The software as a service (SaaS) is the most known branch of cloud computing. It is a delivery model in which applications are hosted and managed in the service center of a service provider, paid for on a subscription basis and accessed by a browser via an Internet connection.

As a standard commercial option, it was often introduced when the Salesforce.com hosted Customer Relationship Management (CRM) service, which became the emblematic SaaS, was launched in 1999. However, it has its roots in earlier developments in virtualization, service-oriented architecture (SOA), and distributed computing / utility computing.

Expression SaaS, used for nearly a decade

The term “software as a service”, or SaaS for “Software as a Service”, has been commonly used for nearly a decade, while the other expressions of the cloud computing stack, namely “platform as As a service “(PaaS) and” Infrastructure as a Service “(IaaS) have become more widespread.

A platform as a service refers to the on-demand delivery of tools and services that enable SaaS applications to be coded and deployed, while an infrastructure as a service relates to on-demand delivery Operating systems, network capabilities, storage spaces, and virtualized servers.

An infrastructure hosted in a third-party service provider’s processing center is called a “public cloud” infrastructure, while the same technology hosted within an organization’s network is referred to as a “private cloud” infrastructure. “Hybrid” cloud environments combine both approaches, with some business processes or workloads remaining in-house, while others (perhaps less crucial) are outsourced to public cloud services.

Before SaaS, you had to go through an ASP, application service provider

Public cloud services can also be used temporarily to cope with peaks in demand that would otherwise quickly saturate a company’s private cloud infrastructure.

Before SaaS, it was generally necessary to go through an application service provider, or ASP, to rent software. The main differences are in code ownership and pooling. ASPs typically host multiple instances of third-party client / server applications, while SaaS providers tend to develop their own applications and adopt a true shared model: subscribers have access to the same code base, but their data And any customizations are kept separate.

For companies, adopting the SaaS model has many potential benefits, including the following.

– Cost reduction: it is economically very tempting to trade the heavy costs of installing, maintaining and upgrading an on-site IT infrastructure against the cost of operating a SaaS subscription, including On the short to medium term. However, it is important to be aware of the potential hidden costs associated with adopting SaaS.

– Scalability: As your business grows and you need to add more users, rather than investing in additional software licenses and in-house server capabilities, you can adjust your monthly SaaS subscription as needed.

– Accessibility: in general, a browser and a connection to the internet are sufficient to access a SaaS application, which can then be made available on various desktops and mobile devices.

– Upgrade capability: Your cloud service provider takes care of software and hardware updates, which frees your internal IT department from a considerable workload (in theory, teams can be redeployed On different tasks, such as integration with existing on-site applications).

– Resiliency: As the IT infrastructure (and your data) resides in the cloud service provider’s processing center, if your business premises experience any kind of disaster, you can become operational again relatively easily from any location Equipped with computers connected to the internet.

The provision of SaaS applications involves a chain of technological links, each of which can introduce delays or interruptions in service that affect the user experience and reduce producti