Today, Software as a Service (Saas), which is also called as “on-demand software” has become an alternative choice for traditional standard softwares. Unlike traditional methods of buying and installing software, SaaS applications are sold on a subscription basis where the vendor is responsible for all hosting and maintenance services. It is a ready to use solution for both small and large business organizations because it just requires an internet connection to access the applications through a network. It has become very common for organizations to use SaaS for their business processes without much worrying about complex software and hardware management. It includes many applications for business purpose from anti-virus software to accounting & invoicing, ERP, CRM, DBMS software etc. Since SaaS is the direction that business technology is growing today, it is important for everyone to understand its key characteristics –
Multi-Tenancy in Architecture
Multi-tenant architecture is a very economical model to buisnesses because it allows multiple customers to share the development and maintenance costs. This model allows users to share the same application instances but with different data and application design. Businesses can manage their activities from a central application location instead of making changes to each user instance.
Access From Multiple Network Devices
Since SaaS applications are network based they allow application access from multiple network devices. It helps businesses to have better management of application because multiple users from the same insatnce can share the data across network.
Integration With Larger Applications
Instead of being used as a standalone application, SaaS allows easy integration into other platforms either as a softawre to laerger applications or as a plugin to platform as a service. It can be customized to integrate into the existing system or can be added as a software to the new application development.
Scalability
It has higher scalability than standalone software and allows the system to have variable configurations for each set or group of users. Once the upgrade is rolled out for a set of users it will be reflected to all in that user infrastructure.