QuesTek CTO Jiadong Gong recently authored an article for SaaS Magazine detailing the opportunities and challenges that face service businesses seeking to create a Software as a Service (SaaS). Jiadong drew on QuesTek’s experience developing the groundbreaking ICMD® Materials Design & Engineering Platform. Here is an excerpt: 

Establishing and growing a successful service business is no easy feat. 

Building a successful SaaS product is one way to unlock a new level of potential for significant scalability and to diversify your revenue streams. Securing product- and subscription-based revenue is like shifting into high gear. 

Of course, there needs to be demand for a software solution. No matter how good the product, you should have a wide potential customer base that can justify the tremendous effort of creating it. There must be potential for scalability and sustainable revenue. 

SaaS offerings are as varied as the markets they serve, but all the truly successful products have one thing in common: a foundation of expertise. Before launching a SaaS product, a company must accumulate enough domain knowledge in a particular area to design a useful product. Service providers are in a great position to do that. 

I recently went through this process as CTO of QuesTek Innovations. Our goal was to convert over 25 years of materials engineering systems, models, and educational materials into our first SaaS product—Integrated Computational Materials Design, or ICMD®.

Read the full article at SaaS Magazine.