What Is SaaS?

Courtesy of Guest Blogger Jeremy Diviney

Does the term “SaaS” sound familiar to you? Although this term is slowly merging in the technology world, everyone has been using SaaS for years. It stands for “Software as a Service.” It functions like software but think of it as a cousin of software. The key factor of SaaS is its use of the Internet to reach you. Loosely termed, it uses “the cloud.” Unlike traditional software, you have access to SaaS software anywhere you are connected to the internet.

The Internet started off solely being a reference source of information. Now it has progressed to being interactive, connecting people all over the world. So why not connect them to a single SaaS?

You Mean I Already use SaaS?

You’ve already been using a SaaS, if a single program online enabled you to do the following on any computer:

·         store information online

·         limit access to this information to a selected group of people

·         allow the group to edit this information

·         allow the group to share their edits with you.

Hotmail and DropBox are perfect examples of SaaS. People all over the world use SaaS for their legal billing software, accounting software, and word processing software.

What’s the Difference Between Software and SaaS?

With the many similarities and differences between the two kinds of software, here’s a point-by-point comparison:

Jeremy Diviney is Head of Operations at Bill4Time and can be reached at jeremy@bill4time.com.