Software + Service = Success

Forfront are delighted to, once again, offer services through both G-Cloud and DOS frameworks. But the benefit of being able to offer not only an off-the-shelf solution in e-shot, but also the skills and expertise in-house to be able to develop and integrate to meet your precise requirements.  

Top 10 benefits of employing e-shot as a SaaS solution 

1. Affordable 

e-shot is sold on a subscription basis that includes upgrades, maintenance and customer support. There is also the option to purchase add-on services like template creation or consultancy if you need it. 

2. Quick to Deploy 

With e-shot, all you need is a web browser and internet access, and you’re ready to go. Whereas traditional software can take weeks or even months to deploy, e-shot doesn’t require any software to be installed and so you are able to access it immediately. 

3. No additional Infrastructure requirements 

When delivering business applications via SaaS, the complexity of the underlying IT infrastructure is all handled by your SaaS vendor. Users do not need to worry about the maintenance of hardware, or which operating system version supports which database – your SaaS vendor will take care of all of this for you, so you don’t have to. 

4. Seamless Upgrades  

We will manage software updates and upgrades for you, eliminating the need to install or download patches. At any one time, you can be assured that you will always have the most up to date software. Software updates are always performed outside working hours, usually between 8pm-midnight and we will give you a minimum of 24 hours' notice that there is going to be a release (although with detail of what the release includes) 

5.  Guaranteed Levels of Service 

With most traditional software, you are not given a guarantee on how well it will perform, with SaaS you are. At e-shot for instance, we have  

Target of platform availability: 99.9%.  

• 2019 platform availability 99.98%.  

• 2020 platform availability 99.99%.  

6. Backups and Data Recovery all done for you 

If you are familiar with traditional software, you will know that unless a costly automated solution has been implemented, the process of backing up your data on a weekly basis can be laborious at the best of times. SaaS solutions eradicate this painstaking task, instigating automatic backups without user intervention and thus ensuring the integrity of your data. 

7. Work Anywhere 

Providing there is an internet connection, e-shot can be accessed from anywhere in the world. Users are able to access their data and work more efficiently from anywhere, making life easier for home-workers or for those people that work across multiple sites. And user access is protected by 2FA. 

8. Security 

In many instances, an organisations’ business information is more secure in a SaaS solution, than in traditional software.  Read more about our security measures.

9. High Adoption Rates 

As SaaS solutions are delivered over the internet, there is virtually no learning curve involved with adopting a new solution as employees tend to already be used to working on the internet. At e-shot we also include different levels of user training as part of our standard onboarding process to ensure all users are fully trained from the outset 

10. Long Term Customer Relationship 

We believe that this last point to be the most significant. This means we are very focused on ensuring you remain happy customers over the long term. Our customer success team are available via email, phone and live chat and can help with all account, design and technical queries. 

Potential concerns of using a SaaS solution 

SaaS model sometimes has certain shortcomings, including:  

• Complex data management or integration requirements -  

• Lack of control - in-house software application gives businesses a higher degree of control than hosted solutions where control resides with a third party. Typically everyone has to use the latest version of the software application and cannot defer upgrades or changes in the features. 

• Security and data concerns - access management and the privacy of sensitive information can be a major consideration around cloud and hosted services. 

• One size fits all – can't tailor to business’ requirements or influence the development roadmap. 

But SaaS + DOS = Success 

Why e-shot 

Moving data manually between your core business systems can lead to issues and inaccuracies. We offer different ways to automate and integrate depending on your needs.  

Simple integrations requiring no coding can be set up in minutes. Custom integrations can also be tailored to your specific needs. Our in-house technical team have the skills and experience to provide bespoke integrations on a fully project-managed basis. 

We are Cyber Essentials accredited and we follow the Cloud Security principles as defined by NCSC.  

E-shot is secure by design and by following DevOps practices though our detailed and extensive testing and UAT processes any updated are rigorously tested to ensure there is no negative impact on our clients. 

We also listen to our customers, holding regular “Dev Clubs” where we engage with our users to define our future roadmap and review upcoming enhancements prior to their release. 

With e-shot gov you achieve both SaaS and a service, with a level of technical expertise, particularly in relation to the specific demands of the public sector, that are unique in the marketplace.