Software as a service (SaaS ) is a
software licensing
A software license is a legal instrument (usually by way of contract law, with or without printed material) governing the use or redistribution of software. Under United States copyright law, all software is copyright protected, in both source c ...
and
delivery model in which
software
Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work.
At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...
is licensed on a
subscription basis and is centrally
hosted. SaaS is also known as "on-demand software" and Web-based/Web-hosted software.
SaaS is considered to be part of
cloud computing
Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage ( cloud storage) and computing power, without direct active management by the user. Large clouds often have functions distributed over mul ...
, along with
infrastructure as a service
The first major provider of infrastructure as a service (IaaS) was Amazon in 2008. IaaS is a cloud computing service model by means of which computing resources are supplied by a cloud services provider. The IaaS vendor provides the storage, net ...
(IaaS),
platform as a service
Platform as a service (PaaS) or application platform as a service (aPaaS) or platform-based service is a category of cloud computing services that allows customers to provision, instantiate, run, and manage a modular bundle comprising a computing ...
(PaaS),
desktop as a service (DaaS), managed software as a service (MSaaS),
mobile backend as a service
Mobile backend as a service (MBaaS), also known as "backend as a service", is a model for providing web app and mobile app developers with a way to link their applications to backend cloud storage and APIs exposed by back end applications while ...
(MBaaS), data center as a service (DCaaS),
integration platform as a service (iPaaS), and information technology management as a service (ITMaaS).
SaaS apps are typically accessed by
users
Ancient Egyptian roles
* User (ancient Egyptian official), an ancient Egyptian nomarch (governor) of the Eighth Dynasty
* Useramen, an ancient Egyptian vizier also called "User"
Other uses
* User (computing)
A user is a person who ...
of a
web browser
A web browser is application software for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used o ...
(a
thin client
In computer networking, a thin client is a simple (low-performance) computer that has been optimized for establishing a remote connection with a server-based computing environment. They are sometimes known as ''network computers'', or in th ...
). SaaS became a common delivery model for many business applications, including
office software
An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific dut ...
,
messaging software, payroll processing software,
DBMS software, management software,
CAD software
Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve co ...
, development software,
gamification
Gamification is the strategic attempt to enhance systems, services, organizations, and activities by creating similar experiences to those experienced when playing games in order to motivate and engage users. This is generally accomplished thro ...
,
virtualization
In computing, virtualization or virtualisation (sometimes abbreviated v12n, a numeronym) is the act of creating a virtual (rather than actual) version of something at the same abstraction level, including virtual computer hardware platforms, stor ...
,
accounting
Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "languag ...
,
collaboration,
customer relationship management
Customer relationship management (CRM) is a process in which a business or other organization administers its interactions with customers, typically using data analysis to study big data, large amounts of information.
CRM systems data collectio ...
(CRM),
management information system
A management information system (MIS) is an information system used for decision-making, and for the coordination, control, analysis, and visualization of information in an organization. The study of the management information systems involves peo ...
s (MIS),
enterprise resource planning
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is the integrated management of main business processes, often in real time and mediated by software and technology. ERP is usually referred to as a category of Business management tools, business management ...
(ERP), invoicing, field service management,
human resource management
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...
(HRM),
talent acquisition
Acqui-hiring or Acq-hiring (a portmanteau of "acquisition" and "hiring", also called talent acquisition) is a neologism which describes the process of acquiring a company primarily to recruit its employees, rather than to gain control of its prod ...
,
learning management system
A learning management system (LMS) is a software application for the administration, documentation, tracking, reporting, automation, and delivery of educational courses, training programs, materials or learning and development programs. The lear ...
s,
content management
Content management (CM) is a set of processes and technologies that supports the collection, managing, and publishing of information in any form or medium. When stored and accessed via computers, this information may be more specifically referre ...
(CM),
geographic information systems (GIS), and
service desk management.
SaaS has been incorporated into the strategy of nearly all
enterprise software
Enterprise software, also known as enterprise application software (EAS), is computer software used to satisfy the needs of an organization rather than individual users. Such organizations include businesses, schools, interest-based user groups, ...
companies.
History
Centralized hosting of business applications dates back to the 1960s. Starting in that decade,
IBM and other
mainframe computer
A mainframe computer, informally called a mainframe or big iron, is a computer used primarily by large organizations for critical applications like bulk data processing for tasks such as censuses, industry and consumer statistics, enterpris ...
providers conducted a
service bureau
A service bureau is a company that provides business services for a fee. The term has been extensively used to describe technology-based services to financial services companies, particularly banks. Service bureaus are a significant sector within t ...
business, often referred to as
time-sharing
In computing, time-sharing is the sharing of a computing resource among many users at the same time by means of multiprogramming and multi-tasking.DEC Timesharing (1965), by Peter Clark, The DEC Professional, Volume 1, Number 1
Its emergence ...
or
utility computing
Utility computing or The Computer Utility is a service provisioning model in which a service provider makes computing resources and infrastructure management available to the customer as needed, and charges them for specific usage rather than a ...
. Such services included offering
computing
Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and development of both hardware and software. Computing has scientific, e ...
power and
database
In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases sp ...
storage to banks and other large organizations from their worldwide
data centers.
The expansion of the Internet during the 1990s brought about a new class of
centralized computing
Centralized computing is computing done at a central location, using terminals that are attached to a central computer. The computer itself may control all the peripherals directly (if they are physically connected to the central computer), or th ...
, called
application service provider
An application service provider (ASP) is a business providing application software generally through the Web.
The ASP model
The application software resides on the vendor's system and is accessed by users through a communication protocol. Alter ...
s (ASP). ASPs provided businesses with the service of hosting and managing specialized business applications to reduce costs through central administration and the provider's specialization in a particular business application. Two of the largest ASPs were USI, which was headquartered in the Washington, DC area, and Futurelink Corporation, headquartered in
Irvine, California
Irvine () is a master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on December 28, 197 ...
.
Software as a service essentially extends the idea of the ASP model. The term ''software as a service'' (SaaS), however, is commonly used in more specific settings:
* While most initial ASPs focused on managing and hosting third-party
independent software vendor
An independent software vendor (ISV), also known as a software publisher, is an organization specializing in making and selling software, as opposed to computer hardware, designed for mass or niche markets. This is in contrast to in-house software, ...
s' software, SaaS vendors typically develop and manage their own software.
* Whereas many initial ASPs offered more traditional
client-server applications, which require the installation of software on users'
personal computer
A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tec ...
s, later implementations can be
Web application
A web application (or web app) is application software that is accessed using a web browser. Web applications are delivered on the World Wide Web to users with an active network connection.
History
In earlier computing models like client-serv ...
s that only require a web browser to use.
* Whereas the
software architecture
Software architecture is the fundamental structure of a software system and the discipline of creating such structures and systems. Each structure comprises software elements, relations among them, and properties of both elements and relations.
...
used by most initial ASPs mandated maintaining a separate instance of the application for each business, SaaS services can utilize a
multi-tenant
Software multitenancy is a software architecture in which a single instance of software runs on a server and serves multiple tenants. Systems designed in such manner are "shared" (rather than
"dedicated" or "isolated"). A tenant is a group of us ...
architecture, in which the application serves multiple businesses and users, and partitions its data accordingly.
The acronym first appeared in the goods and services description of a
USPTO
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alexa ...
trademark
A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others ...
, filed on September 23, 1985. ''DbaaS'' (
Database as a service
A cloud database is a database that typically runs on a cloud computing platform and access to the database is provided as-a-service. There are two common deployment models: users can run databases on the cloud independently, using a virtual machin ...
) has emerged as a sub-variety of SaaS and is a type of
cloud database
A cloud database is a database that typically runs on a cloud computing platform and access to the database is provided as-a-service. There are two common deployment models: users can run databases on the cloud independently, using a virtual machin ...
.
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
referred to SaaS as "software plus services" for a few years.
Distribution and pricing
The cloud (or SaaS) model has no physical need for indirect distribution because it is not distributed physically and is deployed almost instantaneously, thereby negating the need for traditional partners and middlemen. Unlike traditional software, which is conventionally sold as a
perpetual license with an up-front cost (and an optional ongoing support fee), SaaS providers generally price applications using a subscription fee, most commonly a monthly fee or an annual fee. Consequently, the initial setup cost for SaaS is typically lower than the equivalent enterprise software. SaaS vendors typically price their applications based on some usage parameters, such as the number of users using the application. However, because in a SaaS environment customers' data reside with the SaaS vendor, opportunities also exist to charge per transaction, event, or other units of value, such as the number of processors required.
The relatively low cost for
user provisioning (i.e., setting up a new customer) in a multi-tenant environment enables some SaaS vendors to offer applications using the
freemium model.
In this model, a free service is made available with limited functionality or scope, and fees are charged for enhanced functionality or larger scope.
A key driver of SaaS growth is SaaS vendors' ability to provide a price that is competitive with on-premises software. This is consistent with the traditional rationale for outsourcing
IT systems
Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...
, which involves applying
economies of scale
In microeconomics, economies of scale are the cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to their scale of operation, and are typically measured by the amount of output produced per unit of time. A decrease in cost per unit of output enables ...
to application operation, i.e., an outside service provider may be able to offer better, cheaper, more reliable applications.
Architecture
Most SaaS providers offer a
multi-tenant
Software multitenancy is a software architecture in which a single instance of software runs on a server and serves multiple tenants. Systems designed in such manner are "shared" (rather than
"dedicated" or "isolated"). A tenant is a group of us ...
architecture. With this model, a single
version
Version may refer to:
Computing
* Software version, a set of numbers that identify a unique evolution of a computer program
* VERSION (CONFIG.SYS directive), a configuration directive in FreeDOS
Music
* Cover version
* Dub version
* Remix
* ''Ve ...
of the application, with a single
configuration (
hardware,
network
Network, networking and networked may refer to:
Science and technology
* Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects
* Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks
Mathematics ...
,
operating system
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs.
Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also in ...
), is used for all customers ("tenants"). To support
scalability
Scalability is the property of a system to handle a growing amount of work by adding resources to the system.
In an economic context, a scalable business model implies that a company can increase sales given increased resources. For example, a ...
, the application can be installed on multiple machines (called
horizontal scaling
Scalability is the property of a system to handle a growing amount of work by adding resources to the system.
In an economic context, a scalable business model implies that a company can increase sales given increased resources. For example, a ...
). In some cases, a second version of the application is set up to offer a select group of customers access to pre-release versions of the applications (e.g., a
beta version
A software release life cycle is the sum of the stages of development and maturity for a piece of computer software ranging from its initial development to its eventual release, and including updated versions of the released version to help impro ...
) for
testing
An examination (exam or evaluation) or test is an educational assessment intended to measure a test-taker's knowledge, skill, aptitude, physical fitness, or classification in many other topics (e.g., beliefs). A test may be administered verba ...
purposes. This is contrasted with traditional software, where multiple physical copies of the software — each potentially of a different version, with a potentially different configuration, and often customized — are installed across various customer sites.
Although an exception rather than the norm, some SaaS providers use mechanisms such as
virtualization
In computing, virtualization or virtualisation (sometimes abbreviated v12n, a numeronym) is the act of creating a virtual (rather than actual) version of something at the same abstraction level, including virtual computer hardware platforms, stor ...
to manage a large number of customers in place of multitenancy. Whether multitenancy is a necessary component for software as a service is debatable.
Vertical vs horizontal SaaS
Horizontal SaaS and vertical SaaS are different models of cloud computing services. Horizontal SaaS targets a broad variety of customers, generally without regard to their industry. Some popular examples of horizontal SaaS vendors are
Salesforce
Salesforce, Inc. is an American cloud-based software company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It provides customer relationship management (CRM) software and applications focused on sales, customer service, marketing automation, a ...
and
HubSpot
HubSpot is an American developer and marketer of software products for inbound marketing, sales, and customer service. HubSpot was founded by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah in 2006.
Its products and services aim to provide tools for customer ...
. Vertical SaaS, on the other hand, refers to a
niche market targeting a narrower variety of customers to meet their specific requirements.
Characteristics
Although not all software-as-a-service applications share all the following traits, the characteristics below are common among many of them:
Accelerated feature delivery
SaaS applications are often updated more frequently than traditional software, in many cases on a weekly or monthly basis. This is enabled by several factors:
* The application is hosted centrally, so an update is decided and executed by the provider, not by customers.
* The application only has a single configuration, making development testing faster.
* The application vendor does not have to expend resources updating and maintaining backdated software versions because there is only one version.
* The application vendor has access to all customer data, expediting
design
A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...
and
regression testing
Regression testing (rarely, ''non-regression testing'') is re-running functional and non-functional tests to ensure that previously developed and tested software still performs as expected after a change. If not, that would be called a '' regre ...
.
* The service provider has access to user behavior within the application (usually via
web analytics
Web analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis, and reporting of web data to understand and optimize web usage. Web analytics is not just a process for measuring web traffic but can be used as a tool for business and market research and ...
), making it easier to identify areas worthy of improvement.
Accelerated feature delivery is further enabled by
agile software development methodologies. Such methodologies, which have evolved in the mid-1990s, provide a set of
software development tool
A programming tool or software development tool is a computer program that software developers use to create, debug, maintain, or otherwise support other programs and applications. The term usually refers to relatively simple programs, that can ...
s and practices to support frequent software releases.
Open integration protocols
SaaS applications predominantly offer integration protocols and
application programming interface
An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how t ...
s (APIs) that operate over a
wide area network
A wide area network (WAN) is a telecommunications network that extends over a large geographic area. Wide area networks are often established with leased telecommunication circuits.
Businesses, as well as schools and government entities, u ...
.
The ubiquity of SaaS applications and other Internet services and the standardization of their
API
An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how ...
technology has spawned the development of
mashups, which are lightweight applications that combine data, presentation, and functionality from multiple services, creating a compound service. Mashups further differentiate SaaS applications from on-premises software as the latter cannot be easily integrated outside a company's
firewall
Firewall may refer to:
* Firewall (computing), a technological barrier designed to prevent unauthorized or unwanted communications between computer networks or hosts
* Firewall (construction), a barrier inside a building, designed to limit the spr ...
.
Collaborative (and "social") functionality
Inspired by the development of the different internet networking services and the so-called ''
web 2.0
Web 2.0 (also known as participative (or participatory) web and social web) refers to websites that emphasize user-generated content, ease of use, participatory culture and interoperability (i.e., compatibility with other products, systems, and ...
'' functionality, many SaaS applications offer features that let their users
collaborate
Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Most ...
and
share information.
For example, many
project management
Project management is the process of leading the work of a team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project documentation, created at the beginning of the development process. T ...
applications delivered in the SaaS model offer—in addition to traditional project planning functionality—collaboration features letting users comment on tasks and plans and share documents within and outside an organization. Several other SaaS applications let users vote on and offer new feature ideas.
Although some collaboration-related functionality is also integrated into on-premises software, (implicit or explicit) collaboration between users or different customers is only possible with centrally hosted software.
OpenSaaS
OpenSaaS refers to software as a service (SaaS) based on
open-source code. Like SaaS applications, Open SaaS is a web-based application hosted, supported, and maintained by a service provider. While the roadmap for Open SaaS applications is defined by its community of users, upgrades and product enhancements are managed by a central provider. The term was coined in 2011 by
Dries Buytaert
Dries Buytaert (born 19 November 1978)[Curriculum Vitae](_blank)
is ...
, creator of the
Drupal content management framework.
Andrew Hoppin, a former Chief Information Officer for the
New York State Senate
The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate.
Partisan com ...
, has been a vocal advocate of OpenSaaS for government, calling it "the future of government innovation." He points to
WordPress
WordPress (WP or WordPress.org) is a free and open-source content management system (CMS) written in hypertext preprocessor language and paired with a MySQL or MariaDB database with supported HTTPS. Features include a plugin architecture ...
and Why Unified as a successful example of an OpenSaaS software delivery model that gives customers "the best of both worlds, and more options. The fact that it is open source means that they can start building their websites by self-hosting WordPress and customizing their website to their heart’s content. Concurrently, the fact that WordPress is SaaS means that they don’t have to manage the website at all -- they can simply pay WordPress.com to host it."
Adoption drivers
Several important changes to the
software
Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work.
At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...
market and technology landscape have facilitated the acceptance and growth of SaaS:
* The growing use of web-based
user interface
In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine f ...
s by applications, along with the proliferation of associated practices (e.g.,
web design
Web design encompasses many different skills and disciplines in the production and maintenance of websites. The different areas of web design include web graphic design; user interface design (UI design); authoring, including standardised code a ...
), continuously decreased the need for traditional client-server applications. Consequently, traditional software vendor's investment in software based on
fat client
In nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food.
The term often refers specifically to triglycerides (triple est ...
s has become a disadvantage (mandating ongoing support), opening the door for new software vendors' offering a
user experience perceived as more "modern".
* The standardization of web page technologies (
HTML
The HyperText Markup Language or HTML is the standard markup language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser. It can be assisted by technologies such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and scripting languages such as JavaSc ...
,
JavaScript
JavaScript (), often abbreviated as JS, is a programming language that is one of the core technologies of the World Wide Web, alongside HTML and CSS. As of 2022, 98% of websites use JavaScript on the client side for webpage behavior, of ...
,
CSS
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a style sheet language used for describing the presentation of a document written in a markup language such as HTML or XML (including XML dialects such as SVG, MathML or XHTML). CSS is a cornerstone techno ...
), the increasing popularity of
web development as a practice, and the introduction and ubiquity of
web application framework
A web framework (WF) or web application framework (WAF) is a software framework that is designed to support the development of web applications including web services, web resources, and web APIs. Web frameworks provide a standard way to build an ...
s like
Ruby on Rails
Ruby on Rails (simplified as Rails) is a server-side web application framework written in Ruby under the MIT License. Rails is a model–view–controller (MVC) framework, providing default structures for a database, a web service, and we ...
or
Laravel
Laravel is a free and open-source PHP web framework, created by Taylor Otwell and intended for the development of web applications following the model–view–controller (MVC) architectural pattern and based on Symfony. Some of the features o ...
(
PHP
PHP is a general-purpose scripting language geared toward web development. It was originally created by Danish-Canadian programmer Rasmus Lerdorf in 1993 and released in 1995. The PHP reference implementation is now produced by The PHP Group. ...
) gradually reduced the cost of developing new software services and enabled new providers to challenge traditional vendors.
* The increasing penetration of
broadband Internet access enabled remote centrally hosted applications to offer speed comparable to on-premises software.
* The standardization of the
HTTPS
Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is an extension of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). It is used for secure communication over a computer network, and is widely used on the Internet. In HTTPS, the communication protocol is enc ...
protocol as part of the web stack provided universally available lightweight
security" \n\n\nsecurity.txt is a proposed standard for websites' security information that is meant to allow security researchers to easily report security vulnerabilities. The standard prescribes a text file called \"security.txt\" in the well known locat ...
that is sufficient for most everyday applications.
* The introduction and wide acceptance of lightweight
integration
Integration may refer to:
Biology
*Multisensory integration
*Path integration
* Pre-integration complex, viral genetic material used to insert a viral genome into a host genome
*DNA integration, by means of site-specific recombinase technology, ...
protocol
Protocol may refer to:
Sociology and politics
* Protocol (politics), a formal agreement between nation states
* Protocol (diplomacy), the etiquette of diplomacy and affairs of state
* Etiquette, a code of personal behavior
Science and technolog ...
s such as
Representational State Transfer (REST) and SOAP enabled affordable integration between SaaS applications (residing in the cloud) with internal applications over wide area networks and with other SaaS applications.
Adoption challenges
Some limitations slow down the acceptance of SaaS and prohibit it from being used in some cases:
* Because data is 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; for example, the SaaS model is not suitable for applications that demand response times in milliseconds (
OLTP In online transaction processing (OLTP), information systems typically facilitate and manage transaction-oriented applications. This is contrasted with online analytical processing.
The term "transaction" can have two different meanings, both of w ...
).
* Multi-tenant architectures, which drive cost efficiency for service providers, limit customization of applications for large clients, inhibiting such applications from being used in scenarios (applicable mostly to large enterprises) for which such customization is necessary.
* Some
business applications
Business software (or a business application) is any software or set of computer programs used by business users to perform various business functions. These business applications are used to increase productivity, measure productivity, and perf ...
require access to or integration with customers' current data. When such data are large in volume or sensitive (e.g. end-user's personal information), integrating them with remotely hosted software can be costly or risky or can conflict with data governance regulations.
* Constitutional search/seizure warrant laws do not protect all forms of SaaS dynamically stored data. The result is that of third parties or government agencies able to access the data on their recognizance.
* Organizations that adopt SaaS may find they are forced into adopting new versions, which might result in unforeseen training costs, an increase in the probability that a user might make an error or instability from bugs in the newer software.
* Should the vendor of the software go out of business or suddenly EOL the software, the user may lose access to their software unexpectedly, which could destabilize their organization's current and future projects, as well as leave the user with older data they can no longer access or modify.
* Relying on an Internet connection means that data is transferred to and from a SaaS firm at Internet speeds rather than the potentially higher speeds of a firm's internal network.
* The Ability of the SaaS hosting company to guarantee the uptime level agreed in the SLA (Service Level Agreement)
* The reliance on SaaS applications and services can lead to SaaS sprawl within enterprises. These disparate applications and services can become challenging to maintain technically and administratively, leading to the proliferation of
shadow IT In big organizations, shadow IT refers to information technology (IT) systems deployed by departments other than the central IT department, to work around the perceived or actual shortcomings of the central information systems. Shadow IT often intro ...
.
The standard model also has limitations:
* Compatibility with hardware, other software, and operating systems.
* Licensing and compliance problems (unauthorized copies of the software program putting the organization at risk of fines or litigation).
* Maintenance, support, and patch revision processes.
Healthcare applications
According to a survey by the
Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society
The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is an American not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving health care in quality, safety, cost-effectiveness and access through the best use of information technology and ...
, 83% of US IT healthcare organizations are now using cloud services, with 9.3% planning to, whereas 67% of IT healthcare organizations are currently running SaaS-based applications.
Data escrow
''Software as a service data escrow'' is the process of keeping a copy of critical software-as-a-service application data with an independent third party. Similar to
source code escrow Source code escrow is the deposit of the source code of software with a third-party escrow agent. Escrow is typically requested by a party licensing software (the licensee), to ensure maintenance of the software instead of abandonment or orphaning ...
, where critical software
source code
In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the wo ...
is stored with an independent third party, SaaS data escrow applies the same logic to the data within a SaaS application. It allows companies to protect and ensure all the data that resides within SaaS applications, protecting against
data loss Data loss is an error condition in information systems in which information is destroyed by failures (like failed spindle motors or head crashes on hard drives) or neglect (like mishandling, careless handling or storage under unsuitable conditions) ...
.
There are many and varied reasons for considering SaaS data escrow, including concerns about vendor
bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
, unplanned service outages, and potential
data loss Data loss is an error condition in information systems in which information is destroyed by failures (like failed spindle motors or head crashes on hard drives) or neglect (like mishandling, careless handling or storage under unsuitable conditions) ...
or corruption.
Many businesses either ensure that they are complying with their
data governance
Data governance is a term used on both a macro and a micro level. The former is a political concept and forms part of international relations and Internet governance; the latter is a data management concept and forms part of corporate data govern ...
standards or try to enhance their reporting and
business analytics
Business analytics (BA) refers to the skills, technologies, and practices for continuous iterative exploration and investigation of past business performance to gain insight and drive business planning. Business analytics focuses on developing ne ...
against their SaaS data.
Criticism
One notable criticism of SaaS comes from
Richard Stallman
Richard Matthew Stallman (; born March 16, 1953), also known by his initials, rms, is an American free software movement activist and programmer. He campaigns for software to be distributed in such a manner that its users have the freedom to ...
of the
Free Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a 501(c)#501(c)(3), 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded by Richard Stallman on October 4, 1985, to support the free software movement, with the organization's preference for software being distributed ...
, who refers to it as ''Service as a Software Substitute'' (SaaSS). He considers the use of SaaSS to be a violation of the principles of
free software
Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, no ...
.
According to Stallman:
See also
*
Application security
Application security (short AppSec) includes all tasks that introduce a secure software development life cycle to development teams. Its final goal is to improve security practices and, through that, to find, fix and preferably prevent security ...
*
Application service provider
An application service provider (ASP) is a business providing application software generally through the Web.
The ASP model
The application software resides on the vendor's system and is accessed by users through a communication protocol. Alter ...
*
Cloud-based integration Cloud-based integration is a form of systems integration business delivered as a cloud computing service that addresses data, process, service-oriented architecture (SOA) and application integration.
Description
Integration platform as a service ( ...
*
List of 'as a service' service types
*
Servicizing
Product-service systems (PSS) are business models that provide for cohesive delivery of products and services. PSS models are emerging as a means to enable collaborative consumption of both products and services, with the aim of pro-environmental ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Software As A Service
As a service
Cloud applications
Software delivery methods
Software distribution
Software industry
Revenue models