SaaS: Software as a Service
A look into Software as a Service
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ACTS’ Microsoft 365 Value Discovery: Evaluate Your SaaS Applications
What is SaaS (Software as a Service)?
Software as a Service is a model for the distribution and licensing of software. A provider centrally hosts the software service and it can be accessed by users on a subscription basis. The SaaS model is growing and so is the demand for it. It is used in many different businesses and everyday applications: messaging, payroll, document creation, databases, development, virtualization, collaboration, customer relationship management (CRM), invoicing, and many other areas. At home you might see SaaS used regularly with TV subscriptions, a site like Netflix or Hulu will host the content and software that is being used and the users will access it from their own machine.
Examples of SaaS
- Messaging: There are many messaging/telecommunication applications that are SaaS services. Some of which include: Microsoft Teams, Skype, Slack, and Office chat. The messaging system itself is hosted on the company’s servers but the software can be used by people all over the world.
- Payroll: Payroll applications are used company-wide but the majority of companies don’t host their own payroll systems. They tap into a software that is hosted on a payroll company’s payroll server and take full advantage of the simplicity of using payroll software.
- Document Creation: A good example of document creation is Microsoft Word, although Word used to be a software purchased at the store and uploaded to your computer, it is now a SaaS product. Because of this, it is regularly updated providing monthly subscribers with new features on a regular basis.
Additional Types of Services: IaaS & PaaS
IaaS
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is a model of cloud computing that allows a host to provide a customer with computing resources. In the IaaS model the cloud computing provider hosts the infrastructure that consists of things like data centers, servers, storage, networking hardware and the virtualization. In addition to typical infrastructure functions the IaaS host often provides other services like monitoring, log access, security and storage resiliency.
IaaS providers enable their customers to further automate and monitor their infrastructure and data than a typical on-premises system.
PaaS
Platform as a Service (PaaS) is a cloud computing services model that provides a platform (hardware and software tools) giving customers the ability to develop, run, and manage applications without the complexity of having to install, build, and maintain applications infrastructure. The majority of PaaS platforms are focused on software development. Often these products not only provide an environment where applications can be built and tested but also a collaborative environment that allows a development team to work together seamlessly.
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On-Premises: When software is installed and runs on location at the person’s or organization’s facility.
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IaaS: Infrastructure as a Service
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PaaS: Platform as a Service
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SaaS: Software as a Service
ACTS & SaaS
Microsoft 365 (M365): Microsoft 365 is a Software as a Service (SaaS) that is hosted by Microsoft and used by many people everyday. M365 allows you to securely collaborate with teammates and business partners in order to edit the same documents, presentations, and assets. This is extremely helpful in today’s business ecosystem where many team members are remote and/or available at different times. The collaborative process of a SaaS service like M365 unifies workers under one secure system that works for all users.
Azure: Microsoft Azure is a service that supplies computing power for the creation, management, deployment, and the testing of services and applications. Azure has three options when it comes to service type: Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). The SaaS that Azure supplies allows many users access to a database that is hosted by Microsoft, although Azure is capable of much more, this is part of its base functionality.
Dynamics 365 (D365): Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a pairing of enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) tools. The application allows businesses to keep track of their leads and better plan how to leverage those relationships. D365 is a SaaS product that combines the best features of ERP’s and CRM’s allowing users to gain competitive advantage with better planning and analysis of resources.
An organization’s reliance on SaaS products can be optimized with a service like the ones we provide: M365 Value Discovery, Cloud Immersion Program & D365 Acceleration.
Additional SaaS Resources
Designed To Disrupt
ACTS CEO, James Farhat along with the ACTS team, co-authored Designed to Disrupt an eBook detailing how those who embrace new approaches may reap great rewards.
M365 Value Discovery
ACTS delivers data-driven insights into your existing technology investments while identifying opportunities to maximize value in your current and future IT environment.
Cloud Productivity Optimized With Managed Services
Microsoft 365 brings together Office 365, Windows 10 and Enterprise Mobility & Security, to deliver robust services for the Modern Workplace in the Cloud.
