Today’s organizations focus on reducing costs, streamlining processes, and increasing efficiencies. As a result, software-as-a-service (SaaS) models have become increasingly popular in the software industry. New SaaS offerings are being released almost every day, and this article explores how a PIM solution as a service (PIM-as-a-Service) model might streamline your processes and cut costs.
This article will discuss the benefits of Product information management as a service or PIMSaaS, the types of PIMSaaS solutions you can implement, and how you can implement this solution in your organization.
What is PIM?
Product information management (PIM) is a set of processes and tools that enable companies to manage catalog data, images, and product specifications associated with their products. PIM solutions allow companies to manage the data critical to their end customers’ purchasing decisions. A PIM solution consists of a central repository that holds product data and a workflow engine that enables users to manage the product data. PIM solutions enable users to associate different product data with entities such as products, customers, vendors, and variants. The data stored in a PIM solution enables users to create product data feeds used for automation within the supply chain. These data feeds allow companies to automate product information, such as item location, price, and availability.
PIM-as-a-Service Benefits
When buying a PIM solution, you should consider whether PIM-as-a-Service (PIM-aaS) is a better option. There are several compelling benefits of a PIM as a Service model. Some of them are listed below.
PIM-as-a-Service is an IT service offering that allows enterprises to manage all aspects of their primary and secondary email systems through a single portal. It provides organizations with the tools they need to:
- Perform email monitoring, including message filtering and spam detection
- Configure email policies and controls such as email access controls, email encryption, and email archiving – Manage user access to their organization’s email infrastructure.
- Automate tasks such as archiving and retention for compliance purposes
- Maintain security awareness for all employees
- Optimize employee productivity by providing easier access to corporate resources
- Reduce inefficiency and waste by eliminating manual processes
- Increase employee engagement and retention by empowering employees with secure, personal access to corporate resources
How to implement a PIM-as-a-Service?
When implementing a PIM-as-a-Service solution, the first thing to consider is the model the service provider uses. Some PIM solutions are offered as a fully hosted model, where the vendor provides everything from hardware to software. You need to provide access to the data that needs to be managed. Other PIM solutions offer a combination of on-premises software and a public cloud service. In this case, you will host the PIM software on your premises and then use a secure connection to interact with it. The next thing to consider is the PIM solution provider’s service-level agreement (SLA). Ensure that the PIM provider provides an SLA to meet your business requirements. Once you select a vendor, you need to identify business use cases that the PIM solution can address. Make sure that you review the solution’s feature set and compare it with your business requirements.
Final words: Is PIM as a Service the future of product data management?
With the growing popularity of PIM, the demand for PIM-as-a-Service is also increasing. With the advantages of PIM-as-a-Service, it makes sense to move towards this model. This model will reduce the costs associated with setting up a PIM solution and maintenance costs. The vendor will host the solution and manage the solution’s underlying infrastructure. This frees up your team to focus on business problems rather than managing the technology stack. There is also less risk involved in implementing a PIM-as-a-Service solution because you are not responsible for managing the infrastructure and the operating system. As an organization, you need to evaluate the PIM solution providers, analyze their SLAs, assess the solution’s feature set, and then choose a vendor that provides a PIM-as-a-Service solution.
An excellent example of a PIM-SaaS is SalesLayers
