Software as a Service (SaaS, typically pronounced 'sass') is a model of software deployment whereby a provider licenses an application to customers for use as a service on demand. SaaS software vendors may host the application on their own web servers or download the application to the consumer device, disabling it after use or after the on-demand contract expires. The on-demand function may be handled internally to share licenses within a firm or by a third-party application service provider (ASP) sharing licenses between firms.Fact: date=March 2009 Examples of SaaS vendors include SAP Business ByDesign and Google Apps which provide common business applications online that are accessed from a web browser, while the software and data are stored on the servers.
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Software as a Service (SaaS, typically pronounced 'sass') is a model of software deployment whereby a provider licenses an application to customers for use as a service on demand. SaaS software vendors may host the application on their own web servers or download the application to the consumer device, disabling it after use or after the on-demand contract expires. The on-demand function may be handled internally to share licenses within a firm or by a third-party application service provider (ASP) sharing licenses between firms.Fact: date=March 2009 Examples of SaaS vendors include SAP Business ByDesign and Google Apps which provide common business applications online that are accessed from a web browser, while the software and data are stored on the servers.
Aims
On-demand licensing and use alleviates the customer's burden of equipping a device with every conceivable application. It also reduces traditional End User License Agreement (EULA) software maintenance, ongoing operation patches, and patch support complexity in an organization. On-demand licensing enables software to become a variable expense, rather than a fixed cost at the time of purchase. It also enables licensing only the amount of software needed versus traditional licenses per device. SaaS also enables the buyer to share licenses across their organization and between organizations, to reduce the cost of acquiring EULAs for every device in their firm.
Using SaaS can also conceivably reduce the up-front expense of software purchases, through less costly, on-demand pricing from hosting service providers. SaaS lets software vendors control and limit use, prohibits copies and distribution, and facilitates the control of all derivative versions of their software. SaaS centralized control often allows the vendor or supplier to establish an ongoing revenue stream with multiple businesses and users without pre-loading software in each device in an organization.
The sharing of end-user licenses and on-demand use may also reduce investment in server hardware or the shift of server use to SaaS suppliers of applications file services.
History
The concept of "software as a service" started to circulate prior to 1999{1}. In December 2000 Bennett et al. noted the term as "beginning to gain acceptance in the marketplace".
Whilst the phrase "software as a service" passed into in common usage, the CamelCase acronym "SaaS" was allegedly not coined until 2000-2001 in a white paper called "Strategic Backgrounder: Software as a Service" by the Software & Information Industry's eBusiness Division published in Feb. 2001, but written in fall of 2000 according to internal Association records.
Philosophy
As a term, SaaS is generally associated by software professionals and business associates with business software and is typically thought of as a low-cost way for businesses to obtain rights to use software as needed versus licensing all devices with all applications. The on demand licensing enables the benefits of commercially licensed use without the associated complexity and potential high initial cost of equipping every device with the applications that are only used when needed.
