Wikipedia
defines SaaS as follows:
Software as a service (SaaS, typically pronounced 'sass')
is a model of software deployment where an application is
hosted as a service provided to customers across the Internet.
By eliminating the need to install and run the application
on the customer's own computer, SaaS alleviates the customer's
burden of software maintenance, ongoing operation, and support.
Conversely, customers relinquish control over software versions
or changing requirements; moreover, costs to use the service
become a continuous expense, rather than a single expense
at time of purchase. Using SaaS also can conceivably reduce
the up-front expense of software purchases, through less costly,
on-demand pricing. From the software vendor's standpoint,
SaaS has the attraction of providing stronger protection of
its intellectual property and establishing an ongoing revenue
stream. The SaaS software vendor may host the application
on its own web server, or this function may be handled by
a third-party application service provider (ASP). This way,
end users may reduce their investment on server hardware too.
IBM
says:
The Software as a Service (SaaS) business model is impacting
the software industry and how your customers acquire business
functionality and solutions. In this model, application functionality
is delivered through a subscription model over the Internet.
The customer does not take ownership of the software, but
instead rents a total solution that is delivered remotely.
With
the SaaS model, you can reduce up-front support costs because
you no longer need to support multiple platforms and versions.
This rapidly emerging delivery model can help you, as an ISV,
enter new markets.
What
is Software as a Service? - a definition from Whatis.com
(hosted AM, SaaS on demand, hosted application management)
DEFINITION - Software as a Service (SaaS) is a software distribution
model in which applications are hosted by a vendor or service
provider and made available to customers over a network, typically
the Internet.
SaaS
is becoming an increasingly prevalent delivery model as underlying
technologies that support Web services and service-oriented
architecture (SOA) mature and new developmental approaches,
such as Ajax, become popular. Meanwhile, broadband service
has become increasingly available to support user access from
more areas around the world.
SaaS
is closely related to the ASP (application service provider)
and On Demand Computing software delivery models. IDC identifies
two slightly different delivery models for SaaS. The hosted
application management (hosted AM) model is similar to ASP:
a provider hosts commercially available software for customers
and delivers it over the Web. In the software on demand model,
the provider gives customers network-based access to a single
copy of an application created specifically for SaaS distribution.
IDC predicts that SaaS will make up 30 percent of the software
market by 2007 and will be worth $10.7 billion by 2009.
Benefits
of the SaaS model include:
* easier administration
* automatic updates and patch management
* compatibility: All users will have the same version of software.
* easier collaboration, for the same reason
* global accessibility.
The
traditional model of software distribution, in which software
is purchased for and installed on personal computers, is sometimes
referred to as software as a product.
Microsoft
defines Software on tap as:
The combination of ever-more-abundant bandwidth, increasingly
powerful processors, and inexpensive storage is broadening
the choices for designing, deploying, and using software:
in devices, in computers, on servers in corporate data centers,
and on the Internet. Business solutions can be delivered and
consumed in all of these ways—either singly or in combination—to
provide the best user experience and the most business value.
Software
as a Service (SaaS)—meaning delivering software over
the Internet—is increasingly popular for its ability
to simplify deployment and reduce customer acquisition costs;
it also allows developers to support many customers with a
single version of a product. SaaS is also often associated
with a "pay as you go" subscription licensing model
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