As an aggregator of different SaaS solutions from different
application providers, Jamcracker has seen rapid adoption of
solutions offered by its partners through its network. In the last
six months, the company has signed up more than 600 customers, for
SaaS based solutions offered by its partners. Majority of the
company’s customers are from the SMB segment—a market
that is made of over 6 million Indian enterprises, contributing to
42 percent of India’s total exports.
This is a huge untapped market, and few vendors have succeeded
because most solutions such as ERP and CRM applications are
perceived to be expensive by companies in the SMB segment. By
offering a portfolio of affordable SaaS based products and backing
it up with relevant support, Jamcracker has succeeded in creating a
niche that has resulted in a win-win situation for both product
vendors and end customers.
For example, Delhi Freight Corporation, a mid-sized transportation
company earlier relied on manual excel sheets to track its trucks
and cargo. When the company evaluated the cost of on-premise
software, it found out that the proposed fleet management solution
would mean 3 months of development activity and 1 month for
implementation. The cost proposed was Rs 10 lakh and 35 percent
annual maintenance fees. The TCO for a 3-year period was Rs 17
lakh.
Compared to the above solution, the SaaS Fleet Management solution
offered by Jamcracker took a development time of just 15 days, a
one–time setup fee of Rs 1.5 lakh, and a monthly subscription
fee of Rs 5000. The 3 year TCO for the SaaS solution was Rs 3.3
lakh. The difference between the on-premise and SaaS solution is a
mammoth Rs 13.7 lakh. Having chosen the SaaS based model, the
company has quickly migrated from a process based on manual sheets
to a complete browser-based fleet management solution within a
period of two weeks.
Another customer that has benefited from the SaaS model is
Headstart School, which has gained more than 64 percent savings
thanks to its decision to go in for a Student Information System
based on a SaaS model.
Says M Laxmi Narayan (Lux) Rao, Marketing Director, Global Sales
Programs, Jamcracker, “The economic climate has spurred the
adoption of SaaS based solutions. We are signing up more than 50
customers every month. Popular product categories include
messaging, anti-virus solutions, CRM, HRMS and online backup
services.”
IT Supermall in the cloud
Lux says that the company would like to position Jamcracker’s
platform as an ‘IT Supermall in the cloud’ wherein
leading retailers display their wares, and customers walk in to
pick the product they want. A self-provisioning feature allows SMBs
to subscribe to the service they want, with Jamcracker taking care
of help desk services, and billing and collections support.
For product vendors (especially startups), it opens new
opportunities for doing business. Lux says that for a small ISV,
the leap in business is approximately eight times in two quarters.
This is because besides the extensive distribution network of
resellers in international markets, Jamcracker also provides the
ISV with sales support.
SMBs who subscribe to multiple applications on Jamcracker’s
platform, just need to go to Jamcracker’s help desk to
resolve any problem. “With an integrated service, SMBs have
only one throat to choke. We are fully responsible for every
product we offer through our platform,” says Lux.
Targeting new horizons
With more than 50 services and about 100 variants of products
offered by its partners on its platform, Jamcracker is now looking
at new business avenues that will further push adoption. These
include exploring non traditional channels such as telecom service
providers. “Telecom service providers have access to
thousands of customers. By partnering with us, they can deliver
business applications, security offerings and even backup services
via a subscription model, just as they do for their traditional
telecom services,” explains Lux.
The timing is appropriate as telecom service providers in India are
keen to increase their revenues from non-voice and value added
services, as margins from voice have been on a downward spiral due
to increased competition.