What is SaaS?

Software as a service (or SaaS) is a solution that provides applications via the Internet—as a service. Liberating users from the constraints of having to maintain complex software and hardware management, SaaS allows users to access installation and management processes via the internet.

SaaS applications are also referred to as web-based software, on-demand software, or hosted software. SaaS applications run on a SaaS provider’s servers. The provider administers access to the application encompassing security, availability, and performance. All a SaaS customer needs to access applications is a trusty internet connection, there is no hardware or software to be bought, installed or updated.

The SaaS Difference:

The SaaS model can be likened to the way a bank operates in that it services multiple users on a large scale whilst still maintaining each user’s individual privacy and security.

Notable features of a SaaS model include:

·       Multitenant Architecture

A multitenant architecture is one where all users and applications share a singular, communal infrastructure and code base that is managed in centralised manner. This enables SaaS vendor clients to innovate more efficiently meaning clients save precious development time normally wasted on the maintenance of out-dated code.

·       Easy Customisation

Each user is able to easily customise applications to fit their business processes without affecting the common infrastructure. Because of the way SaaS is architected, these customisations are unique to each company or user and are always preserved through upgrades. That means SaaS providers can make upgrades more often, with less customer risk and much lower adoption cost.

Each user is able to seamlessly customise applications to their individual business requirements without compromising the common infrastructure.  The way SaaS is designed means these customisations are specific to each user and remain intact through the upgrade process. This enables SaaS providers to implement upgrades more frequently, whilst ensuring minimal customer risk and a much lower adoption cost.

·       Better Access

Enhanced access to data from any networked device while making the management of privileges, monitor data use substantially easier and more efficient guaranteeing all users are privy to the same information at the same time.