WTF is Websites as a Service (WSaaS) and who should use it

With the launch of our newly designed website WebriQ, I would like to introduce you to the concept of Websites-as-A-Service. More evolutionary than revolutionary, the move to a service-based model versus a project-based model, is a logical step for all businesses that are keen to outsource the most complex elements of designing, developing, hosting and maintaining a modern website.

Background

A web project, even a simple brochure only web project can be a cumbersome exercise for a lot of companies. 

• What can I do in-house? 
• What should I do in-house? 
• Do I hire a freelancer for the project or a web development company to do the job? 
• Or an agency to do my marketing and my website development? 
• How can I be sure that my website is future proof, and that I can make adjustments on the fly when my business requires this? 
• How does my website stay up to date on both content and technology? 
• What if suddenly my business starts growing at a faster pace? 
• Do I need to redo my project all over? 

These are just a few of the many questions you will ask yourselves when starting a new web project, the question is where do you find the right answers. 

A simplified approach is to recognize that any web project has two essential components

• A marketing/marketing communication/sales element
• A technology element

Every business is capable of putting the marketing element together through an in-house exercise, in the end, you are an operating business with customers and revenue. Or there is a plan (marketing/sales plan) to get to customers and revenue.

The technology element is much trickier. Very few companies have in-house resources to launch a web project. The outsourcing options are so vast, that choices are difficult to make. The answer is to buy into Website as a Service (WSaaS) instead of running a web project.

Major advantages of Websites as a Service (WSaaS)

The cost and associated risk factor.

If you start a web project, you are typically asked to come up with 50% of the project cost upfront and 50% of the project cost at final delivery, which is within 120 days. Even for simpler projects, the initial cash layout could be between $4,000 and $7,000. Beyond the upfront cost, there is a risk factor that your vendor will not perform or not perform on time. 

If you opt for Websites as a Service (WSaaS) the initial cash layout will be under $1,000 and at the time your web project is live you will have spent less then $1,500. The ongoing service contract guarantees you that your vendor will make an effort to keep you as a customer for a long period of time and service your web project.

Your web project has no start date and no end date

Your web project will go live, obviously, but this go-live date is in no way the start and far from the end of your web project. If you have new ideas, new marketing messages, new client testimonials, product or service updates, they all will find their way into your web project. That is the essence of a service, it does not stop until you decide to stop it.

You will be proud of your web project

Very few companies get their design or messaging right from the first go. Buying into a service guarantees you will be proud of your web project, without being pressured by time or extra money if you change your mind on the design or content elements of the web project.

Your web project can evolve and grow with your business

Your website will never be outdated or look old fashioned. Whenever you have changes to your business, small or big, your website will reflect that. Whatever you share internally with your employees, share it with your online audience. 

Your website may have a couple of hundred visitors initially, but when your audience grows to a couple of thousand a month, the service will guarantee that all your customers have the same online experience. No need to pay extra as your traffic grows, nor do you need to add network capacity or change your technology platform due to increasing traffic. All things that are very common when you approach a web project as on one-time exercise. 

Always up to date with your sales and marketing messages

The Websites as a Service model guarantees an updated website with your marketing messages. Anyone that comes in contact with your company, will check your website almost immediately after. If the sales or marketing messages delivered on your website are inconsistent with sales and marketing messages delivered in other online or offline channels, chances are you lost a potential new customer. 

Always up to date when it comes to technologies used

Modern web technologies and development tools have a tendency to change. The 'as a service' model assures you that the technologies used by the service will evolve with the introduction of new, more up to date development tools. Until recently, monolithic web development platforms, such as Wordpress, Joomla or Drupal got the upper hand. With the advent of smartphones, these platforms are no longer adapted to a new way of building websites. 

If your website is one of those platforms, your website may no longer be up to date and you will be faced with a platform change, most likely sooner than later.  A service that is not up to date will see customers leaving in hordes and quickly adapt. The change in technology will cost you nothing if you stay with the service.

Access to a pool of designers and developers

Freelancers are usually specialized - they are either good designers or good developers, rarely both. That would mean you need 2 freelancers to run the project effectively. Web agencies are marketing and design-driven and have a small staff of developers in-house. Some of them are outsourcing the development of the web project, which gives you very little insights on how your entire project comes together and what development tools are used for your project. 

With Websites as a Service (WSaaS), you have access to a pool of designers and web developers, and this on a permanent basis. A service company will have web developers that are specialized in mobile design, mobile development, UI design, payment gateways to name a few. You are no longer depending on one or two individuals to run your web project

Hosting, Domain settings, maintenance, and uptime.

A piece of advise here, if I may. Make sure you own your domain, and that you have access to that domain at all times. It is your asset and you should be the owner of that asset. All other elements of your website like hosting, domain setting and maintenance can be or even should be outsourced. 

Freelancers struggle heavily here, and even web agencies struggle to get you the right answers and service. Domain registrars do not bother, they want to sell more services to you, not serve you better. In an ‘as a service’ model, this is part of the service, as a standard, and comes at no additional cost to the service. If the service is down, it will be restored within minutes. If your self-managed website is down or hacked, it may never come back, think about that for a moment.

Customer Service

Your website is a bunch of code after all, and sometimes it has bugs or it breaks. Not entirely perhaps, but certain functionality may cause errors on your website. Needless to say that your reputation as a company is at stake. What do you do though??

Freelancers can help you, but you will have to negotiate and pay up. Your web agency can help, but the likelihood that they accept the fault is theirs is minimal - so negotiating and paying up can be an annoying process. Best case you have a service contract, you call the contractor and the fix can be done. 

But don't be fooled, even in the latter case, it can take time and additional pay ups before it is done. In an ‘as a Service’ model, you just submit a ticket to the Helpdesk and your issue will be fixed within hours, and as part of your service contract, no questions asked. And you will chat, email or speak to humans who can immediately relate to your query. 

Who should use Websites as a Service (WSaaS)

A better question to ask is who should not use Websites as a Service. In the end, I believe that all web projects should ultimately be run ‘as a Service’, not as a project. Smaller companies may need to outsource the Service entirely to a third party, bigger organizations will surely have the capacity to insource some of the Service aspects of the web project, such as design updates, content updates, and technology updates. 

Every respectable company wants a complete working, up to date and always on website. Only a service model can guarantee you that, and whether you opt for a complete outsourced model or a hybrid where you insource certain elements of the service is dependant on your own in-house resources. If you have not covered all your service bases upfront, your web project will be exposed to errors, downtime, and fixes that will take time and money, and most importantly a potential loss of customer reputation and loss of revenue.