SaaS, or Software as a Service, is a growing trend for businesses accessing software applications as a cost-effective alternative to purchasing, installing and maintaining licensed software. SaaS software delivery model enables a monthly user fee for the use of the software license by the end customer or enterprise. Previously traditional models involved the outright purchase of the software license prior to usage.

SaaS software traditionally resides in the cloud (where ICT capabilities are provided as a service via the Internet) or on-demand and involves no end user setup or installation. SaaS software is also typically managed by the ISV (Independent Software Vendor).

The SaaS delivery model provides significant advantages over the traditional upfront license model including:

• SaaS offers little or no up-front costs
• SaaS offers minimal infrastructure/support costs
• SaaS quickly and easily scales to meet changing business requirements
• SaaS provides “No lock in” to particular Software Vendors resulting in businesses feeling more power and reduces the risks of being tied to an inappropriate, or ineffective, solution
• SaaS provides data security and disaster recovery by supporting the external hosting of your essential business data - delivering peace-of-mind
• SaaS facilitates simple software upgrades as it can be done by the ISV centrally on the hosted environment alleviating the need for major upgrades, outages or project management