Software as a Service (SaaS)

Software as a Service (SaaS)It is a software distribution model in which a third-party provider hosts applications and makes them available to customers over the Internet. SaaS is one of three main categories of cloud computing, alongside infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS). SaaS is closely related to the application service provider (ASP) and on demand computing software delivery models. The hosted application management model of SaaS is similar to ASP, where the provider hosts the customer’s software and delivers it to approved end users over the internet. In the software on demand SaaS model, the provider gives customers network-based access to a single copy of an application that the provider created specifically for SaaS distribution. SaaS applications for fundamental business technologies, such as email, sales management, customer relationship management (CRM), financial management, human resource management (HRM), billing and collaboration. Leading SaaS providers include Salesforce, Oracle, SAP, Intuit and Microsoft. SaaS is a natural evolution of software. The old model of getting physical DVDs and installing on local servers was the only realistic solution for many years. In fact, the client-server model is still required for many scenarios. That said, in recent years a number of developments have allowed SaaS to become mainstream. One factor is bandwidth; the internet is simply faster than it was a decade ago. Other major factors include the evolution of both virtualization and tools in big data. All these advances have made it much easier for providers to scale and manage their own infrastructure and thus provide SaaS solutions.

Advantages Of Saas

SaaS removes the need for organizations to install and run applications on their own computers or in their own data centers. This eliminates the expense of hardware acquisition, provisioning and maintenance, as well as software licensing, installation and support.

1.Scalavility and integration

SaaS solutions reside in cloud environments that are scalable and have integration with other SaaS offerings. Comparing with the traditional model, users do not have to buy another server or software. They only need to enable a new SaaS offering and, in terms of server capacity planning, the SaaS provider will own that. SaaS providers generally offer many subscription options and flexibility to change subscriptions as and when needed, eg when your business grows, or more users need to access the service. SaaS, and more widely cloud computing, can help you make the most of a limited IT budget while giving you access to the latest technology and professional support.

2.Updates

Finding solutions to challenges like global warming and world hunger may require a quantum system with thousands or millions of qubits. Microsoft is pursuing a topological qubit for its ability to scale—allowing us to solve more complex problems with fewer numbers of qubits overall. Paired with our full-stack solution, the topological qubit will help Microsoft offer a quantum system that scales to greater complexity, bringing solutions to some of the world's greatest challenges within reach. Microsoft is achieving its vision for scalable quantum computing through topological qubits. Qubits are fragile by nature, easily collapsing from outside interference. Topological qubits feature increased stability and resistance to interference, a performance improvement that allows the quantum computer to scale.

3.Difference between Saas and Cloud

It isn’t just semantics. The cloud refers to a set of incredibly complex infrastructure technology. At a fundamental level, it’s a collection of computers, servers, and databases that are connected together in a way that users can lease access to share their combined power. The cloud can refer to anything that’s hosted remotely and delivered via the Internet. While all cloud programs are run by underlying software, SaaS refers specifically to business software applications that are delivered via the cloud. Given the widespread growth of cloud accessibility, it’s been easier, faster and less expensive for SaaS developers to roll out applications as compared to traditional on-premise software development. Today, nearly every type of core business function from human resources to enterprise resource planning is available via SaaS.

4.Lower cost & Flexiable payments

SaaS has a differential regarding costs since it usually resides in a shared or multitenant environment where the hardware and software license costs are low compared with the traditional model.Maintenance costs are reduced as well, since the SaaS provider owns the environment and it is split among all customers that use that solution

Generally, they pay for this service on a monthly basis using a pay-as-you-go model. Transitioning costs to a recurring operating expense allows many businesses to exercise better and more predictable budgeting. Users can also terminate SaaS offerings at any time to stop those recurring costs.

5.Reduce time to benifit/Rapid Prototyping

In the SaaS model, the software application is already installed and configured. Users can provision the server for the cloud and quickly have the application ready for use. This cuts the time to benefit and allows for rapid demonstrations and prototyping. With many SaaS companies offering free trials, this means a painless proof of concept and discovery phase to prove the benefit to the organization. Whether in demo mode or actually going live, intuitive interfaces for order writing and rapid uploading of electronic catalogs and customer lists give sales people immediate benefits without long wait times or steep learning curves.

Work anywhere & Easy to use and perform proof of concepts

Since the software is hosted in the cloud and accessible over the internet, users can access it via mobile devices wherever they are connected. This includes checking customer order histories prior to a sales call, as well as having access to real time data and real time order taking with the customer. For road warriors, the ability to access the software and data when they need it can change the nature of a sale. With the rise of the internet, SaaS saw deployment in enterprise for employees to access company resources, including software located on the company’s central server. In the consumer space, SaaS was also deployed with popular software including webmail and photo sharing services.

Balancing pros and cons

companies, the pluses have outweighed the minuses, and there has been a trend towards running more software via SaaS with the cloud computing model, and away from hosting it locally. The SaaS market continues to expand, with expected growth to surpass $112.8 billion by 2019. While the internet has made this possible, SaaS is hardly a new phenomenon, and its origins can be traced back to the 1960s, with IBM and other corporations using distributed software packages to connect users with mainframes to provide utility computing.

Slacking on

While office suites have been around for decades at this point, a newer type of SaaS focuses on office communication. Slack bills itself as a collaboration hub and provides a single place for messaging, tools and files.Rather than have communication between team members distributed between multiple platforms, such as shared storage, emails, texts and instant messages, Slack provides a unified platform for providing communication and file exchange between team members working on PROJECTS. Attractive is that new channels can be created, each focused on its own PROJECTS, topic,or whatever is needed, to neatly organize the communication, all in a searchable database, secured with two-factor authentication. Slack plans kick-off at the useful free tier that limits your account to the most recent 10,000 messages, with the next tier Standard plan costing $8 and this is unrestricted, plus it’s discounted when paid for annually.