SaaS : Software as a Service

SaaS Software as a Service, is a new model of how software is delivered. SaaS refers to software that is accessed via a web browser and is paid on a subscription basis, monthly or yearly as per requirement. Different from the traditional model where a customer buys a license to software and assumes ownership for its maintenance and installation, SaaS presents significant advantages to the customer.

SaaS is faster and a cost effective way to getting implemented. There are no hardware, implementation or acquisition costs involved to run the application from the customer's side. It's the responsibility of the SaaS vendor to manage and run the application with utmost security, performance and reliability.

Since customers pay a subscription, they have immediate access to the new features and functionality. Unlike traditional softwares where upgrades would happen once a year or once in 6 months (with the vendor coming to your office with a CD), the SaaS vendor continuously pushes new updates, fixes to the application, which is immediately accessible by the customer. This reduces the length of time it takes a customer to recognize value from the software.

Since the software application is delivered as a service, its important for the vendor to focus on customer service and experience. Since this is on a subscription model, the vendor is judged on a month-month basis and the pressure to innovate or risk losing business is greater.

Adoption challenges

Some limitations slow down the acceptance of SaaS and prohibit it from being used in some cases:

• Since data is being stored on the vendor’s servers, data security becomes an issue.
• SaaS applications are hosted in the cloud, far away from the application users. This introduces latency into the environment; so, for example, the SaaS model is not suitable for applications that demand sub-second response times.
• Multi-tenant architectures, which drive cost efficiency for SaaS solution providers, does not allow true customization of applications for large clients, prohibiting such applications from being used in scenarios (applicable mostly to large enterprises) for which such customization is necessary.
• Some business applications require access to or integration with customer's current data. When such data is large in volume or sensitive (e.g., end users' personal information), integrating it with remotely hosted software is costly and/or risky.
• For applications or application suites that require access control and access-level permissions, you may want to delegate administration rights to clients. This reduces administration time and cost. However, this is difficult to implement and can expose your applications to additional security threats.

SaaS can be used by Windows, Linux, or Mac users, providing true platform independence over the Internet.