{"id":101701,"date":"2021-11-11T10:09:55","date_gmt":"2021-11-11T10:09:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?p=101701"},"modified":"2023-06-13T15:13:55","modified_gmt":"2023-06-13T14:13:55","slug":"software-as-a-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/digital-construction\/bim-news\/software-as-a-service\/101701\/","title":{"rendered":"Serving up the benefits of software as a service for AEC professionals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kyle Tarr, senior business development manager, AEC at FARO Technologies<\/a>, explores how adopting software as a service (SaaS) leads AEC professionals to success<\/h2>\n

If there\u2019s any one statistic that underscores the transformative nature of the information age, it is the speed with which increasing amounts of digital data can be shared.<\/p>\n

From the earliest stirrings of the academic internet with modem speeds of 100-300 bits per second in the 1970s to today\u2019s 5G network, which can achieve data rates of 20 gigabytes per second, none of the burgeoning popularity of software as a service (SaaS) would be possible without it. In a country like the United Kingdom, widely considered a global leader in the information communications technology (ICT) industry and home to London \u2013 the world\u2019s second most connected place for tech after Silicon Valley \u2013 SaaS is speeding toward adoption success across a variety of B2B and B2C industries.<\/p>\n

For AEC professionals using 3D laser scanning<\/a> equipment for buildings that means an unprecedented ability to share enormous amounts of point cloud data anywhere in the world with internal and external project stakeholders, and to do so at lightning speed in a cost-effective, data-secure environment.<\/p>\n

For the uninitiated, SaaS is the technical term for an offshoot of cloud computing. The way it works is simple: companies house software on their own or on a third-party server (a data farm) and grant other companies access to that software via subscription instead of the client company having to purchase the actual software and upload it to their own data network or on individual employees computers. Some of the most well-known SaaS solutions include: Salesforce, Amazon Web Services, Dropbox, Box and Netflix.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at Autodesk, which is the main BIM product company that has Revit in it and AutoCAD, their design tools are available in subscription but are not available natively on the cloud,\u201d explained Vito Marone, the senior director software product marketing for FARO Technologies.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo this journey of going to the cloud is still in its beginnings. But the services around them like BIM 360 and others have been provided as SaaS.\u201d<\/p>\n

SaaS: From mainframe to mainstream<\/h3>\n

While SaaS as a mainstream term has gained currency only in the last decade or two, it\u2019s a concept that dates back to the 1960s. That\u2019s when companies like IBM were building the first mainframe computers. At the time, the cost of data storage was so high \u2013 even in 1981 the cost of a gigabyte of data storage was around $500,000 \u2013 that for a company to tap into this newfound computing power was simply out of reach.<\/p>\n

Instead, IBM would sell limited access to these machines in a system known as \u201ctime sharing”. Compared with buying the computers outright, this was a huge leap forward in cost efficiency and allowed banks and government offices the ability to process large datasets. The early sharing of digital resources had begun.<\/p>\n

With modern SaaS, the same rules apply. Rather than a company having to purchase physical software, sometimes multiple copies of said software, and worry about version updates, ongoing compatibility issues, in-house data security needs, as well as related IT troubleshoots, all of that headache is outsourced to the SaaS provider \u2013 for a price.<\/p>\n

For architecture, engineering and construction professionals, VDC managers, BIM managers, structural engineers, MEP engineers<\/a>, facilities managers and the like, SaaS enables the wireless transfer of huge sums of laser scanner-acquired data shared via the cloud at high speed, as well as the ability to monitor the progress on a given project thousands of miles away without the need to visit the physical asset and without its associated travel, lodging and health and safety costs.<\/p>\n

Additional benefits of a software subscription are twofold and include advantages for both the company offering the SaaS and for its recipients, Marone continued.<\/p>\n

For the SaaS recipient those perks include software use flexibility, system compatibility, enhanced workflows and even new workflow potential. Flexibility is an especially note-worthy asset as subscription models can be tailored to specific SaaS use (eg the customer is only charged for their use of the software, not for having access in, say, a monthly or yearly subscription) or even to specific employees. By adopting what Marone calls a more \u201cmodular approach\u201d, SaaS disrupts the \u201cone size fits all\u201d paradigm that tends to bloat corporate budgets and eat into profits.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe risks on the user side are little as the vendor wants to ensure future payments and customer satisfaction is key,\u201d added Udo Haedicke, FARO software product<\/a> manager.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the SaaS model it doesn\u2019t end with the sale, it starts there. From this moment, the vendor needs to continuously deliver value to the customer with its service, ensuring new features while supporting customers\u2019 workflows tied into their ecosystem of other software solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, SaaS influences the way the software is developed itself as quality control becomes increasingly important, Haedicke continued. If the customer no longer sees value, he or she will simply stop using the software, knowing there was no burdensome upfront investment cost. Unshackled from a physical single purchase, said user can investigate other solutions that best meet their needs. It\u2019s all highly democratic.<\/p>\n

For SaaS providers the benefits include:<\/h3>\n