Software As A Service (SaaS)

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Created: Tuesday, 13 April 2021

Written by Tim Nicholls

Software as a service (SaaS) has been around for a while but what is it and what are the advantages to using it?

SaaS is software that is hosted remotely by the vendor and you access it over the internet. Instead of purchasing it outright, you pay a subscription fee to use it.

Pros:

• Reliability. SaaS is more reliable, as long as you choose your provider with care, and check the service level agreements. It is not unknown for even the largest providers with the best-known brands to have outages and their terms and conditions may preclude any compensation for downtime.
• Lower total cost of ownership. No capital expenditure for on-premises infrastructure or licencing, which can be just the tip of the iceberg. Maintaining on-premise infrastructure is where the true costs add up.
• Scalability. It is easy to add subscriptions as the business expands.
• Flexibility. Use the service from any device with a web browser
• Saves you time. As there is nothing to install, once you have purchased the subscriptions and been sent the login details you can start using it immediately, you don’t have to wait on your IT Team to come around and install the software. If your PC breaks down you can just grab a spare one and log back into the software and carry on working with minimal downtime.
• Compatibility? No worries. Because it is hosted remotely, you don’t have to worry about making sure everyone on your team is upgraded to the latest version.

Cons:

• Lack of control over updates. Updates and feature changes get deployed regardless of whether you want or need them. Users can be disorientated by the sudden appearance or change of location of features within the product.
• Scalability is usually one way, it can be hard to scale down if you no longer need licenses because you may have had to commit to a minimum contract term.
• Reliant on your internet connection. If you have a flaky connection then you should not consider SaaS.
• Danger of service termination if the provider goes out of business
• You have less control over your data. To be compliant with GDPR you must choose a supplier who is also compliant with GDPR legislation

Choosing the right solution for your business can be confusing. There are some offerings that look like SaaS but aren’t. These are offerings where you remote desktop to a server running conventional software. A good question to ask a vendor is - does this run in any web browser or do you have to use remote desktop? If it doesn’t run in a web browser then it isn't really SaaS.

Talk to the experienced team at telanova, and we can help you to the right solution for your business