SAAS

Software as a Service (SaaS) is a software distribution model in which applications are hosted by a vendor or service provider in the network (usually Internet) and typically accessed by users via a web browser.

SaaS has been incorporated into the strategy of all leading enterprise software companies. One of the biggest selling points for these companies is the potential to reduce IT support costs by outsourcing hardware and software maintenance and support to the SaaS provider. The example of such service is Shopify commerce .

There are identified two slightly different delivery models for SaaS. The hosted application management (hosted AM) model is similar to ASP (application service provider): a provider hosts commercially available software for customers and delivers it over the Web. In the software on demand model, the provider gives customers network-based access to a single copy of an application created specifically for SaaS distribution.

Benefits of the SaaS model include:

• easier administration;

• automatic updates and patch management;

• compatibility: all users will have the same version of software;

• easier collaboration, for the same reason;

• global accessibility.

However, the use of SaaSS can be considered as a violation of the principles of free software. With SaaS, the users do not have the access to the executable files. That is why it is impossible to change it. As well SaaS inherently gives the server operator the power to change the software in use, or the users’ data being operated on.