SaaS - A Growing Trend in 2008

All things SaaS is a growing trend again. According to Accenture, software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is among one of the major trends occurring this year. "Software as a Service (SaaS) is emerging as a strong alternative to traditionally licensed software enabling new business models to buy and use software. Now, software is no longer a product to buy, but itself a service to use to deliver other services."

This model is not new. Since around the late '90s and onwards, the ASP or application service provider model of hosted web-based software solutions were all the rage. Of course, Gartner, McKinsey, and IDC and others have been predicting that Saas is a comeback kid for the last few years. In the early years, it may have been too much of a new new thing but some internet years later after this model has been more vetted, tried, and tested, the economic and business value are evident. The plug-and-play capability which allows for quick deployment and the cost savings of renting a service versus a costly outlay for purchasing software makes a lot of sense. And, for the big but - what about security?! That is a major concern for companies considering a SaaS solution - the security of their data and where it is being stored. Advances have been made in this area as well paving the way for SaaS to make a re-newed run for it in '08.