Understanding Software As A Service

What is "Software As A Service?"

With the continuous development of technology, the traditional software model naturally evolved into the renowned software as a service (SaaS). According to software licensing service specialists from managed IT services in the Philippines, SaaS solutions have offered several viable software options to its users. When you know how to make the most of these solutions, you’ll be able to enjoy numerous benefits as you run your business.

To help you get to know SaaS better, here are 10 of the frequently asked questions about the software delivery model:

1. What is software as a service?
2. Which is better? SaaS or on-premise models?
3. Is software as a service new?
4. Can you customize SaaS applications?
5. Who owns your data when you make use of SaaS?
6. Is your data safe when you use SaaS?
7. What happens if the SaaS vendor goes out of business?
8. What are the internet and operating system (OS) limitations?
9. What makes SaaS and cloud computing different?
10. What is a private cloud?

FAQ 1: What is Software as a Service?

Before delving into software as a service’s capabilities, it is important that you understand its technicalities. For starters, SaaS is a software distribution model that enables users to access data over the internet from any device. This web-based model empowered software vendors to shift from the on-premise software delivery model that greatly invested in extensive hardware. As it became prevalent in the business world, the task of hosting and maintaining databases, servers, and codes became simpler and cost-efficient.

FAQ 2: Which Is Better? SaaS or On-Premise Models?

In order for you to determine whether you should use SaaS or on-premise models in your company, it’s essential that you assess the complexity of your business first. As you can see, both SaaS and on-premise models have their own benefits. While SaaS solutions are great for small to medium businesses because of its ability to reduce upfront expenses, on-premise solutions are ideal for medium-sized manufacturers that require more functionalities. That said, it’s crucial for business owners to understand their business needs first before they decide which model they should implement in their business sites.

FAQ 3: Is Software as a Service New?

If you take a look at the origins of shared resource environments like the cloud, you will see that it goes back to the 1960s. Meanwhile, the web-based technology that was required to support SaaS was not able to mature until the late 1990s. Although this concept has been around for some time, it was only until recently that the world of enterprise software took SaaS seriously. In the past few years, companies that utilized SaaS were able to prove that their subscription licensing model was able to contribute to the growth of their revenue and customer base. Hence, it became one of the most renowned models used for software distribution across organizations.

FAQ 4: Can You Customize SaaS Applications?

Back in the days when SaaS applications first emerged in the business world, there was only a limited amount of allowed customizations available. But as innovators relentlessly strived to create advancements in technology over the years, SaaS systems eventually became easier to customize over time.

At present, there are numerous consultants that specialize in personalizing SaaS applications in order to meet specific business needs. Furthermore, the buyers these days are also given the power to customize the look and feel of the program’s user interface according to their preference. Clearly, the software vendors developed the SaaS market to become more flexible and adaptable. Because of this, SaaS applications are now customizable than ever before.

FAQ 5: Who Owns Your Data When You Make Use of SaaS?

Another frequently asked question regarding SaaS is focused on data ownership: who owns the data? The business owner or the SaaS vendors?

One common misconception that many buyers believe nowadays is that software vendors own their data when they make use of SaaS. If you do encounter a vendor that insists that they retain ownership of your data, then it’s best that you look for another vendor.

In order to ensure the security of your data ownership, it’s necessary that you pay close attention to your service level agreement (SLA) as you negotiate with the vendor. By doing this, you will be able to set the system reliability standards while spelling out the parameters to identify future issues.

FAQ 6: Is Your Data Safe When You Use SaaS?

When it comes to running a business, it’s a normal scenario for company owners to look into the certainty of their data security, especially when they let other people maintain their business data. For this reason, the inquiry above became one of the frequently asked questions of those people that considered to make use of SaaS in their company.

To answer the question stated above: SaaS vendors have invested a significant amount for security, backup, and maintenance. With that said, it is clear that web-based systems have implemented more security measures in place than on-premise systems.

FAQ 7: What Happens if The SaaS Vendor Goes Out of Business?

In the world of software, it is well-known that vendors come and go almost all the time. Hence, it became a valid concern for business owners to wonder what happens to their data when their SaaS vendor goes out of business.

Most often than not, SaaS vendors prepay the data center hosting company they work with to keep operating. Normally, this is discussed thoroughly by the vendors and customers in the SLA they came up with. Through this, they are able to ensure that the data stored will remain accessible to users. Aside from that, it’s also important to see to it that your SLA contain s a clause that states that you are allowed to export your company data from your provider. By doing that, you’ll be able to get the peace of mind that your data will be accessible even when something will happen to the vendor.

FAQ 8: What Are the Limitations of the Internet and the Operating Systems (OS)?

Every software distribution model has its own strengths and weaknesses. While the quality of internet connection can affect the performance of SaaS, electric outages can also create a huge impact on the on-premise systems. That’s the exact reason why software vendors relentlessly looked for ways to fix or compensate with these problems.

For SaaS vendors, they developed an offline functionality to allow people to continue working even when the internet goes down. With this functionality in place, organizations are enabled to work offline and sync all their company data with the ones available online when the device gets connected to a solid internet connection. Furthermore, there are also a lot of SaaS companies these days that support multiple web browsers. Through this, these companies enable their end-users to access their SaaS applications regardless of what system they utilize.

FAQ 9: What Makes SaaS and Cloud Computing Different?

As you can see, the difference between SaaS and cloud computing isn’t just semantics alone. If you look into cloud computing, it is evident that it refers to a set of complex infrastructure technology. Meanwhile, if you take a look at SaaS, you will be able to see that it pertains to the business software applications that are delivered through the cloud.

Most often than not, the cloud is composed of computers, servers, and databases that are connected to one another in a way that its users are able to perform leased access and share fused power. Apart from that, the power it produces has also proven itself to be scalable in the business world. With it, the buyers are given the capacity to increase or decrease the amount of computing power that they lease in a dynamic manner. On the other hand, almost every type of core business function is now available through SaaS. With that said, it is beyond any doubt that SaaS is a helpful tool you can make use of to aid you in human resources and enterprise resource planning.

FAQ 10: What is a Private Cloud?

Other than the ones mentioned above, there are also a lot of people that are curious about the purpose of private clouds. For this reason, it became one of the most asked questions when it comes to the topic of SaaS applications. According to IT experts, the private cloud is one of the viable options that enterprises can pick in order to get the infrastructure necessary to maintain and develop cloud environments. With this, organizations will be able to limit the computing power to be shared only among users within one company instead of the general public.

If you compare it to the public cloud model, you will see how the private cloud needs an IT department to ensure the optimum performance of its maintenance and upkeep. With that said, it is evident that public cloud models are more cost-efficient than their counterpart. Although this is true, the private cloud gives users the assurance that the information they put in the cloud won’t be accessed publicly. Hence, it is an ideal option for large enterprises that want to ensure their data’s privacy.