Software As A Service is the top most layers where generally the majority of the programmers reside. It is ubiquities today and its popularity is rapidly growing. This article will help you to understand its functionality.
Where SaaS is used?
SaaS can show up in various ways but the most prominent is a web application. Some of the web applications out there can charge for access for instance, premium contents for premium subscribers only. Some of them are absolutely free for instance, applications like google maps, google mail and most of Google’s web applications.
Opportunities provided by SaaS
There is a catch here, although they are always available to you, it won’t be if you do not have Internet Access. Makes sense. “Web” application. So you do not get a installation media like DVD or other .exe file. You just simply use them via a browser.
This may seem like a bummer to you but look at this. You do not to carry fixed amount of data always with you. For instance, every time you install an app on your phone, you carry the data with you. Both stored data and the space consumed in the storage by the application.
One of the best things about web application, it simply takes off this burden from your machine and operate from the cloud and you have the privilege to get access to the application, your account from anywhere in the world with majority, security ensured.
Also, so often if you have 50 computers in your office. Traditional desktop application comes with update from time to time, which means you have to update all 50 of the computers. Not only this is just useless time spent updating software on 50 computer. Now what if you have 100s or thousands? SaaS, on the other hand, is a centralized place where they are always up-to-date and anybody access this place have access to the up-to-date applications.
SaaS in action
What would you call a SaaS and what you would not is quite challenging. This is because, typically, what we use on daily basis on the internet, especially the service kind, get access to the Internet, is some form of SaaS. One of the clearest example is, decades ago, lot of people would call the Google search page a website. Which is not. Think of this. You need to look for something. You go to the search engine. You look for the thing. You are using Google’s service and they are providing you with this service. You do not own that service but you are an user and you must have access to the internet to use such service.
Yet, there is a catch, although, you are using a public service open to all. You are not necessarily using it for free. One of the thing you trade is your strict control of data. Generally, saving something trivial like your saved game file or blog post up in the Google drive is not much of a big deal. But, enterprise level data transfer on untrusted network can be risky and jeopardized by the black hats out there, where they are not in control of their servers. But certainly the developers of such services is not that they are not aware of these and therefore they provide various other workaround and solution to such problems.
If you or anyone starting out as a software engineer, full stack developer, cloud developer/engineers, devOps or in the field of IT in general, knowing about these information provided is super crucial to your way to the cloud.