So What Exactly Is The Deal With This Software As a Service Thing

You know, cloud computing or "software as a service", isn't new. It's the year 2012, and it's hardly to be considered an innovation. We have actually been using Google Docs for how many years now - six? And yet, the concept still feels new. More and more enterprise level software is now being offered as a cloud application. Any business that wants to use their enterprise accounting software or point-of-sale software or supply chain software just subscribes to the service, and they don't have to worry about maintaining a large computer department in-house.

And yet, people aren't quite sure yet how the whole software as a service concept is supposed to work. Well, that's what we're here to talk about.

Let's first get the basics out of the way - what exactly is SaaS (that's how they abbreviate it. They pronounce it Sass). It goes by another name - on-demand software. Basically, the software is on the computer somewhere else. They take care of installing it, upgrading isn't everything else.

When you subscribe to the service, they open an account for you, and every time you wish to use the software, you log into your account, you do what you have to do, and all your data is stored right there on their computer. You don't ever have to worry about a thing - they back it up, they keep everything in perfect working order.

It's great for you, because you just have to learn to use it. You don't have to learn to maintain it or anything.

Okay, so the idea seems good to you. How do you know if software as a service is right for your business? How do you know if you should use this and not get regular software and install it on your own computer?

The best way to determine this would be to think about how complex your software needs are. If you run a small business or even a medium-sized business, if your business needs are relatively straightforward, you probably don't need any customization. In this case, the software as a service model will work great for you.

If yours is a business that needs that needs customized software or if you need niche software that isn't yet there on the cloud, you would be better off going the regular route. The most customization you can do with software as a service is to choose a new skin or something. There is very limited customization available at this point. But this isn't the way it's going to be forever.

Even if the software does belong to someone else, the data on the computer is yours. Typically, it's much, much safer than anything you could ever put together on your limited budget. And you own your data. Your only problem is if business you've chosen goes under. You just need to look for a vendor who will actually tell to an explicit language that your data is yours.

If you have  a great and reliable Internet connection, there's really nothing that stops you.