What’s The Difference Between SAAS and Web or Browser Based Programs?

SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) and browser-based programs are two different models of delivering software applications, typically over the internet.

SaaS is a software delivery model where the software is hosted on a remote server owned by the software company and it is accessed over the internet. The user typically pays a subscription fee to use the software, which is delivered as a service. You don’t need a server to use these programs. Your data would reside on the server owned by the software provider and they would be responsible for updates, backups, etc. As long as you keep paying, you’d have access to the data and program.

Browser-based programs are software applications that are accessed through a web browser and can be placed either on a web server (often a second server you own onsite or in a data centre and a good idea if you plan to make these programs accessible to customers or others offsite) or on a virtual web server within your existing server, if it is to be accessed only by those within your organization.

Outward facing web servers can allow people outside your organization to interact with Minotaur, such as for B2B customers placing orders or for sharing documents with your customers such as if you co-pack and want to make inventory of raw materials you store for your customers or CofA’s available to them.

Or, they can be web-based applications designed just for use by those within your organization. These apps provide a new front end for interacting with your Minotaur program and many people enjoy the modern appearance, while not compromising the depth and reliability of the back-end program.

Minotaur has been working on some web-based applications that can make some Minotaur tasks easier and faster and the user interface is built with the latest and greatest web technologies. The programs leverage our over 35 years of experience in building a stable reliable robust ERP system and providing additional functionality to your existing Minotaur system.

Some of the programs we have been creating include:

1. A B2B web-based ordering system with a shopping cart, including the ability for your customers to login, view old invoices and outstanding orders.
2. A warehouse management overhead view with quick search for where items are in the warehouse. This can be set up to follow your physical warehouse layout
3. A Visual Calendar Based Production Planning Tool that allows you to plan production, move planned production to other days, and generate work orders for a day or a month at a time.
4. A Visual Calendar for scheduling live animal receiving for our Abattoir customers (could be adapted for scheduling deliveries for other customers)
5. A new traceability report for those who produce serialized product. It is a highly targeted report that provides for rapid audit response to a particular query type.  On a given date, show me the production for a given product, what you made, what is left in stock, how much was sold and who it was sold to.  It typically produces results on the most complex data in just a few seconds.
6. We have begun work on the flip side of that report which is to trace a raw ingredient that have a long life by lot in your production process.  Sugar for example where the lot could be used for a few weeks worth of production and therefore vast recall details required for mock and real recalls.  Once complete we expect it to also run very fast.  It is targeted specifically for producers that output serialized cases of finished goods.

Talk to us today if you’d like to see a demonstration or add some of the programs to your Minotaur system.