Monetisation

SaaS business model creates predictable, steady revenue streams rather than chunky sales cycles by changing software pricing model from one-time purchases to recurring subscriptions. To support this change, SaaS application architecture has to adopt to the new pricing model. Below are several architectural dimensions that worth considering to make sure the application architecture is aligned with the new business model.

Tenancy model determines how tenants' resources are deployed. SaaS providers can tailor deployment strategies based on required performance, cost, and security. For example, premium tenants may receive dedicated infrastructure for enhanced performance, security and reliability, while basic tenants share resources to reduce operational costs.

Tenant cost allocation allows resource usage costs to be split among the tenant base and informs pricing optimisations. Allocating the cost of dedicated resources is usually straightforward, but shared tenant resources require more effort to allocate accurately. The required level of cost allocation accuracy and granularity will depend on the chosen pricing model.

Billing and metering systems provide the foundation for flexible usage-based pricing models. By capturing detailed usage data like API calls, storage, and transactions they allow SaaS providers to introduce advanced models tailored to customer needs. This creates competitive differentiation, enabling businesses to monetise more effectively while offering transparency and fairness to customers.

Tenant performance isolation guarantees that system resources are allocated according to the tenant’s subscription level. This makes the business model sustainable and prevents higher-tier customers from being negatively impacted by excessive usage from lower-tier tenants.

A flexible pricing model differentiates a SaaS provider in the market. To support this, a well-designed application architecture has to ensure the system can handle varying subscription tiers, usage-based pricing, or add-on features. Together, these elements enable a SaaS provider to scale effectively and maintain competitiveness.