SaaS versus license

The philosophy of Valadis is to meet client needs as much as possible. This premise has a lot to do with what the Internet should bring to businesses and with technology as a challenge to all. Any challenge can be met, it is just a question of time and money, and the Internet enables us to adapt to the ideal scenario for any business in a market as varied as the travel market. We apply this approach to the model we offer our clients to enable them to profit from our technological solution.

In this regard, we are able to identify several customer profiles:

• Those who prefer to subcontract their technological platform and rely on a partner who keeps all tools updated, constantly innovating and providing continuous support and maintenance services.
• Those who are more comfortable acquiring a licence, therefore having the platform itself with reduced maintenance support. They then have the choice to review and assess any upgrades or improvements subsequently offered over time by the technology supplier.
• Those who not only wish to acquire the platform, but who also wish to program specific applications independently, requiring only support services.

Platform subcontracting solutions are SaaS-based (Software as a Service). The platform is “rented” and its cost is determined by the business turnover generated over the platform itself and a number of secondary support and maintenance costs.

The acquisition of the licence gives the business the right to purchase the software with an associated maintenance service; licence acquisition with programming independence offers the chance to program on the source code via a specific interface designed for this purpose.

There are no strictly good or bad options. The choice depends on a number of factors which determine which is the most appropriate for the customer:

• Opportunity and convenience of making an investment in a licence rather than the ease of directly linking the business generation via the platform with the costs entailed therein; that is, investment v. variable cost.
• To have an in-house technology team or a systems and/or technology department able to supervise the management of the platform and the strategic direction of the area, but not large enough to take on a full project.
• To assess the convenience of having a technology partner with whom the business can grow technologically in a gradual and continuous manner, having access at all times to the latest upgrades and improvements. This approach is implicit in the SaaS model, whereas the licence model involves the need for gradually purchasing any upgrades released. Once again we face the investment-variable cost dilemma.
• The Management’s position with regard to ownership. This issue carries considerable weight, implying greater business confidence if the platform is owned.
• The decision of whether or not to take on specific developments on the platform to be made by in-house programming teams.
• The forecast business turnover and the probability of achieving it.

Lastly, I believe in the strategic importance of ensuring, in both options, that there is a perfect integration between the client technology and business areas with the technological partner; either alternative is fully valid, and both can be seamlessly and successfully achieved.

Antonio Peña
CEO
Valadis System