12/03/2007
Keeping up with the buzz-words from the software industry can be a difficult task. You may have heard of "Software as a Service" and you may wonder what all the fuss is about.
Firstly, what does SaaS mean? "Software as a service (SaaS) is a model of software delivery where the software company provides maintenance, daily technical operation, and support for the software provided to their client" (see Wikipedia, "Software as a Service").
Secondly, what does it mean for your business? A recent article itnews.com.au by WebEx director Kevin Mackin points out that by using SaaS applications, over 50% of SMEs were able to save 20%-30% on costs (see "Why SaaS is the future of software delivery").
SaaS applications, like iomis, allow small businesses to access sophisticated business applications for a monthly rental fee. Often, the cost of installing and maintaining these types of applications would have been prohibitive for SMEs. The SaaS model changes this and can offer benefits such as:
- easy adoption of business critical software
- minimal upfront costs
- reduced IT admin and hassle
- easy (no cost) ongoing upgrades and maintenance
- available anywhere with an internet connection