India Inc & COVID-19: How’s the SaaS Ecosystem Dealing With the Crisis

The COVID crisis has hit the world harder than many could imagine. With many companies facing budget freeze, technological issues, and downsizing — there is a need to understand this landscape. 

Saas providers are unable to set up meetings and pitch to clients. The markets do not work the same way they used to before this crisis. It’s time for all providers to take a step back and reassess the situation. 

To understand how the SaaS ecosystem deals with the crisis, MoEngage sparked a discussion with  Khadim Batti. He is the Co-founder & CEO of Whatfix, a provider of digital adaptation tools.

Below are some of the key takeaways from this chat: 

Understanding Whatfix

WhatFix helps brands with onboarding, training, and support of software applications. They aim to drive adoption to reduce the cost of training and enhance the overall productivity of any company by supplying the right tools. 

They ensure that a low on staff, managers, and trainers can onboard new software with ease. In addition, they make digital adoption easier for those short-staffed, low on budgets, or directly looking for a faster way to enhance customer experience. 

They support interactive programs and guides for websites and online products. These make it easier to onboard a customer.

They help keep the product-learning agile by providing content at the right time. These apps reduce the efforts of the end-users and keep them from wasting time doing online searches. Using pop-ups and hover-information, the users can easily make their way around websites and apps. 

Additionally, they enable startups to understand user engagement and help them create better work processes and support structures. 

A Demand For Remote Work 

For a SaaS provider, the dilemma of remote work happens on both fronts: The customer and the company itself. 

For The Company

A company providing a SaaS product has to keep up with the fire fighting in many ways –they have the development, sales, support, and marketing. A small change in the functioning of any of these limbs could curb the whole business. 

A company like Whatfix has many offices around the globe. Some countries already had the experience and infrastructure to start work from home as soon as the crisis hit. In India, the office culture took time to warp into a WFH. 

A department like the R&D was not equipped to work from home. For most businesses, the first few weeks were finding ways to streamline the process, manage the workforce, and provide a framework that allowed remote work. 

Other divisions like user experience and support found it much easier to cope with the remote work for most SaaS businesses. 

For The Customer 

Many customers who use these products are also now adapting to a culture of remote work. As a provider, the brands had to rely on processes and tools to ensure a glitch-free transformation. 

Additionally, many brands that were not yet on board the products needed digital adoption planning. As a result, the teams had to work harder, more protracted, and ensure new clients could keep workflow uninterrupted. 

At a time of crisis like this one, the demand for companies like Whatfix also increased. In addition, some customers already using the features reached out to them for more licenses after the start of the COVID crisis.  

SaaS Providers and the COVID-Crisis 

This is a time of crisis for all; it’s particularly challenging for SaaS providers. This strain comes on them as their tools help other companies remain afloat. And as a provider, they are faced with the worries of both the company and the client. 

According to Khadim Batti, Co-founder & CEO of, Whatfix; this raises two main challenges:  

Continuity Is Critical 

The providers must ensure that the client faces no issues that could disrupt the work. They must provide support and assistance at all times to the client. A halt in working due to a changing crisis should not revisit the mismanagement of the provider. 

Need For Empathy 

It is also essential to keep track of the emotional mindset of business during a crisis.  SaaS providers should be mindful of the customers in a region facing COVID-related problems. They must help in any way possible for better productivity and output.  

Whatfix has themselves given away many licenses for free or on loan. These are specifically for those companies who are facing a budget freeze or slow-down due to the crisis. 

In Conclusion:

As demand for remote work increases, there will be many more changes to follow. The need to adapt, provide support and remain empathic is just one of the battles to look forward to. Be it a SaaS provider or client, human nature is the same.  

It’s also vital for companies to realize that proactive pitching is not a good idea. For example, during a crisis, some might have budget constraints, while others could face the brunt of the pandemic. 

There is nothing more important than the need to come together as a community and brave this crisis.