Chapter 15 CIS

Software as a Service (SaaS)

•  firm subscribes to a third party software-replacting service that is delivered online

  • Most SaaS firms earn money via a usage-based pricing model similar to amonthly subscription

Other SaaS firms

• Offer free services that are supported by advertising

• Promote the sale of upgraded or premium versions for additional fees

• Compete directly with the biggest names in software (Splunk, Salesforce, NetSuite, etc)

Benefits of SaaS

• Lowert costs and financial risk mitigation

• Faster deployment times and variable operating expense

• Scalable systems higher quality and service levels

• Remote access and availabltity

• Limits development to a single platform

• Tighter to feedback loop

• Ability to instant deploy buy fixes and product enhancements

• Lower distribution costs

• Greater accessibility

• Reducing software piracy

Risks for SaaS

• Dependence on a single vendor

• Conecern about the long-term viability of parner firms 

• Users may be forced to migrate to new versions— possibly incurring unforeseen training costs and shifts in operating procedures

• Reliance on a network connection, which may be: 

  • Slower

  • Less stable

  • Less secure

Utiilty Computing

firm develop its own software and then runs it over the Internet on a service provider’s computers

Platform as a Service

delivers tools so an organization can develop, test and develop, test, and deploy software in a cloud

Infrastructure as a Service

offers a more bare bones set of services that are an alternative to buying its own physical hardware

Cloudbursting

use of cloud computing to provide excess capacity during periods of spiking demand. It is a scalability solution that is provide as an overflow service, kicking in as needed

Black swans

events that cannot be predicted but can cause. animpact. Scalable computing resources can help a firm deal with spiking impact from black swan events

Server farm

a massive network of computer servers running software to coordinate their collective use. Provider the infrastructure backbone to SaaS, hardware cloud efforts, and many large-scale internet services