Imagine the opportunities with cloud computing

What is cloud computing?

Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage (cloud storage) and computing power, without direct active management by the user. The term is generally used to describe data centers available to many users over the Internet. Large clouds, predominant today, often have functions distributed over multiple locations from central servers. If the connection to the user is relatively close, it may be designated an edge server.

Cloud services are categorized as :

o Software-as-a-service (SaaS)

o Platform-as-a-service (PaaS)

o Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS).

They are called ‘as a service’ because businesses purchase them as service products from third parties. Together, they are the cloud computing stack.

Here, we’re going to talk about Software-as-a-service (SaaS)

The topics included are :

o Accessibility

o Up-to-Date Software

o Affordability

o Ease-of-Use

o Employee-Focused

o Marketing

o Security

o Flexibility

Software as a Service. SaaS is an acronym for the term Software as a Service. SaaS occurs when an application is hosted at a remote data center and provided as a service to various customers across the Internet The SaaS model allows customers to access software through an Internet browser without needing to purchase a physical copy of the software. SaaS has taken off as a common new model for businesses, allowing them to save money by paying subscription-based licensing fees for software instead of paying large capital investments for hardware and software. Usually the customer only has to pay minimal, upfront costs and never actually obtains ownership

of the software. When SaaS is used for multiple employees in a company, a common pricing technique for the SaaS provider is to charge based on the cost of the number of employees who use the software. The number of employees using the software can signal the value to the company. Other ways of pricing include number of servers in use, central processing unit cycles, memory space, or disk space. The freemium model offers the software for free but charges for additional services. An example of a freemium service would be Dropbox, which initially offers a free two gigabytes to users that can then be updated to one terabyte depending on the plan (Dropbox, n.d.).

SaaS is a very popular growing industry for entrepreneurs. Gartner, a technology research company, forecasts that SaaS markets will grow 19.5% by 2016, from $13.5 billion in 2011 to an estimated $32.8 billion in 2016 (Leong, Toombs, Gil, Petri, & Haynes, 2013). This increase in revenue can be explained by LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner’s belief that cloud computing “makes it easier and cheaper than ever for anyone anywhere to be an entrepreneur and to have access to all the best infrastructure of innovation” (Parker, 2012).

Accessibility

Thanks to SaaS’s remote accessibility, you no longer have to purchase an application from a retail store, download it on your electronic device and then install it. With SaaS, you can have full access to the software’s features whenever you want it. Business owners, entrepreneurs and other individuals can easily collaborate through the software and be fully aware of what’s going on. If they have access to the internet, they can get to work.

Up-to-Date Software

Since SaaS providers are the ones maintaining and servicing their software (lest they churn subscribers), users no longer have to worry about keeping their applications up to date. Many software companies would have achieved this previously by releasing new versions of their software, on CD, every year or so. Now, everyone gets their updates at the same time.

Affordability

Although one must be on the lookout for hidden costs when starting a SaaS subscription, you are likely to save money by never having to pay for installation fees or fix bugs. You’re also likely to have more options for the type of features and packages you would sign up for. Upgrades are simple and can be initiated at any time, so you can always make use of them later.

Ease-of-Use

One of the greatest benefits of SaaS is that it’s easy to use. For any SaaS software to be widely adopted, it has to have a short learning curve and a well-designed interface. To be more specific, the interface, features and all other components need to be clearly mapped out for a novice to be able to learn quickly, either by intuition or ollowing clear guides and tutorials. This all stems from the subscription-based model. If a SaaS business wants to keep you as a subscriber, they will have to impress you far quicker than a business selling traditional software packages.

Employee-Focused

Cloud computing offers better communications, training and project management throughout a typical business. Senior management can now manage projects in a transparent manner while being able to communicate effectively with both local and remote employees. This in turn allows companies to look further afield when finding new talent.

Marketing

SaaS has helped proliferate automated marketing software. Even the smallest of startups can now utilize free trials of SaaS products to help optimize their marketing efforts (although some people warn against using cheaper plans). Not only can businesses automate their marketing campaigns, but they can also plan, execute and track their campaigns from an accessible interface. The different subscription plans offered by many marketing applications have made this kind of software more affordable because marketing SaaS applications now hope to scale their subscriptions as you scale your company.

Security

SaaS providers will deliver the same version of the software to thousands of users. This means that there will be a heavy investment into security which would be very expensive to achieve independently for a locally installed application. Generally, SaaS will be run across multiple data centers providing full redundancy in case one goes down and will have continuous data backups. SaaS will include the latest security protocols, SLAs for uptime and complete separation of data to satisfy data privacy policies. Security was always the biggest concern with SaaS adoption ,however, this should no longer be an issue.

Flexibility

Working from any location is becoming the norm for businesses today. This rise in flexible working requires flexible tools to support it. SaaS allows businesses to have this ability. There are many benefits to a business including convenience for staff, reduction in office space/workstations and the option to employ homeworkers in key geographies.

References :

Categories of Cloud Providers

www.service-architecture.com

https://www.service-architecture.com/articles/cloud-computing/software_as_a_service_saas.html