SAAS ( Software as a service )

Software as a service is a software licensing
and delivery model in which software is
licensed on a subscription basis and is
centrally hosted. It is sometimes referred to
as "on-demand software". SaaS is typically
accessed by users using a thin client via a
web browser. SaaS has become a common
delivery model for many business
applications, including office & messaging
software, DBMS software, management
software, CAD software, development
software, gamification, virtualization,
accounting, collaboration, customer
relationship management (CRM), management
information systems (MIS), enterprise
resource planning (ERP), invoicing, human
resource management (HRM), content
management (CM) and service desk
management. 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.
According to a Gartner Group estimate, SaaS
sales in 2010 reached $10 billion, and were
projected to increase to $12.1bn in 2011, up
20.7% from 2010. Gartner Group estimates
that SaaS revenue will be more than double
its 2010 numbers by 2015 and reach a
projected $21.3bn. Customer relationship
management (CRM) continues to be the
largest market for SaaS. SaaS revenue within
the CRM market was forecast to reach
$3.8bn in 2011, up from $3.2bn in 2010.
The term "software as a service" (SaaS) is
considered to be part of the nomenclature of
cloud computing, along with infrastructure as
a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS),
desktop as a service (DaaS), backend as a
service (BaaS), and information technology
management as a service (ITMaaS).