Characteristics of SaaS – Leveraging the Cloud for Digital Transformation
Characteristics of SaaS
These are the clues that will help determine if a service is a SaaS:
- It is managed by the vendor (such as AWS).
- It is hosted on a third-party server.
- It can be accessed over the internet.
- AWS is responsible for managing applications, infrastructure, operating systems, and software patches and updates.
Advantages of SaaS
SaaS has several advantages:
- Reducing the time, money, and effort spent on repetitive tasks
- Shifting the responsibility for installing, patching, configuring, and upgrading software across the service to a third party
- Allowing you to focus on the tasks that require more personalized attention, such as providing customer service to your user base
A SaaS solution allows you to get up and running efficiently. This option, versus the other two solutions we’ll analyze, requires the least effort. This option enables companies big and small to launch services quickly and finish a project on time.
Disadvantages of SaaS
SaaS solutions have some limitations as well:
- Interoperability: Interoperability with other services may not be straightforward. For example, if you need integration with an on-premises application, it may be more complicated to perform this integration. Most likely, your on-premises installation does not use the same software and technologies in AWS, complicating the integration. Your on-premises environment is an assortment of technology from different vendors, making it difficult to integrate. In contrast, before you spin up your first service, AWS goes to great lengths and performs rigorous testing to ensure that services interoperate and integrate smoothly.
- Customization: The convenience of having AWS manage many things for you comes at a price. Opportunities for customization in a SaaS solution will not be as great as with other services that are further down in the stack. For example, an on-premises solution that offers complete control of all levels in the stack will allow full customization. In your on-premises environment, you install the patch if there is a requirement to use a particular version of Linux with a certain security patch. In contrast, if you are using AWS Lambda as your deployment environment, installing a certain version of Linux is not possible. In fact, with AWS Lambda, which operating system is being used under the covers is transparent to you.
- Lack of control: If your organization requires that you only use a certain approved version of an operating system, this may not be appropriate. For example, there might be a regulatory requirement requiring detailed testing approval of the underlying operating systems, and if the version is changed, a retest and approval are required. In this case, SaaS will most likely not be an acceptable solution. In a SaaS environment, you have non-deterministic latency issues. In other words, it is hard to control how long your processes will take.
- Limited features: If the SaaS solution you are using does not offer a feature you require, you might not be able to use that feature unless the SaaS vendor provides that feature in the future.
