IRJET-Software As A Service: A Brief Study

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International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET)

e-ISSN: 2395 -0056

Volume: 02 Issue: 03| June-2015

p-ISSN: 2395-0072

www.irjet.net

Software As A Service: A Brief Study
Barinder Kaur
PG, CSE, G.N.D.U, Amritsar, India
---------------------------------------------------------------------***---------------------------------------------------------------------

Abstract - Software as a Service (SaaS), sometimes
referred
to
as
"on-demand
software"
is
a software delivery model in which software and
related data are centrally hosted on the cloud. Users
typically access SaaS via a web browser. For many
business applications SaaS has become a common
delivery model. In this paper SaaS is discussed in detail;
its basic characteristics and its architecture. Various
parameters which should be followed while purchasing
software and its implementation is elaborated. The
pros and cons of SaaS are also discussed.

Key Words: SaaS, Architecture, Selection Parameters,
Advantages, and disadvantages etc…
1. INTRODUCTION
Software as a Service (SaaS) is defined [1] as a software
application delivery model, where a software vendor
deploys and hosts software applications in a multitenant
(cloud) platform for its customers to operate the
application over the Internet as services. SaaS has some
unique features. SaaS applications are usually hosted at
the service provider’s network instead of being installed
on premise, delivered as web applications, and serve as
services for multiple tenants. SaaS applications can be
deployed in a cloud computing environment and accessed
through Internet by web browsers or users. As a result, it
drastically reduces the upfront commitment of resources.
As a consequence, SaaS applications can be deployed with
minimal effort and be available in a very short span of
time to a large group of users, and therefore, it makes SaaS
model quite attractive to enterprises.

1.1 Characteristics and Benefits of SaaS
Characteristics of SaaS are:
 Network delivered access to commercially
available software.
 Application delivery is one-to-many model.
 Built on optimized and robust platform.
 Customer pays for as much as they need when
they need it.

© 2015, IRJET.NET- All Rights Reserved

Benefits of SaaS are:
 No infrastructure or software to purchase or
maintain. Application and data are available
anywhere with network connectivity.
 Operating costs are reduced by managing
infrastructure in central locations rather than at
each customer’s site.
 Improved availability and reliability.
 Lower Total cost of ownership.
In the traditional model of software delivery, the customer
acquires a perpetual license and assumes responsibility
for managing the software. There is a high upfront cost
associated with the purchase of the license, as well as the
burden of implementation and ongoing maintenance.
Return on investment (ROI) is often delayed considerably,
and, due to the rapid pace of technological change,
expensive software solutions can quickly become obsolete
[2]. But with SaaS this problem is alleviated as there are
various revenue options for SaaS Firms like Subscription
(monthly fee per seat), Transaction based pricing (like
credit cards), Profit sharing, ownership sharing and Adbased revenue (e.g. pay per click).

2. ARCHITECTURE OF SaaS
There are two types of SAAS architecture:
 Single Tenant SAAS architecture
 Multi Tenant SAAS architecture
Single Tenant SAAS architecture: As the names suggest,
single-tenant systems house the data for one company
only. Single-tenant systems give a user its own database
and its own instance of the software application. Placed on
its own individual server, or segregated via extensive
security controls to create its own virtual server, users of
single-tenant systems enjoy the benefits of significant
configurability of software, robust functionality, and
enhanced security. An on-demand model, single-tenant
SaaS is best seen as a “custom fit” solution that many
companies should use because their industry, geography
or security requirements give them the need for
configurability and customization. A single-tenant system
will have a higher degree of inherent security.
Multi Tenant SAAS architecture: Multi-tenant systems
house the data for multiple companies on one server.
Multi-tenant systems place the data from multiple
companies on the same server, generally separating them
from each other via a simple partition that prevents the

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International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET)

e-ISSN: 2395 -0056

Volume: 02 Issue: 03| June-2015

www.irjet.net

p-ISSN: 2395-0072



Contact and activity management for tracking
customer contacts. It ensures sales efforts are not
duplicated. Opportunity Management helps track
and manage opportunities through every stage of
the sales pipeline. It includes functionality such as
lead creation, lead-to-opportunity conversion,
opportunity tracking, etc. Sales Performance
Management supports territory and quota
assignment to multiple levels of sales
organizations from regions and districts to
individual sales persons. Sales Analysis module
provides dashboards and reports.

data from migrating from one company to another. As the
data is housed on the same server, each of the companies
using the software is running the same basic application,
with the same basic functionality and with the same
limited configuration capabilities. A true ASP model, multitenant SaaS is an “off-the-rack” solution that can fit many
companies
without
the
need
for
much
alteration. Functionality of software is significantly greater
for single-tenant systems than for multi-tenant systems. In
the multi-tenant option, modifications to the software are
limited because multiple customers are running the same
instance of the software and because their data is being
housed in a pre-configured database format. This is not to
say that the functionality isn’t good. In fact, the opposite is
generally true. For many companies with more basic
database and information needs, configurability of
software isn’t a necessity. Multi-tenant SaaS providers
generally do a very good job of anticipating the needs of
current and prospective customers and the standardized
functionality is often all that is needed by a company. For
that reason, some vendors actually provide customers
with a choice between a single- and multi-tenant option. a
multi-tenant system as the potential for data migration
from one company to another is eliminated when housed
in a non-shared environment. Having said that, multitenant systems are still secure and the level of security
offered by these systems may be adequate for a particular
company’s needs. [4] [5]

3. SaaS PRODUCT SELECTION PARAMETERS
When several vendors offer SaaS based products, the
selection of product becomes a key issue. It involves
analysis of selection parameters and product offerings of
the vendors. As multiple criteria are involved in decision
making, it is a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM)
problem. Being a problem involving multi-criteria and
multi-products, it can’t be solved with mere judgment or
intuition. The judgments may work fine, only when the
selection parameters are few. Many factors are involved in
selection of a software product. Based on experience and
interviews with the experts, we propose factors for SaaS
selection such as:
 Functionality
 Architecture
 Usability
 Vendor Reputation
 Cost
These factors are selected primarily considering our case
study of sales force automation. [3]

3.1 Functionality
Functionality factor includes attributes that are typically
called as functional modules of SFA. It includes:

© 2015, IRJET.NET- All Rights Reserved

3.2 Architecture
The architecture factors are as follows:
 Integration attribute includes ability of product to
integrate with other applications. Integration
attribute becomes quite relevant for SaaS
products as SaaS products are hosted off premise
and hence can be perceived as difficult to
integrate with the on-premise legacy systems.
 Scalability refers to the SaaS product’s ability to
maintain reasonable response time for users even
during peak load.
 Reliability refers to the SaaS product’s ability to
remain available for the users for given time
windows. It requires vendors to deploy
monitoring and diagnostic tools.
 Security is considered to be the major concern for
SaaS products. Vendor having certifications such
as ISO 27000 helps ensure security adopted for
handling of customer data.

3.3 Usability
Usability related attributes are as follows:
 User interface includes facets such as
intuitiveness, ease-of-use for frequently required
tasks and aesthetic nature of graphical elements.
 Help attribute refers to availability of easy-to-use
user manuals, eLearning modules, and
 Context-sensitive help.
 Support for mobile device has become important
as modern sales workforce extensively
 Depends on the mobile devices such as PDA etc.
 Offline support is important. It means the SaaS
products support a mechanism to let users work
on system in offline mode and let them
synchronize once connected to internet.

3.4 Vendor Reputation
Vendor reputation factor includes two attributes:
 Number of clients/users indicates the level of
usage, which roughly indicates whether the

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International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET)

e-ISSN: 2395 -0056

Volume: 02 Issue: 03| June-2015

www.irjet.net

p-ISSN: 2395-0072



Freedom to Choose (or Better Software): It means
the pay-as-you-go (PAYG) nature of SaaS enables
users to select applications they wish to use and
to stop using those that no longer meet their
needs. Ultimately, this freedom leads to better
software applications because vendors must be
receptive to customer needs and wants.
New Application Types: Since the barrier to use
the software for the first time is low, it is now
feasible to develop applications that may have an
occasional use model. This would be impossible in
the perpetual license model. If a high upfront cost
were required the number of participants would
be much smaller.
Faster Product Cycles: Product releases are much
more frequent, but contain fewer new features
than the typical releases in the perpetual license
model because the developer know the
environment the software needs to run. This new
process gets bug fixes out faster and allows users
to digest new features in smaller bites, which
ultimately makes the users more productive than
they were under the previous model.
Additionally, it is not necessary for the customer
to continually upgrade the software. Each time the
user accesses the software, it is the “latest and
greatest” version that’s available. [2]
Increased Total Available Market: Lower upfront
costs and reduced infrastructure capital translate
into a much larger available market for the
software vendor, because users that previously
could not afford the software license or lacked the
skill to support the necessary infrastructure are
potential customers. A related benefit is that the
decision maker for the purchase of a SaaS
application will be at a department level rather
than the enterprise level that is typical for the
perpetual license model. This results in shorter
sales cycles.
Enhanced Competitive Differentiation: The ability
to deliver applications via the SaaS model
enhances a software company’s competitive
differentiation. It also creates opportunities for
new companies to compete effectively with larger
vendors. The tangible value that customers can
realize from the SaaS model versus the perpetual
license model is a compelling selling point.
On the other hand, software companies will face
ever-increasing pressure from their competitors
to move to the SaaS model. Those who lag behind
will find it difficult to catch up as the software
industry continues to rapidly evolve.
Lower Development Costs & Quicker Time-toMarket : The main saving is at testing (35%).
Small and frequent releases i.e. less to test.
Application is developed to be deployed on a
specific hardware infrastructure, far less number

product is fairly new entry or is well-established
one.
The brand value of vendor is also important, as
sometimes a new product from well-known
vendor may be preferred over a product having
vast customer base but being provided by not-so
well- known vendor.



3.5 Cost
Cost factor includes two attributes:
 Annual subscription.
 One-time implementation cost.
Usually, cost of hardware and support personnel is
covered under annual subscription, while cost of initial
consulting, configuration efforts, etc is covered under onetime implementation [3].



4. SaaS IMPLEMENTATION STEPS













Understand your business objectives and
definition of a successful outcome (idea)
Select and staff your services delivery team
(people)
Define and understand the infrastructure needed
to deliver your SaaS application (hardware)
Select your hosting facility and Internet Service
Providers (ISPs)
Procure the infrastructure and software required
to deliver your SaaS application (security your
platform)
Ready to Run
Deploy your SaaS delivery infrastructure
Implement disaster recovery and business
continuity planning
Integrate a monitoring solution
Establish a Network Operations Center (NOC),
Client Call Center and ticketing system
Design and manage Service Level Agreements
Document and manage the solution while open
your business [2].





5. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF SaaS
Advantages of SaaS are as follows:
 Lower Cost of Ownership
 Focus on Core Competency i.e. the IT saving on
capital and effort allows the customer to remain
focused on their core competency and utilize
resources in more strategic areas.
 Access anywhere means users can use their
applications and access their data anywhere they
have an Internet connection and a computing
device. This enhances the customer experience of
the software and makes it easier for users to get
work done fast.
© 2015, IRJET.NET- All Rights Reserved






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International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET)

e-ISSN: 2395 -0056

Volume: 02 Issue: 03| June-2015

p-ISSN: 2395-0072

www.irjet.net

of possible environment – less to test. This, in
turn, provides the software developer with
overall lower development costs and quicker
time-to-market.
Effective Low Cost Marketing: Between 1995 and
today, buyers’ habits shifted from an outbound
world driven by field sales and print advertising
to an inbound world driven by Internet search.
The SaaS delivery model is perfect for marketing
programs that exploit this shift.
Predictable MRR Revenue: Traditionally, software
companies rely on one major release every 12-18
months to fuel a revenue stream from the sale of
upgrades (long tail theory). This puts a lot of
pressure on the organization to hit an arbitrary
date to meet corporate financial commitments. In
the SaaS model the revenue is typically in the
form of Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR), which
is far more predictable and less tied to the
development schedule of the next release of the
software.
Improved
Customer
Relationships:
SaaS
contributes to improved relationships between
vendors and customers. In the traditional model
once the software is sold, it is largely up to the
customer to make it work. The SaaS model creates
a more symbiotic relationship between vendors
and customers and provides vendors with greater
opportunities to please their customers
Protecting of IP: Difficult to obtain illegal copies.
Price is low as a result making getting illegal
copies totally unnecessary. [2]

Disadvantages are as follows:
 Core functionality out-sourced
 Broadband risk
 Limited personalization/tailoring
 No competitive uniqueness advantage
 Not suited to high volume data entry [2]

REFERENCES
[1] Feng Liu, Weiping Guo, Zhi Qiang Zhao, Wu Chou,
SaaS Integration for Software Cloud, IEEE 3rd
International Conference on Cloud Computing, 2010.
[2] Jie Liu, SaaS–What is it and why is it important to
you? , Sapien LLC, available at
http://www.wou.edu/~frli06/SAAS-2.ppt
[3] Manish Godse, Shrikant Mulik, An Approach for
Selecting Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Product, IEEE
International Conference on Cloud Computing, 2009.
[4] Single-Tenant vs. Multi-Tenant SaaS Architecture,
http://www.sapiensoftware.com/multitenant.aspx
[5] Software
as
a
Service,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_as_a_service.
[6] Barinder Kaur, “Parametric Analysis Of Cloud
Computing Security Models”, International Journal of
Information And Computation Technology (IJICT),
vol., no., pp.1499,1506, June 2014.
[7] Barinder Kaur, “Cloud Computing And Security
Issues: A survey”, International Journal of Computer
Science Trends And Technology (IJCST)”, Mar-Apr
2015.
[8] S. Patidar, D. Rane, P. Jain,"A Survey Paper on Cloud
Computing," Advanced Computing & Communication
Technologies (ACCT), 2012 Second International
Conference on , vol., no., pp.394,398, 7-8 Jan. 2012.

BIOGRAPHY

Author’s
Photo

Barinder Kaur was born in
Hoshiarpur, Punjab, India. She
has obtained her B.Tech degree in
Computer
Science
and
Engineering from PTU in 2012.
She has completed her Masters
degree in Software System from
G.N.D.U., Amritsar.
She is
interested in research work on
Cloud Computing.

5. CONCLUSION
While working on the term paper, it is concluded that SaaS
is a becoming the mainstream. Considering its benefits
both to user as well as vendor, SaaS has a widespread
adoption and is becoming the most preferred software
delivery model. SaaS will be the way most applications will
be delivered. A single server handing multiple customers
thereby reducing hardware cost. The numbers show that
SaaS is a far more attractive economic model than the
perpetual license model.

© 2015, IRJET.NET- All Rights Reserved

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