Governments around the world are making substantial changes to their environmental policies, and working towards a sustainable future through transparency, accountability, and community. Regions like the USA, Canada, and the EU have embarked on implementing mandatory climate disclosures. This is a good thing.
As a result, companies are implementing ESG data collection, dissemination, analyzing, and reporting procedures. However, without the right infrastructure, this can become a daunting task riddled with errors, redundancies, and labor inefficiencies.
One of the solutions is to onboard environmental SaaS software that is designed specifically for this purpose. However, making a case for SaaS in your organization can also be an uphill battle.
In this article, we’ll cover what SaaS is and how it can help your organization. Additionally, we’ll outline how to identify stakeholders and decision makers, so you can arm yourself with the right information to make a case for SaaS in your organization.
Let’s get started.
what is SaaS and how does it work?
SaaS is an acronym for software as a service. SaaS is a special type of software that is a form of secure cloud computing. It manages all the physical and software resources that an application would normally use.
Whether your team is aware or not, the chances of your company already using SaaS services is quite high. As an example, Salesforce in particular, is one of the top SaaS companies used in the world. The provider hosts their own security, keeping multiple backups in various global locations, and offers users licenses which allows companies to scale as their business shifts and grows.
Generally speaking, SaaS works through a cloud delivery model. A software provider will usually host the application and data on its own servers, databases, networks, and computing resources. You can see how this could save companies a lot of money in up-front costs, as well as continual maintenance they would normally have to perform in-house.
From there, SaaS applications can be accessed via web browsers. Some SaaS software can be downloaded and used as applications, with the data and support accessed via remote servers hosted by the provider.
Other SaaS providers include:
- Google Workspace, including Gmail, Google Drive, and its component programs such as Google Docs, Google Sheets, and so forth.
- Microsoft Azure, which offers a host of features.
- HubSpot, which many companies use in their marketing strategies.
- Zoom, which has gained considerable popularity in the wake of the COVID-19 lockdowns and a shift to work-from-home.
With SaaS, the software distribution model is a secure cloud-based one in which a provider hosts the applications, making them available to the users over the internet. Because of this, security, updates, patch fixes, and so forth are shouldered by the provider, reducing risks, lowering overhead costs, and labor costs of doing this in-house.
While SaaS isn’t exactly new, many companies still operate under older, legacy systems that use on-location hardware and infrastructure that can be extremely expensive, difficult to scale, and not often customizable. Additionally, as the servers and other hardware components are housed on location, if disaster strikes (floods, fires, etc.), or a data breach occurs, asset loss is considerable and can even cause a company to close its doors.
Today, there are many applications for SaaS, from manufacturing to finance, government, public sectors, and education. Even the health care and public sectors use SaaS software in their daily operations.
Some of the features that SaaS software provides can include:
- Scalability
- Low-code or no-code seamless integration with workflow systems
- Unified security provided by host provider
- Software deployment, training, and support
- Security and compliance audits
There are, of course, a myriad of uses for SaaS, including ESG reporting.
what is ESG reporting SaaS?
As you are most likely aware, ESG (environmental, social, and governance) is a set of policies and rules that govern how companies operate with the collective goal of sustainability.
More governments around the world are implementing climate disclosures in an effort to bolster transparency, accountability, and action towards sustainable industry and manufacturing. This transparency is in the form of required ESG reporting. While each region may have different reporting requirements, as companies become more global, there’s a collective effort towards unifying these requirements and making a standardized set of rules and procedures, globally.
ESG reporting is the process of collecting, analyzing, and monitoring sustainability data of an organization’s environmental and social impacts. These reports are disclosed (usually publicly, given the push towards transparency by stakeholders and investors), and generally include:
- GHG emissions
- Waste management
- Energy efficiency
- Biodiversity
- Climate change
- Air and water quality
- Water usage
- Deforestation
- Diversity, equity and inclusion
- Employee wages and benefits
- Board compensation and structure
These reports also include the financial impacts on a company that are directly related to climate change, including any investments – past, present, and planned – a company has made towards climate change activities.
ESG reporting SaaS is the software that companies can use to manage all of the data collection, storage, organization, and reporting. To learn more in-depth about ESG reporting software, head over here.
how to identify the right ESG SaaS for your organization
Now that you have a general understanding of what SaaS is and how it can operate, you may be wondering what particular features you should be looking for when researching ESG SaaS software for your organization. It’s a bit of an undertaking, so we’ll try to give you the best head start possible.
First, identify your ESG governance structure. Who are the personnel directly involved in ESG reporting in your company? These individuals will have a plethora of knowledge on what is needed in your organization to make the most out of your ESG data.
If you haven’t already organized an ESG governance team, now would be a good time as you dive deeper into your company’s ESG reporting needs and structure.
With your team, identify the following factors:
- What reporting policies and procedures exist in your region? This includes all the regions in which other facilities might exist as well.
- What are your scalability needs? Do you anticipate expansion or contraction within the foreseeable future, and if so, will that impact your ESG reporting needs?
- What is your budget?
- What workflow systems do you need integrated?
- What type of data will you be collecting?
These are just a few questions to help get you started, but as you dig deeper into what your company needs, there will be other questions that will crop up.
Once you’ve got a handle on what is required of a SaaS solution, next will be identifying stakeholders and gaining buy-in.
getting ESG software buy-in from stakeholders
First, you’ll want to identify who your stakeholders are and what roles they hold. Ultimately, these stakeholders need to become champions of ESG and sustainability. Without this, making a case for sustainability SaaS in your company will be an uphill battle.
How can you create excitement among stakeholders for sustainability? First, understand the barriers. Here are a few that your stakeholders might be experiencing.
1. no clear path between goals and actions
If your stakeholders can’t see a clear path between company ESG sustainability objectives and the actions needed to achieve those goals, this can be a roadblock. Because of this, stakeholders can easily become discouraged, resulting in a lack of support.
2. no buy-in
Of course, this is our objective: securing stakeholder buy-in. Stakeholder buy-in is critical for all aspects of ESG and sustainability endeavors, both short- and long-term. Without buy-in, particularly from leadership roles, securing the means to move forward with ESG and sustainability reporting will be dead in the water.
3. climate burnout
Climate burnout is a very real thing, for not just stakeholders, but everyone. It can lead to anxiety, depression, and a myriad of other ailments. Particularly for company stakeholders, this is a very real problem as there are a lot of considerations that these individuals need to be analyzing on a daily basis. Additionally, their decisions can have far-reaching consequences, if made poorly. Everything they do must be carefully considered.
how to make a case for SaaS in your organization
As we’ve already outlined, the first step in moving towards SaaS environmental software for your organization is getting buy-in from stakeholders. Your first step, of course, is to identify who your stakeholders are.
Key stakeholders play a critical role in an organization’s success. They help companies make strategic decisions while minimizing risk, all to help your organization grow. Part of that growth is adopting systems that help your entire organization work towards sustainability.
Stakeholders’ key roles vary from industry to industry, and from company to company. Generally, key stakeholders’ responsibilities can include:
- Providing financial support by way of investments
- Helping pave the way for your company’s initiatives, assignments, or new directions
- They will often ask for updates on a company’s projects and related outcomes
- Contribute input and resources during planning and leadership meetings
Alongside the roles that key stakeholders have in your organization, there are a few different types of stakeholders, many of whom you might consider when obtaining buy-in for ESG SaaS for your company.
1. employees
Yes, employees are key stakeholders! In fact, they may be some of your most important stakeholders as they are the ones working on the daily operations and keeping the business thriving. They are also the ones you will need to get on-board with any new initiatives, like rolling out ESG SaaS software.
When considering employees as your key stakeholders, look to your project managers, shift leaders, and human resources. These are the people who can best inform you as to the viability of various solutions, and who you will need to gain buy-in from.
2. customers
The public is now more than ever aware and invested in a sustainable, greener, more equitable future. They are more conscious about where they buy from and the processes through which the products they do purchase end up in their homes. This includes pay equity, diversity, green energy, locally sourced, and so forth.
Bringing aboard software that helps your company achieve these customer requirements will help your company build public trust through transparency and accountability. While that may not be direct buy-in, a straight line can be drawn.
3. investors
Investors are usually the key stakeholders of a company because they have invested their own money in the organization. Therefore, if an organization flourishes, so does the investor reap the rewards.
Not only that, investors want to invest in companies that are paving the way to a greener, more responsible and sustainable future. If your company makes concerted efforts to achieve these goals, investors will continue to invest.
Investors may also play a critical role in making your case for SaaS in your organization as they may, in fact, be the ones financing it. Being able to demonstrate the numerous benefits of ESG SaaS can help pave the way for you.
4. company executives and leadership
Executives and leadership personnel are another one of the key stakeholders you need the green light from when moving forward with company-wide SaaS adoption.
As the executive team will most likely be making the final decisions on crucial objectives related to the organization’s daily operations, obtaining approval from company leadership for ESG SaaS adoption will go a long way.
5. your community
It may not be immediately obvious, but the community in which an organization operates – and the community it serves – is one of the most important stakeholders in an organization. Not only will that community most likely be part of your integral personnel, but they may in fact be your customers as well.
As we’ve mentioned above, the public is more aware now than ever before of the impact that industry can have on the health of a community. The local community can have a significant effect on the health of business operations and decisions.
how to make a case for deploying a sustainability SaaS in your organization
Now that you have a clear understanding of what ESG SaaS is, and who your stakeholders are, it’s time to put that knowledge into action.
How can you make a case for SaaS in your organization? While each organization is different, some vastly so, here are a few general steps to get you started.
1. determine the ask for each stakeholder
What’s the ask? Sure, the overall goal is to move forward with a SaaS solution for your organization, but how you go about getting buy-in will vary depending on each stakeholder you’re approaching. And you won’t necessarily need to approach all stakeholders.
For example, getting buy-in from a CFO will look very different than getting buy-in from project managers. While the CFO will need to look at hard figures, projections, and a clear trajectory that can be traced explicitly to the new adoption, project managers will be looking at the onboarding process, the employee excitement, and how SaaS will impact their daily tasks.
Find the particular ask for each stakeholder and tailor your approach to that.
2. be ready with all the homework
Each stakeholder will also have specific questions. Be ready. Do your research, ask questions, test demos, and utilize the SaaS provider’s customer success and retention team. They will be your main point of contact for every question and concern that your stakeholders will be voicing.
3. lead with proof
You’ve done your homework and identified the individual needs of key stakeholders. Now it’s time to prepare your proof. Stick to the key points that you know will be important to each stakeholder. Focus on the benefits that will appeal to each. Lead with examples if possible. A demo trial should be able to help you understand the software and convey this to decision makers.
lead sustainability in your organization with ESG SaaS
Companies are embracing ESG reporting as part of their overall strategies. But making the transition from legacy systems to cloud-based ESG SaaS can be a daunting task. This shouldn’t stop your organization from achieving its sustainability goals.
AMCS helps companies pave the way for responsible reporting, transparency, and a sustainable future. To find out more about how AMCS can meet your ESG data needs, speak with one of our experts today.