What is SaaS?

SaaS refers to Software as a Service, which is a cloud computing-based software distribution system. In SaaS, also known as on-demand software or hosted software, a third-party provider hosts applications on the web for its clients so that the customers of those businesses can access them via the internet. The firms i.e., clients, are not required to install any software locally. Client data can be saved locally or on cloud or on both.

SaaS is employed in various common business technologies including sales management, document management, customer relationship management (CRM), accounting, email, financial management, billing, service desk management, content management, human resource management (HRM) and collaboration.

Advantages of SaaS

Minimizing costs and time:

Since SaaS is cloud-based, business organizations do not need to install and run software applications on local computers or data centers. Thus, the expenditure on hardware ownership and maintenance is removed to a great degree, and expenses on software support are much lower than that of on-premise models since a full-fledged IT team is not required any longer. Time taken by SaaS is also significantly less than that of on-premise systems.

Flexible payments:

Instead of purchasing and installing software, the SaaS system works on the basis of a pay-as-you-go subscription system, which makes payments very flexible. Licensing becomes hassle-free. Additionally, firms perform better since there is a fixed recurring cost on IT operations, which help them to budget more effectively. Users can cancel their subscriptions any time they want.

Flexible and Scalable usage:

Using SaaS, a particular delivery model can be chosen for a business, which can easily be changed as and when required. SaaS provides a great degree of vertical scalability as well. Users can scale up and access more, or scale down and access fewer features or services on-demand, according Contract Management Software to their requirements.

Automatic updates:

IT solutions are made easier as updates and patch management are rolled out without needing any customer intervention.

Accessibility:

A very important edge that SaaS systems have over on-premise systems is that users can access these applications from all over the world, using any device having an Internet connection, from any location.