SOFTWARE AS A SERVICE
Traditionally, companies buy software and then install and maintain these applications on their own machines. Nowadays companies can subscribe to software, which their employees then access via the Internet.
SaaS is quickly catching on as the preferred way for organizations to access business applications because it eliminates all the headaches, hassles and risks associated with traditional on-premises software.
Compared with traditional on-premises software, the SaaS delivery model is appealing for several reasons, including its lower startup costs, reduced total cost of ownership and rapid deployment. This leads to rapid implementation, easy configuration, 'utility' style 'switch-on' (much like electricity or gas), lower upgrade costs and minimal to zero disruption during upgrades.
On-demand software is highly effective and scalable. Web-services technology makes integration with your existing systems far easier than ever. With an on-demand SaaS solution, the vendor takes responsibility for delivering the system and implementing upgrades. Vendors deliver and manage SaaS technology remotely, leaving maintenance and upkeep with the vendor — not the client.
SOMETIMES YOU JUST WANT TO MAKE AN IMPROVEMENT
The latter, though less flashy, provides very real benefits in cutting costs, saving time, quality improvement and generally making experiences more pleasant and engaging.
Saving money - Older tools and processes often suffer from an accretion of functions, reworkings, bureaucratic requirements and protections that are not integrated with the original concept. It is only in use that the essence of something becomes clear. The easiest way to save money is to simply stop doing unnecessary things.
Saving time - In addition to reducing steps, some actions can be combined, done in parallel or handed off to specialists. Simplification approaches often identify bottlenecks and provide ways to speed things up.
Engaging a larger community - When a tool or a process is simpler, more people want to use it and more people can use it. In addition, new opportunities often open up that go well beyond the original tool or process.
Take a fresh look - Sometimes, complexity is just a point of view. The solar system was no less complex when Copernicus proclaimed that the Earth revolved around the Sun, rather than the reverse. But this description made it easier to explain natural phenomena and eliminated barriers to imagination and creativity.
Similarly, we can use a new perspective to solve business and technical problems, often by working at a higher level. A full view of the steps of a process can allow reengineering to remove or resequence steps in a way that reduces waste and redundancy. Solving at a higher level reveals new alternatives, including centralization, coordination and integration. This broader view can reveal opportunities for specialization or sharing and clarify roles and commitments.
Improving quality - There is an elegance to truly simple tools and processes that is appealing on many levels. Often the end result of rethinking and reengineering is a better marriage of form and function.
Standardize - Imagine trying to get a coherent game going on a field with a dozen strangers if there were no discussion of rules, equipment or even which game to play. It would be chaos.
This is an ongoing problem with older technologies, when specifications and processes may be put in place without much coordination or participation by relevant stakeholders. Parts don’t match up, applications can’t share data, language lacks uniformity, uses are restricted and the adoption rate lags.
Standardization simplifies by reducing the world of possibilities from infinite to an agreed-to set. In addition to allowing people to work in larger realms of endeavor, it invites wider participation and new uses.
