the application development industry. This concept is relatively new as it replaces the traditional software licenses and becomes the most delinquent sales model. Building a SaaS application can be the next logical step that can lead your business to achieve great success. But before you start building a software, make sure to conduct proper research and understand the process of SaaS development. 

In this post, we’re going to have an in-depth guide to build a SaaS software following the major steps included in it. So without any further ado, let’s get started!

What is a SaaS Application?

SaaS refers to Software as a Service which is a technique used by developers for software delivery that lets users connect to and use cloud-based applications on the Internet. It presents an entire software solution that you can buy from a cloud service provider. This is the best way for businesses to promote their software as a service using a subscription model. Basically, it is software that provides all the required services to its end-users through web browsers, mobile apps, or APIs.

The modern SaaS technology facilitates the integration of modern technologies and allows businesses to work on enormous amounts of data with accuracy. Technologies such as the Internet of Things and Big Data work in tandem and create an excellent SaaS solution which can be a wise investment option. Using the cloud-based SaaS software, the services in the cloud are hosted without installing servers physically. So customers are not required to worry about the application security and maintenance.

6 Steps to develop a cloud based SaaS software

Step 1: Planning

Whether it is a simple application or SaaS-based software, planning is the first step to building a successful application in the least time possible. The success of your cloud-based application is dependent on the technologies that you are using and how you’re researching your market. Apart from this, make sure to study the target audience, define what is the aim of your application, and the features that need to be included in it. This is what we should keep in mind while building a SaaS application.

This planning stage is usually a stakeholder’s responsibility, so you can ask your service provider for help. Having a dedicated IT company by your side will offer you the best services and a BA team to research your case and provide you with the best solutions to enter the market with ease.

Step 2: Discovery phase

The next step is about structuring your objectives for SaaS application development and initiating several documents that help your development team build a successful application as per your needs. In this phase of a project, business analysts set up a few meetings to learn the basics of your project and then prepare documents according to it such as:

• Software requirements specification — here all the requirements of your cloud-based applications are listed such as the structure of your application and dependencies, scope of work, and much more.
• Cost estimate — list out the project budget that you might invest in your SaaS application development process.
• Mitigation plan and Risk assessment — expected risks that might occur while building your cloud-based software and a few ways to eliminate those risks.

Step 3: Choose the best technology stack

After proper planning, researching your target audience, and discovery phase, the next step is to choose the right tech stack for your SaaS product depending on your requirements and the nature of your cloud-based application. To work efficiently and with ease on the SaaS development framework, the software developers must be skilled and aware of the latest development platforms such as Python, .NET, PHP, C#, and Java. Also, it would be great if they are aware of the tools such as Angular, React, Vue, HTML, CSS, etc. to build successful and client-facing components. 

Apart from this, having experience in working with corresponding frameworks such as Laravel, JavaScript, and RoR will be of great help for server-side development. The ultimate relational databases for this objective are MySQL and PostgreSQL.

Step 4: Application design

Before you start building your SaaS application, make sure to decide on the interface so it perfectly meets the requirements of your target audience. While thinking about your SaaS product’s UI and UX, remember what devices your potential audience will utilize. SaaS-based applications are compatible with both mobile devices and desktops. Having dedicated UI/UX professionals will help you to create designs with various resolutions so that users can work comfortably in the office or on the go.

Step 5: Development and testing

After accomplishing all the steps mentioned above, you are all set to build your cloud application where developers work on the front and backend of your application. During this development phase, quality assurance, the development team needs to check each piece of functionality whether it works properly. Developing and testing is an iterative process when it comes to software development and SaaS products. So don’t rush in building the entire application at once. Start with MVP as it is one of the most important features of SaaS products that help to meet all the requirements of your users.

This approach is also known as Agile in software development. In this phase, a DevOps specialist having relevant experience prepares new code to be deployed and then integrates the entire codebase into production.

Step 6: Application support and maintenance

Lastly, after all these steps, invest your efforts in assessing its performance. In this phase, you shall collect user feedback and analyze it so that you can easily decide on which part of the product improvement is required and what new functionality your needs are expecting. Similarly, the SaaS development team can help you to tackle complex bugs and plan future functionality.

Key Takeaway

So that’s it for this topic. In closing, we would like to mention that cloud applications are not the only solution for every business, but the SaaS model is gaining popularity due to the features and benefits it offers to customers and developers. So if you are planning to build a SaaS platform, you must follow the steps that we mentioned in the post to enter the market with a high-quality product. Don’t forget to choose a reliable cloud vendor for building incredible SaaS software with enhanced accessibility, 24/7 support, and improved availability.

We hope you find this post useful. It would be great for us if you share this post on Facebook or Twitter to reach more audiences and help the one who you are planning to build an SaaS application. Feel free to mention your queries in the comment section given below and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Till then happy reading!