--- title: "Essential Business Applications for the WFH Age | SaaS Tools" description: "SaaS is bigger than ever. But what Essential Business Applications are needed to manage all aspects of companies, especially with the rise of WFH." url: "https://cyclr.com/blog/essential-businesses-platforms-in-age-of-wfh" canonical: "https://cyclr.com/blog/essential-businesses-platforms-in-age-of-wfh" served_via: "https://cyclr.com/.well-known/agent-markdown" --- # What Types of Platforms Do Businesses Need to Run in the Age of WFH? ## ![Essential Business Applications](https://cyclr.com/nitropack_static/sXmTfWgCNjOnvnYlyrLZVbIAkjEZnoiJ/assets/images/optimized/rev-31a2a0c/cyclr.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Essential-Business-Applications-in-the-20s.png) [Blog](https://cyclr.com/blog) » **What Types of Platforms Do Businesses Need to Run in the Age of WFH?** *Updated: 11th August 2026 | Originally published: 20th August 2021 | By Hayley Brown* We are in the midst of the information and cloud-sharing age. As a result, organisations have to be reliant on software to be constantly connected. As software provides a consistently high level of service to your customers. In order to do that there are essential business applications that provide organisations with software to perform these functions.  The applications needed for your business are largely dependent on the type of business you are – where brick and mortar. Alternatively, eCommerce or even a [SaaS application](https://cyclr.com/use-cases/established-saas-platforms) – your company’s size, your business operations, and the industry you are in. All play a crucial part in deciding key platforms to run. There are however types of business applications that overlap no matter what type of organisation you are. ## Essential Business Applications for Flexibility and Sustainability Essential business applications can be categorised as needed to help run your business. The rise of cloud-based software, and the volume of SaaS applications available, enable businesses to run without being location and resource-dependent.  For instance, cloud-based CMS for your website, and a CRM to keep details about your customers. These systems help sales teams use data from both systems to tweak processes. As well as enhance sales efficiency – all while working from home. These applications are key to the functionality and success of your organisation.  Key applications that businesses use on a daily basis: ### CRM  We’ve mentioned before that a [CRM](https://cyclr.com/blog/what-types-of-saas-are-dominating-the-industry#customer-relationship-management) is vital to any organisation. This is because the platform allows businesses to collate and store all their customer data in an efficient and secure way.  We have created several integration examples of how you can integrate your [CRM application](https://cyclr.com/blog/crm-integrations-you-should-be-using) with a variety of others. Each is able to automate [essential business processes](https://cyclr.com/blog/essential-business-processes-to-automate). One common example is adding a new customer to your CRM when they have completed a purchase on your website. This triggers your marketing application to add the customer to your subscriber list and send them a welcome email. ### HR systems There is always at least one person dealing with [HR](https://cyclr.com/blog/what-types-of-saas-are-dominating-the-industry#human-resources) whether you’re a startup or an enterprise business. They are responsible for managing and supporting your employees, as well as payroll, recruitment, training and general administration. All while employees are scattered nationally, or increasingly, globally.  There are several ways you can integrate your HR system with other applications. A common automated integration would be your payroll system. This would ensure that employees’ data is kept up to date and that payment is made on a monthly basis. Implementing this integration would streamline a key business process. ### Sales and Marketing  Working in tandem with each other, your sales and marketing applications tend to be used to promote your brand, products and services via email applications. They keep track of leads and discover opportunities to upsell, and/or cross-sell. A common way they can be integrated is when a new customer has interacted with a social media ad; they enter their details in a contact form and schedule a meeting with a sales representative, which resulted in signing up for a [free trial](https://cyclr.com/get-in-touch).  The customer would then receive emails throughout their month’s trial, welcome, halfway there, 48 hours remaining, and the trial has ended.   ### Customer Success and Customer Service  There has never been such an emphasis on [communication tools](https://cyclr.com/blog/what-types-of-saas-are-dominating-the-industry#communication) as in the past year. With the pandemic sending millions to work from home it not only meant keeping consistent communication with customers but also with employees.  Integrating your customer success/service teams can help improve your user’s experience with your products and services. For example; a customer reports an issue, triggering an automated response generated by a chatbot to gather more information. Then the appropriate department can receive a message via a Slack channel that can fix and respond to the customer. ### Ecommerce & Billing  An [eCommerce](https://cyclr.com/blog/what-types-of-saas-are-dominating-the-industry#content-management-system-and-ecommerce) or CMS (content management system) are widely used and helps users design and build websites or apps. Giving the user the ability to create, manage and modify content. They typically work hand in hand with [billing](https://cyclr.com/blog/what-types-of-saas-are-dominating-the-industry#accounting-billing)applications depending on how your customers pay for your products or services.  With your website being the front and centre of your organisation it makes sense to build integrations with your other essential business applications. An obvious one would be integrating your website and your email marketing software. When a new product is added, or a service is updated the news can automatically be sent to your customers. Other types of essential business applications: - Email: [Gmail](https://cyclr.com/integrate/gmail), Outlook - Point-of-Sale: Springboard. Converge - Project Management: [Trello](https://cyclr.com/integrate/trello), [Asana](https://cyclr.com/integrate/asana) - Video Conferencing: Zoom, Microsoft Teams ## What business platforms do you need depending on your organisation’s size? Depending on your organisation’s size it can determine the essential business applications you need. As the applications can be expensive this determines where to put your budget. Which should be based on the goals of the business. For instance, a CRM to keep track of your customers, and an eCommerce platform to sell your products and services. As well as a marketing application to bring customers to your offering.  For a [startup](https://cyclr.com/early-stage-saas), the essential business applications might look somewhat different to that of an enterprise. This could be due to budget, the size of your team, and how many customers you have. Luckily software applications tend to have tiers. This means as your business grows from a [startup](https://cyclr.com/ipaas/integrations-from-startup-to-enterprise-saas-startups) you can increase your application usage.  **Startup Essential Business Applications:** Productivity – Google Workspace Website/Ecommerce – WordPress Email Marketing – MailChimp CRM – HubSpot Cloud-based accounting – [QuickBooks](https://cyclr.com/integrate/quickbooks) Keyword Research tools – SEMrush Project Management Tools – [Trello](https://cyclr.com/integrate/trello) As an [enterprise](https://cyclr.com/enterprise), you’ll potentially have more applications than that a startup, including custom software and legacy local applications. Not only would you have the budget to support a higher number of platforms and usage. You’ll also have a higher number of employees, and customers to warrant the essential applications.  However, it can be hard to avoid siloing data with many applications used throughout an organisation. Integrating your SaaS applications can help avoid siloed data. As a result, it’ll improve user experience, help scale native integrations, extend connectivity, and automate your repetitive business tasks. The essential business applications you choose must be determined by the type of business you are in. As well as the market in which you are competing.  ### How are low-code and no-code platforms infiltrating the types of applications businesses need? Low code and no code platforms are widely on the rise and infiltrating the types of applications businesses are using. As they not only help to build websites, online stores, and design email campaigns with drag-and-drop tools. They can help you create automated workflows. The workflow automation software can incorporate all your other essential business platforms.  Low-code and [no-code applications](https://cyclr.com/blog/an-introduction-to-low-code-saas-platforms) have ease of use which means you don’t have to hire expensive developers. Anyone in your organisation can be a [citizen developer](https://cyclr.com/blog/low-code-tools-to-reduce-developer-backlog). This means your in-house developers can focus on the core product, and customers have a better user experience. The central idea of using such applications means you can go to market faster. Using low-code and no-code tools in this work-from-home centric time can help progress your organisation with its digital transformation efforts. As well as streamline business processes and create effective business operations throughout the organisation. ## Essential Business Applications Driving Efficiency The type of essential business software you should be running in the 20s are those that will help grow your business, they are efficient and complete applications that won’t cause any hindrance to your business goals.  Using low-code and no-code[software platforms](https://cyclr.com/blog/an-introduction-to-low-code-saas-platforms) can encourage your existing employees to become citizen developers and learn how to develop applications, websites and automated integrations to serve your customer needs more effectively. Your essential business applications should ultimately save you time and money. ### About Author #### [Hayley Brown](https://cyclr.com/author/HayleyBrown) Joined Cyclr in 2020 after working in marketing teams in the eCommerce and education industries. She has been writing technical integration content for 5 years and is able to turn complex ideas into visual graphics. [Follow Hayley on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/hayley-brown-526776132/) [Subscribe to Newsletter](https://cyclr.com/#) [Case Studies](https://cyclr.com/case-studies) [Reports](https://cyclr.com/resources/reports) [Webinars](https://cyclr.com/resources/webinars) #### Recent Posts - [The Ultimate Embedded iPaaS Technical Evaluation Checklist](https://cyclr.com/resources/embedded-ipaas/the-ultimate-embedded-ipaas-technical-evaluation-checklist) - [Why Better APIs Matter for AI and LLMs](https://cyclr.com/resources/ai/why-better-apis-matter-for-ai-and-llms) - [The evolution of embedded iPaaS – from API integration to AI interoperability](https://cyclr.com/blog/the-evolution-of-embedded-ipaas-from-api-integration-to-ai-interoperability) - [Designing Scalable Embedded MCP Integrations for SaaS](https://cyclr.com/resources/ai/designing-scalable-embedded-mcp-integrations-for-saas) - [MCP vs Middleware vs Direct API Integrations: How SaaS Teams Should Expose Product Capabilities to AI Agents](https://cyclr.com/resources/ai/mcp-vs-middleware-vs-direct-api-integrations) [https://www.g2.com/products/cyclr/reviews](https://www.g2.com/products/cyclr/reviews) ## Let Cyclr handle the integrations. You focus on building the product your customers love. [Start building for free](https://cyclr.com/get-started/request-free-trial) [Get a demo](https://cyclr.com/get-started/book-a-demo) Embedded iPaaS for SaaS [https://www.linkedin.com/company/cyclr-systems/](https://www.linkedin.com/company/cyclr-systems/) [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtkjPj2Lq-Ox2q3_e5MRfrg](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtkjPj2Lq-Ox2q3_e5MRfrg) [https://www.facebook.com/cyclrautomation](https://www.facebook.com/cyclrautomation) - [Embedded iPaaS Overview](https://cyclr.com/product) - [SaaS Embedded iPaaS](https://cyclr.com/product) - [Service Embedded iPaaS](https://cyclr.com/product/service-embedded-ipaas) - [Enterprise Embedded iPaaS](https://cyclr.com/product/branded-embedded-ipaas) - [AI Orchestration](https://cyclr.com/ai-orchestration) - [Case Studies](https://cyclr.com/case-studies) - [Build vs Buy Integration](https://cyclr.com/blog/build-or-buy-choosing-an-integration-solution) - [Cyclr Alternatives](https://cyclr.com/alternatives) - [Cyclr vs. Paragon](https://cyclr.com/alternatives/cyclr-vs-paragon) - [Cyclr vs. Prismatic](https://cyclr.com/alternatives/cyclr-vs-prismatic) - [About Us](https://cyclr.com/company/about-us) - [Contact](https://cyclr.com/contact) - [Blog](https://cyclr.com/blog) - [Partner Programme](https://cyclr.com/partners) - [Working at Cyclr](https://cyclr.com/company/working-at-cyclr) ### Contact **UK:** (0330) 010 2525 **US:** (646) 585 2525 CO.5C, Corinthian House, 17 Lansdowne Road, Croydon, CR0 2BX ### Popular Connectors - [Salesforce](https://cyclr.com/integrate/salesforce) - [HubSpot](https://cyclr.com/integrate/hubspot) - [Microsoft Dynamics](https://cyclr.com/integrate/microsoft-dynamics-crm) - [Shopify](https://cyclr.com/integrate/shopify) - [NetSuite](https://cyclr.com/integrate/netsuite) - [Amazon S3](https://cyclr.com/integrate/amazon-s3) - [Sage 200](https://cyclr.com/integrate/sage-200) ### Top Connector Categories - [Accounting](https://cyclr.com/connectors/category/accounting) - [CRM](https://cyclr.com/connectors/category/crms) - [Database](https://cyclr.com/connectors/category/databases) - [Email Marketing](https://cyclr.com/connectors/category/email-marketing) - [ERP](https://cyclr.com/connectors/category/erp) - [HR/Payroll](https://cyclr.com/connectors/category/hr-payroll) - [Product Management](https://cyclr.com/connectors/category/product-management) ### Trending Resources - [What is an Embedded iPaaS?](https://cyclr.com/blog/what-is-an-embedded-ipaas) - [SaaS Integration: How do you do it?](https://cyclr.com/blog/how-do-you-integrate-with-multiple-saas-products) - [AI Resources](https://cyclr.com/resources/ai) - [MCP Use Case Directory Tool](https://cyclr.com/resources/mcp-discovery-tool) - [API Integration](https://cyclr.com/resources/api-integration) - [Embedded iPaaS](https://cyclr.com/resources/embedded-ipaas) - [Cost Calculator](https://cyclr.com/resources/integration-cost-calculator) ### Common Use Cases - [SaaS Developers](https://cyclr.com/use-cases/saas-developers) - [Product Managers](https://cyclr.com/use-cases/product-managers) - [API Teams](https://cyclr.com/use-cases/api-teams) - [CFOs](https://cyclr.com/use-cases/cfo-finance-teams) - [B2B SaaS Platforms](https://cyclr.com/use-cases/established-saas-platforms) - [Enterprise Organizations](https://cyclr.com/enterprise) - [Composable Commerce](https://cyclr.com/use-cases/composable-commerce) MENUMENU - [Website Terms](https://cyclr.com/legal/website) - [Privacy Policy](https://cyclr.com/privacy-policy) - [Terms and Conditions](https://cyclr.com/terms-and-conditions) - [AI Policy](https://cyclr.com/ai-policy) - [DPA](https://cyclr.com/data-protection-agreement) - [SLA](https://cyclr.com/sla) - [GDPR](https://cyclr.com/legal/gdpr-compliance) - [Sitemap](https://cyclr.com/sitemap) - [Cookie Settings](https://cyclr.com/#) © 2026 Cyclr Systems Ltd. All rights reserved. Registered business number: 08790783. VAT Number GB218625701. ## Structured data ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "TechArticle", "@id": "https://cyclr.com/blog/essential-businesses-platforms-in-age-of-wfh#article", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://cyclr.com/blog/essential-businesses-platforms-in-age-of-wfh" }, "author": { "name": "Hayley Brown", "@id": "https://cyclr.com/#/schema/person/b3cb439b5c7e0f1f07a5d7a900d5683c" }, "headline": "What Types of Platforms Do Businesses Need to Run in the Age of WFH?", "datePublished": "2021-08-20T12:07:38+00:00", "dateModified": "2026-08-11T09:08:47+00:00", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@id": "https://cyclr.com/blog/essential-businesses-platforms-in-age-of-wfh" }, "wordCount": 1324, "publisher": { "@id": "https://cyclr.com/#organization" }, "image": { "@id": "https://cyclr.com/blog/essential-businesses-platforms-in-age-of-wfh#primaryimage" }, "thumbnailUrl": "https://cyclr.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Essential-Business-Applications-in-the-20s.png", "articleSection": [ "Blog" ], "inLanguage": "en-GB" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://cyclr.com/blog/essential-businesses-platforms-in-age-of-wfh", "url": "https://cyclr.com/blog/essential-businesses-platforms-in-age-of-wfh", "name": "Essential Business Applications for the WFH Age | SaaS Tools", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://cyclr.com/#website" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://cyclr.com/blog/essential-businesses-platforms-in-age-of-wfh#primaryimage" }, "image": { "@id": "https://cyclr.com/blog/essential-businesses-platforms-in-age-of-wfh#primaryimage" }, "thumbnailUrl": "https://cyclr.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Essential-Business-Applications-in-the-20s.png", "datePublished": "2021-08-20T12:07:38+00:00", "dateModified": "2026-08-11T09:08:47+00:00", "description": "SaaS is bigger than ever. But what Essential Business Applications are needed to manage all aspects of companies, especially with the rise of WFH.", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://cyclr.com/blog/essential-businesses-platforms-in-age-of-wfh#breadcrumb" }, "inLanguage": "en-GB", "potentialAction": [ { "@type": "ReadAction", "target": [ "https://cyclr.com/blog/essential-businesses-platforms-in-age-of-wfh" ] } ] }, { "@type": "ImageObject", "inLanguage": "en-GB", "@id": "https://cyclr.com/blog/essential-businesses-platforms-in-age-of-wfh#primaryimage", "url": "https://cyclr.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Essential-Business-Applications-in-the-20s.png", "contentUrl": "https://cyclr.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Essential-Business-Applications-in-the-20s.png", "width": 1024, "height": 628, "caption": "Essential Business Applications" }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://cyclr.com/blog/essential-businesses-platforms-in-age-of-wfh#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Blog", "item": "https://cyclr.com/blog" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "What Types of Platforms Do Businesses Need to Run in the Age of WFH?" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://cyclr.com/#website", "url": "https://cyclr.com/", "name": "Cyclr", "description": "Embedded iPaaS for scaling SaaS integrations", "publisher": { "@id": "https://cyclr.com/#organization" }, "potentialAction": [ { "@type": "SearchAction", "target": { "@type": "EntryPoint", "urlTemplate": "https://cyclr.com/?s={search_term_string}" }, "query-input": { "@type": "PropertyValueSpecification", "valueRequired": true, "valueName": "search_term_string" } } ], "inLanguage": "en-GB" }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://cyclr.com/#organization", "name": "Cyclr", "url": "https://cyclr.com/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "inLanguage": "en-GB", "@id": "https://cyclr.com/#/schema/logo/image/", "url": "https://cyclr.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/cyclr-logo-blue@4x-scaled.png", "contentUrl": "https://cyclr.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/cyclr-logo-blue@4x-scaled.png", "width": 2560, "height": 1053, "caption": "Cyclr" }, "image": { "@id": "https://cyclr.com/#/schema/logo/image/" }, "sameAs": [ "https://www.facebook.com/cyclrautomation", "https://x.com/cyclr", "https://www.linkedin.com/company/10066377/", "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtkjPj2Lq-Ox2q3_e5MRfrg", "https://www.g2.com/products/cyclr", "https://www.pinterest.co.uk/cyclrsystems/" ], "description": "Embedded iPaaS for B2B SaaS companies - enabling interoperability between APIs, LLMs, on-prem and Cloud systems, with a secure, multi-tenanted architecture for governance and scaling.", "telephone": "(0330) 010 2525", "legalName": "Cyclr Systems Limited", "vatID": "GB218625701", "numberOfEmployees": { "@type": "QuantitativeValue", "minValue": "11", "maxValue": "50" }, "actionableFeedbackPolicy": "https://cyclr.com/legal/website", "correctionsPolicy": "https://cyclr.com/legal/website", "ethicsPolicy": "https://cyclr.com/company" }, { "@type": "Person", "@id": "https://cyclr.com/#/schema/person/b3cb439b5c7e0f1f07a5d7a900d5683c", "name": "Hayley Brown", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "inLanguage": "en-GB", "@id": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/15af90722a2afdb589502ec66c260a7997746b22fda956e4e6d358036b9b6990?s=96&d=retro&r=pg", "url": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/15af90722a2afdb589502ec66c260a7997746b22fda956e4e6d358036b9b6990?s=96&d=retro&r=pg", "contentUrl": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/15af90722a2afdb589502ec66c260a7997746b22fda956e4e6d358036b9b6990?s=96&d=retro&r=pg", "caption": "Hayley Brown" }, "description": "Joined Cyclr in 2020 after working in marketing teams in the eCommerce and education industries. She has been writing technical integration content for 5 years and is able to turn complex ideas into visual graphics. Follow Hayley on LinkedIn", "sameAs": [ "https://cyclr.com", "https://www.linkedin.com/in/hayley-brown-526776132/" ], "url": "https://cyclr.com/author/hayleybrown" } ] } { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "SiteNavigationElement", "@id": "#ez-toc", "name": "Essential Business Applications for Flexibility and Sustainability", "url": "https://cyclr.com/blog/essential-businesses-platforms-in-age-of-wfh#essential-business-applications-for-flexibility-and-sustainability" }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "SiteNavigationElement", "@id": "#ez-toc", "name": "CRM ", "url": "https://cyclr.com/blog/essential-businesses-platforms-in-age-of-wfh#crm" }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "SiteNavigationElement", "@id": "#ez-toc", "name": "HR systems", "url": "https://cyclr.com/blog/essential-businesses-platforms-in-age-of-wfh#hr-systems" }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "SiteNavigationElement", "@id": "#ez-toc", "name": "Sales and Marketing ", "url": "https://cyclr.com/blog/essential-businesses-platforms-in-age-of-wfh#sales-and-marketing" }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "SiteNavigationElement", "@id": "#ez-toc", "name": "Customer Success and Customer Service ", "url": "https://cyclr.com/blog/essential-businesses-platforms-in-age-of-wfh#customer-success-and-customer-service" }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "SiteNavigationElement", "@id": "#ez-toc", "name": "Ecommerce & Billing ", "url": "https://cyclr.com/blog/essential-businesses-platforms-in-age-of-wfh#ecommerce-billing" }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "SiteNavigationElement", "@id": "#ez-toc", "name": "What business platforms do you need depending on your organisation’s size?", "url": "https://cyclr.com/blog/essential-businesses-platforms-in-age-of-wfh#what-business-platforms-do-you-need-depending-on-your-organisations-size" }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "SiteNavigationElement", "@id": "#ez-toc", "name": "How are low-code and no-code platforms infiltrating the types of applications businesses need?", "url": "https://cyclr.com/blog/essential-businesses-platforms-in-age-of-wfh#how-are-low-code-and-no-code-platforms-infiltrating-the-types-of-applications-businesses-need" }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "SiteNavigationElement", "@id": "#ez-toc", "name": "Essential Business Applications Driving Efficiency", "url": "https://cyclr.com/blog/essential-businesses-platforms-in-age-of-wfh#essential-business-applications-driving-efficiency" } ] } ```