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The Difference Between Software and SaaS
– Katie Hutchinson
In tech, there are so many acronyms; it’s like learning a second language. SaaS (pronounced sass, like the first part of sassy) is an acronym you may have come across and you think, that’s fancy. Which, behind the scenes, it is. But boiling it down, it’s like software in the cloud.
The cloud is a really big computer that lives somewhere that you access by using the internet. It is not in the sky (sorry). SaaS stands for Software as a Service. Think back to when software first began. You would purchase it (depending on how far you go back, you may have gone to a store to purchase your software on a physical floppy or CD) and load it onto your computer. You could only access it from your computer. You login, pull up a file, manipulate or create, and then save. All information is saved to your computer.
SaaS is a subscription model and offers hosting in the cloud so that you can login from anywhere (geographical restrictions may apply depending on the service). You can sometimes self-host, but typically the vendor from whom you purchased the software hosts the information on their servers (the cloud). The pros are that it’s accessible from anywhere and any device. The scalability is higher, implementation is quicker, and the upfront cost is lower. Security, although you are responsible for onsite security and training your people, is a responsibility heavily laid on the vendor.
The cons could be long-term financial obligation and limitation of customization, although there are some SaaS companies that offer lifetime subscriptions and customizations are usually enough that if you find the right SaaS, you shouldn’t need to rewrite the code.
It may be annoying to pay monthly or annually for your software, but the benefits are worth it. Not sure you are using the right software or SaaS for your business or organization? Hit us up; we will do a free health check.
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