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What is SaaS Online?

A. Leverkuhn
A. Leverkuhn

SaaS online is a kind of specific software service that vendors offer to clients, usually businesses, in order to facilitate quick and easy use of software products. This kind of SaaS service uses the Internet to provide all kinds of software solutions. It is part of what many consider “web based” business.

SaaS or Software as a Service is the idea that vendors can maintain software on their own servers or equipment, and charge customers a fee to access it. SaaS replaces the old business model for software, in which clients received compact discs or other media and installed software on their own computers. Software as a service is becoming extremely popular in a fast-paced business world.

Man holding computer
Man holding computer

SaaS online refers to “software as a service programs” that an SaaS company offers directly through the web. So much of SaaS service is offered this way that many people see all SaaS solutions as “SaaS online.” This kind of software service has some big advantages over the traditional “boxed” software of the twentieth century.

Business clients often choose SaaS online software for its general ease of use. In SaaS, there's no need to take time installing programs from discs. Installation will often be faster, although users still need to fill out any registration forms, and read the licensing agreements. There is often less to keep track of in SaaS, because related paperwork is archived on the Internet.

Another big reason that businesses choose SaaS is that it's so much easier for an SaaS company to offer upgrades and changes to a program. The company doesn't have to distribute upgrades or patches to each client. They can simply change the program on their own server. Yet another advantage of SaaS online applies to many businesses: web-based software creates less of a burden on in-house workstations and equipment.

Some business leaders see the adoption of SaaS online options as part of a service oriented architecture. Service oriented architecture or SOA is a system that helps streamline how businesses use multiple software products. Aspects of SOA often include how programs communicate with each other and share data, such as client lists, financial reports, and other useful information. A good SOA allows a variety of staffers at multiple levels of a business to access the information they need from remote locations, rather than having to visit the head office or central area where the data is electronically stored.

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