Probably the simplest thing SaaS apps can do to improve their business is to use web services to improve the functionality of their application. By integrating third party applications in “Corporate Mash-Ups” SaaS companies can have the best of both worlds; a robust feature set and a complete focus on their core product.

Companies like SalesForce and WebEx have all shown the value of doing things like offering on-line ordering and billing, tracking site usage, and adding strong reporting and user management features. The problem with all of these additional features take programming time away from the core value of the apps, sales force automation and collaboration. That’s fine if you have 100’s of million in funding and 8 years of development. What’s the new SaaS app to do?

Fortunately, we have a new world of apps available to add that functionality. No longer is it just Google Maps and Hoover information. There is a ton of new apps you can integrate via api’s or web services. Examples include:

• TriCipher - For strong identity management and integration with corporate directories.
• Sabrix - For tax calculations.
• PivotLink - For graphs and pivot tables.
• OpSource Billing - If I don’t get one corporate plug in, Richard, Kim, and Christina get mad.
• Business Objects - For Crystal Reports and others.
• Ribbit - For integrating Cell Phones in to your app. If that doesn’t make sense, go to their site. It’s extremely cool.

This list could be ten times as long and it’s growing daily. Needless to say, a lot of the “extraneous” work of creating the app can now be integrated instead of programmed, allowing your precious coders to focus on the core value you are selling to your customers. This not only keeps the R&D costs down, it allows for more robust apps to hit the market sooner.

Up next, Silo Busting 3 - web services for enterprise integration.