What do you understand by the term SaaS? What are the advantages and disadvantages of SaaS technology? Briefly explain.

Software as a service (SaaS) is a software distribution model in which a third-party hosting providers applications and makes them available to customers over the internet.

Advantages and Disadvantages of SaaS technology

The following are the Advantages and disadvantages of Software as a Service (SaaS):

1. Lower up-front cost: SaaS is generally subscription-based and has no up-front license fees resulting in lower initial costs. The SaaS provider manages the IT infrastructure that is running the software, which brings down fees for hardware and software maintenance.
2. Quick set-up and deployment: This application is already installed and configured in the cloud it reduces the deployment and set-up time as compared to another lengthy traditional software deployment.
3. Easy upgrades: The SaaS providers deal with hardware and software updates, deploying upgrades centrally to the hosted applications and removing this workload and responsibility from you.
4. Accessibility: All you need to access a SaaS application is a browser and an internet connection. This is generally available on a wide range of devices and from anywhere in the world, making SaaS more accessible than traditional business software installation.
5. Scalability: SaaS providers generally offer many subscription options and flexibility to change subscriptions as and when needed, e.g. when your business grows, or more users need to access the service.

The disadvantages of SaaS are :

1. Lack of control : in-house software application gives businesses a higher degree of control than hosted solutions where control resides with a third party. Typically everyone has to use the latest version of the software application and cannot defer upgrades or changes in the features.

1. Security and data concerns : access management and the privacy of sensitive information is a major consideration around cloud and hosted services.
2. Limited range of applications :while SaaS is becoming more popular, there are still many applications that don’t offer a hosted platform.
3. Connectivity requirement :since the SaaS model is based on web delivery, if your internet service fails, you will lose access to your software or data
4. Performance : SaaS may run at somewhat slower speeds than on-premise client or server applications, so it’s worth keeping performance in mind your software isn’t hosted on a local machine.

I have the above blog will make you clear about the advantages and disadvantages of SaaS technology. The key benefits of Software as a Service (SaaS) are low cost, quick installation, easy upgrades. some of the disadvantages of Software as a Service (SaaS) are lack of control, security issues, limited range of applications. You can also check other articles about about security mechanism for SaaS , IaaS and PaaS.