Software as a Service (SaaS) Gone Too Far

I woke up this morning to a frustrating email from a software company. A company representative actually emailed me with a question about what services I would want if the software cost switched to $1000 per year. This is for a web development application which is already fairly expensive even as a non-SaaS product. But it has been reasonable enough that I have paid for both work and home versions. I have used it for years. Upgrades are around $300 each. I used to upgrade to each new version, which occurred about once a year. But I now upgrade every 2 - 3 years. There are a few reasons for this. For one thing, the software has matured. So I wait for enough new features to compel me to buy an update. Another factor is that I simply do not use it as much as I used to. I was pretty much a full time developer with this software being a primary tool. But I have been more of an administrator at my day job lately and I have decreased the amount of freelance work. I still develop and update web apps both in my main job and as a freelancer so I do use the software but not as much as I used to. The software is still important to me but it is not $1000 per year important.

I see that SaaS can be useful for some software in some companies. But I am frustrated that it has become the only option for some applications. Here are some cases.

Microsoft Office
At work, it makes sense for MS Office to be SaaS because it simplifies management across hundreds of computers. Office 365 also have online features which are useful in a large company environment. But my personal use does not warrant payment of Office as a service. So I use LibreOffice instead. I use it a fair amount but I do not see any of my use justifying a monthly or annual fee. I do donate to LibreOffice and occasionally upgrade. I would be OK even if payment was required for upgrades. I would at least have control over when I upgrade and the cost of upgrades.

Adobe
I work for an international print company. As a print company, the branches do need to maintain the latest of most of the Adobe applications. But the company has recently decided to discontinue some of the licenses. It was decided that many shops only need 1 full Adobe subscription. So this is one company which is beginning to spend less on Adobe because of the forced subscriptions. If Adobe had both the SaaS and non-SaaS options, the company would allow more use of Adobe. Have the subscription services for where they are most important but some uses would do fine with just a desktop version. For instance, most of my use of Adobe at work is fine with the old desktop version which I use. In my home use, I use several Adobe products but the pre-SaaS version 6 works fine for my uses.

Some people argue that having both SaaS and non-SaaS versions would be difficult for software companies. I believe this to be false. This is because the primary parts of most of the SaaS software are still desktop based. The add-ons are what would fit as a separate SaaS package which could be activated if the user has a subscription. It does not need to be an all or none scenario. Even upgrades can be both as a service or separately purchased based on user needs. But the SaaS companies want to force everyone into the same payment model when that is not necessary from either a development or user standpoint. And more software companies are jumping on the SaaS bandwagon as so many people feel like they have to accept the model.

I think that more people should look for alternatives. There are very good alternatives to Microsoft Office. Honestly, I think that most home users would do fine with LibreOffice instead of paying an ongoing fee for Microsoft Office. Even if I did not already have Adobe CS 6, there are alternatives to most Adobe software. Most which I have seen are admittedly not as good but are functional for many people. In the case of the development application which I originally noted in this article, there are also alternatives. I think that it is time for more people to look more closely at non-SaaS versions.