January 2023 saw Orbus Software become one of just four firms in the enterprise architecture management software-as-a-service (SaaS) market to be recognized as leaders by both Gartner and Forrester. Unsurprisingly, we are very proud of this achievement and the position we hold in our chosen market.
But what does it mean for a SaaS provider to be a market leader? Market share, recurring revenue, profitability and customer retention are all key indicators of leadership, but these are only the results. What makes a business a market leader boils down to one critical factor: consistently delivering value for its customers.
For a business-to-business SaaS provider this means developing a great platform with rich capabilities that empower users to deliver tangible business value to their organizations. Whether it’s increased competitiveness, productivity gains, higher margins or cost reduction, it’s about delivering customer success year after year.
If you just look at the results, it’s easy to forget the sheer dedication and hard work it takes to make a company a market leader. It also means making the right decisions so that you can excel at the fundamentals of delivering customer success on a continual basis.
Defining the ideal customer profile
The first of these fundamentals is selecting the right strategy. Businesses must focus on the customers who will benefit the most from their platform, identify their current and most urgent challenges, and dedicate a roadmap to delivering solutions to those challenges. Orbus has refined its ideal customer profile over the years to ensure we deliver the most value where it counts.
Embracing a people-focused culture
The next important consideration to become a leader is hiring and retaining the right people. Growing a motivated, highly skilled, productive team of talented individuals is sure to deliver success for customers. At Orbus, we prioritize our core values of working together, cutting through the chaos, owning the problem and, quite simply, being extraordinary.
Standing out from the crowd
Market leaders must also innovate to differentiate themselves. Any credible competition will aim to provide solutions for the same customer needs, which means a leader needs to solve their challenges faster, more easily or by providing something that other vendors can’t. Orbus is able to draw on considerable time and experience to provide unparalleled flexibility and ‘out of the box’ value with our platform.
The privilege (and challenge) of market leadership is that other businesses look to the leaders to set the standard. Businesses don’t become or remain a leader by only getting some of the fundamentals right some of the time; they need to constantly focus on excelling in delivering success for their customers.
This article was originally published in the Spring 2023 issue of Technology Record.