Software-as-a-Service

Sofware as a Service (commonly abbreviated SaaS) is a philosophical and strategic approach to Information Technology which focuses on creating services which enable data utilized by a particular software system to be easily shared and transmitted for use in other applications and systems. In this sense, professionals tend to refer to SaaS clients as consumers and the act of processing the data in a different application than the originating (data creating) application as the act of "consuming" the web service.

Focus

The focus of SaaS is on the provisioning of Web Applications within a specific Server/OS combination and any dependent or supporting application/library configurations across Server instances, nodes and clusters of nodes.

Resources

• Pitfalls in the SaaS Model: http://dzone.com/articles/pitfalls-in-saas-model (Five pitfalls: 1. Data Safety and Access, 2. Vendors Going Out of Business, 3. Internet and Operating System Limitations, 4. Data Storage Regulations, 5. Hidden Costs)

External Links

• wikipedia:SaaS
• The Google-ization of Bechtel -- How one IT shop used SaaS to redefine their business: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/102908-bechtel.html
• SaaS pricing evolves - Should we be worried?: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/saas-pricing-evolves-should-we-be-worried/35757?tag=nl.e539
• The Developer’s Guide to Building vs Buying Services: https://realtimeapi.io/the-developers-guide-to-building-vs-buying-services/

See Also

SOA | Web Application | IaaS | PaaS | CaaS