In today’s world where computer’s and smart phone’s penetration is extremely high, most people understand what software is – a set of instructions which directs the computer (or any other device that it runs on) how to function. There are various types of software but for the purpose of understanding SaaS we will look at the software that we use in every day life, such as Internet and Email.
A good starting point to explaining SaaS is the free email services that most people use today. We do not have to worry about installing and setting up email client software, how to store and backup emails, or on what hardware to run them on. We simply use the service using an internet browser and it is always available when we want to use it.
Software as a Service – SaaS – is accessed and delivered through the internet where the SaaS provider will host the application in one or more locations usually in highly secure data centres. The physical access security to servers and the data security are given paramount importance in SaaS model operation.
No Large Up-Front Investment
Customers avoid the large initial investment in an IT infrastructure, software licenses, application development cost and the day-to-day responsibility of maintaining that infrastructure.
Since SaaS applications usually support pay-as-you-go billing (meaning the customers will have to pay for only what they use), or have a subscription based billing system, there is no large up front investment required.
Secure Access Any Time, Anywhere
SaaS applications are developed to be securely delivered via the internet. Users can access the application from anywhere using a web browser as long as they have a good internet connection. Data is secured by various means so that each user’s data is secured against any form of access by other users.
Easy scalability
Customers can purchase more processing power, memory and internet band-width on a permanent or demand basis. With such easy flexibility in scaling the performance, customers can concentrate on providing their core business service without worrying about the application availability or performance.
Leading edge innovation
The customers of the SaaS application benefit from the latest and the greatest version of the application, as the newest version is always available to all customers, thus meaning the customer does not have to worry about any upgrade issues.
Multi-Tenancy
SaaS applications are developed keeping in mind the multi-tenancy model – whereby many different clients can use the same application, however their data confidentiality and integrity are maintained by securely isolating each user’s data so that each user can access their own data only.
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