Smoothspan had a three part series interviewing the CEO of Concur.
Some great quotes;
“SaaS accelerates sales. You can’t argue with the numbers. Cycles are shorter in every segment. The reason is lower up-front capital commitment. The Customer is more comfortable. No long term commitment. No point to try before you buy, it’s more expensive to try before you buy, so they just dive in”
“Pricing is always a philosophical discussion that intersects with market realities. While market leaders can often demand pricing premiums and while investors will always ask to increase prices on a periodic basis, we think the right approach in the SaaS market is to price aggressively in favor of the customer. Given that the leverage point in this business model is the technology stack that you are utilizing, there is plenty of opportunity to drive. very impressive operating margin. Increasing operating margin is purely a function of building scale [more customers signing up for the service]” – I’d add that a SaaS/v play makes more sense as it enables a higher margin, lower unit number strategy
Some good points – SaaS players should check out the whole series