{"id":14902,"date":"2023-03-12T18:26:32","date_gmt":"2023-03-12T16:26:32","guid":{"rendered":"../../../../@p=14902"},"modified":"2023-03-12T18:26:33","modified_gmt":"2023-03-12T16:26:33","slug":"pros-cons-of-saas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"../../../../pros-cons-of-saas/default.htm","title":{"rendered":"Advantages and Disadvantages of Software as a Service (SaaS)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ever since the first modern desktop computers began appearing in offices in the 1980s, software companies have battled for supremacy. After all, a computer&#8217;s only as useful as the software running on it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-14906\" src=\"../../../../wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Depositphotos_205479430_L.jpg\" alt=\"software as a service\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.tech21century.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Depositphotos_205479430_L.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.tech21century.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Depositphotos_205479430_L-350x233.jpg 350w, ../../../../wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Depositphotos_205479430_L-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>That fight for dominance\u2014and the ensuing success of the Windows operating system and the eponymous Office suite\u2014turned Microsoft into a corporate juggernaut and household name.<\/p>\n<p>However, Microsoft built its brand on the back of software licensing deals. In other words, they sold copies of software that users had to install on their computers to use.<\/p>\n<p>Today, however, that software sales model is falling out of favor. In its place are a variety of cloud-delivered applications, collectively known as Software as a Service (<strong>SaaS<\/strong>) offerings.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a change so profound that even Microsoft pivoted its Office software to transform it into a subscription service.<\/p>\n<p>But the question remains: is SaaS a good idea for businesses or just the software companies behind the offerings? To answer that, here are the main pros and cons of SaaS for today&#8217;s businesses.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_46 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"ez-toc-toggle-icon-1\"><label for=\"item-641bb0d83f2cd\" aria-label=\"Table of Content\"><span style=\"display: flex;align-items: center;width: 35px;height: 30px;justify-content: center;direction:ltr;\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"../../../../../www.w3.org/2000/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"../../../../../www.w3.org/2000/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-0B2FBFCAAB\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/label><input  type=\"checkbox\" id=\"item-641bb0d83f2cd\"><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-visibility-hide-by-default' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"../../../../pros-cons-of-saas/#The_Main_Pros_of_SaaS\" title=\"The Main Pros of SaaS\">The Main Pros of SaaS<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3'><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"../../../../pros-cons-of-saas/#Lower_Total_Cost_of_Ownership\" title=\"Lower Total Cost of Ownership\">Lower Total Cost of Ownership<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"../../../../pros-cons-of-saas/#Reduced_On-site_Maintenance_Needs\" title=\"Reduced On-site Maintenance Needs\">Reduced On-site Maintenance Needs<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"../../../../pros-cons-of-saas/#Simplified_Remote_Access\" title=\"Simplified Remote Access\">Simplified Remote Access<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"../../../../pros-cons-of-saas/#Better_Scalability\" title=\"Better Scalability\">Better Scalability<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"../../../../pros-cons-of-saas/#Faster_Deployment\" title=\"Faster Deployment\">Faster Deployment<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"../../../../pros-cons-of-saas/#Enhanced_Collaboration_and_Productivity\" title=\"Enhanced Collaboration and Productivity\">Enhanced Collaboration and Productivity<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"../../../../pros-cons-of-saas/#Improved_Disaster_Recovery\" title=\"Improved Disaster Recovery\">Improved Disaster Recovery<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"../../../../pros-cons-of-saas/#The_Main_Cons_of_SaaS\" title=\"The Main Cons of SaaS\">The Main Cons of SaaS<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3'><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"../../../../pros-cons-of-saas/#Internet-dependency\" title=\"Internet-dependency\">Internet-dependency<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"../../../../pros-cons-of-saas/#Security_and_Privacy_Concerns\" title=\"Security and Privacy Concerns\">Security and Privacy Concerns<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"../../../../pros-cons-of-saas/#Less_Control_Over_Customization\" title=\"Less Control Over Customization\">Less Control Over Customization<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"../../../../pros-cons-of-saas/#SaaS_Vendor_Lock-in\" title=\"SaaS Vendor Lock-in\">SaaS Vendor Lock-in<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-14\" href=\"../../../../pros-cons-of-saas/#The_Final_Word_on_SaaS\" title=\"The Final Word on SaaS\">The Final Word on SaaS<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Main_Pros_of_SaaS\"><\/span>The Main Pros of SaaS<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>There are a variety of advantages that business users of SaaS solutions enjoy. They&#8217;re the main reason that SaaS is so readily displacing other traditional software products that dominated the business market for decades. Here are the main pros of SaaS for businesses.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Lower_Total_Cost_of_Ownership\"><\/span><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Lower Total Cost of Ownership<\/strong><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The biggest advantage SaaS solutions confer upon businesses is cost savings. That&#8217;s because, in many cases, SaaS solutions have a lower <a href=\"../../../https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/totalcostofownership.asp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">total cost of ownership (TCO)<\/a> than the traditional software it replaces.<\/p>\n<p>With a SaaS solution, there&#8217;s no need to spend money on the infrastructure required, like servers and high-end PCs, by most on-premises software solutions.<\/p>\n<p>Also, there&#8217;s no need to maintain in-house support staff for said software. Instead, a SaaS product runs remotely in the provider&#8217;s cloud infrastructure, and its provider sees to end-user support needs.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Reduced_On-site_Maintenance_Needs\"><\/span><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Reduced On-site Maintenance Needs<\/strong><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>In the early days of business software, companies purchased a version of a given software package and used it until they saw a reason to upgrade.<\/p>\n<p>Today, though, most locally-installed software packages require constant manual updates from local IT support engineers in order to keep them up-to-date and for patching security problems etc.<\/p>\n<p>In a business environment, updates can wreak havoc if nobody is pre-testing and staging them to minimize downtime. That makes the maintenance needs of most locally-installed software complex and costly.<\/p>\n<p>The same is true of customization. With traditional software, many businesses turned to internal development to add customizations to their software and to extend its functionality as needed.<\/p>\n<p>Needless to say, that&#8217;s a costly and often difficult endeavor. With SaaS, businesses don&#8217;t have to worry about maintaining or updating any software and can usually turn to the software vendor to purchase needed features and upgrades.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Simplified_Remote_Access\"><\/span><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Simplified Remote Access<\/strong><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Another major advantage of SaaS is that it allows businesses an easy way to support remote workers. Since SaaS solutions run in the cloud, they&#8217;re accessible from anywhere with an internet connection.<\/p>\n<p>That means remote workers can access company data via a <a href=\"../../../../comparing-saas-paas-iaas/default.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SaaS solution<\/a> through a web browser on almost any internet-connected device.<\/p>\n<p>With locally-installed software, businesses used to have to issue company-owned hardware to remote workers with the necessary software preinstalled. Or, they&#8217;d need to start-up a terminal server and a secure access route\u2014like a VPN\u2014to give remote workers access to needed tools and data.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Better_Scalability\"><\/span><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Better Scalability<\/strong><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>SaaS solutions also offer far better scalability than traditional software products. With a typical SaaS solution, adding users is as easy as adding one via the software&#8217;s management interface and sending that user a link to the right portal along with their access credentials.<\/p>\n<p>The SaaS vendor then adjusts the monthly charge for the software to account for the added user or users, and their cloud infrastructure simply absorbs the additional workload.<\/p>\n<p>With traditional software solutions, businesses instead need to purchase new user licenses, install the needed software on the user&#8217;s machine, and get that machine connected to the business&#8217;s network resources.<\/p>\n<p>And when the number of users outgrows the required infrastructure, businesses have to go through costly and disruptive hardware upgrades to remedy the problem.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Faster_Deployment\"><\/span><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Faster Deployment<\/strong><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Another major issue that SaaS solutions solve is that they reduce businesses&#8217; need to develop bespoke software solutions on their own.<\/p>\n<p>In the past, software developers often wouldn&#8217;t write software to serve the needs of a narrow corner of the business market. The costs of doing so far outweighed the possible profits.<\/p>\n<p>With a SaaS model, however, niche software products are economically feasible and now proliferate. As a result, fewer businesses have to write their own custom software to suit their specific needs since there&#8217;s a high degree of probability that a SaaS provider&#8217;s already done so.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Enhanced_Collaboration_and_Productivity\"><\/span><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Enhanced Collaboration and Productivity<\/strong><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>SaaS solutions also take a different approach to collaboration than stand-alone, locally-installed software typically does.<\/p>\n<p>Since all users of a given SaaS product work within a single, shared interface and infrastructure, it&#8217;s far easier to add collaboration tools and features into the mix.<\/p>\n<p>For example, a SaaS project management suite might include real-time text and video communications functionality or a common whiteboard feature that multiple users can access at once.<\/p>\n<p>Such features make it easier for employees to work together, even if they&#8217;re in physically disparate locations. That, then, has a <a href=\"../../../https://www.forbes.com/sites/katevitasek/2022/03/08/why-collaboration-yields-improved-productivity-and-the-science-behind-it/@sh=6b972aa55d55\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">knock-on effect of improving productivity<\/a> throughout the business.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Improved_Disaster_Recovery\"><\/span><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Improved Disaster Recovery<\/strong><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The final major pro associated with SaaS solutions is that they facilitate much easier disaster recovery. Since they run in managed and well-protected <a href=\"../../../../cloud-vs-on-premise-vs-hybrid-infrastructure-pros-cons/default.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cloud data center facilities<\/a>, SaaS does a far better job of protecting business data than most on-site software solutions would.<\/p>\n<p>In an on-site setting, businesses have to worry about data ending up stored on employees&#8217; individual computers, as well as data stored throughout a server infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p>That creates a challenging disaster recovery environment since it&#8217;s easy to exclude important data from backup schemes.<\/p>\n<p>Plus, backed-up local data only works for disaster recovery if it&#8217;s stored offsite, which is an advantage SaaS solutions provide by default.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Main_Cons_of_SaaS\"><\/span>The Main Cons of SaaS<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Although SaaS solutions have some significant advantages, they&#8217;re not a perfect fit in every situation. To elaborate, here are the main cons of SaaS for businesses.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Internet-dependency\"><\/span><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Internet-dependency<\/strong><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The most obvious con associated with SaaS solutions is that they&#8217;re internet-dependent. That means a business that relies on SaaS products might grind to a halt if it suffers an internet service outage.<\/p>\n<p>The same is true if the business has bandwidth issues, which can make SaaS products far less responsive.<\/p>\n<p>On the contrary, locally-installed software might run independently on individual computers and rely on in-house servers for data storage.<\/p>\n<p>Except in cases of hardware failure, those aren&#8217;t prone to outages and are fixable by the business itself, even when they do occur.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Security_and_Privacy_Concerns\"><\/span><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Security and Privacy Concerns<\/strong><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Another major downside of SaaS solutions is that they come with some significant security and privacy concerns. That&#8217;s because SaaS providers work with hundreds or thousands of business clients at any given time\u2014which makes them an irresistible target for hackers.<\/p>\n<p>Plus, businesses that use SaaS products often have very little visibility or control over how well\u2014or how poorly\u2014their data&#8217;s protected.<\/p>\n<p>Worst of all, this isn&#8217;t only a problem that affects smaller SaaS providers that don&#8217;t have the resources to mount a sophisticated cyber defense.<\/p>\n<p>Even SaaS platforms run by the likes of Google and Microsoft have their hands full <a href=\"../../../https://securityboulevard.com/2022/11/how-phishing-attacks-ruin-microsoft-365-and-google-workspace/default.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">trying to fend off malicious actors<\/a> that threaten their customers&#8217; data.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Less_Control_Over_Customization\"><\/span><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Less Control Over Customization<\/strong><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Although many SaaS providers will indeed work with customers, or at least hear them out when it comes to adding new features and customizations, that doesn&#8217;t mean every business gets what it wants and needs from a SaaS platform.<\/p>\n<p>On the contrary, plenty of businesses end up paying subscription fees that cover countless features they don&#8217;t require and find SaaS solutions falling short in some critical areas.<\/p>\n<p>In those situations, the providers aren&#8217;t always willing to devote development resources to solve a single customer&#8217;s problem.<\/p>\n<p>However, many SaaS platforms do make a public API available for businesses to build their own software add-ons. The problem is that doing so robs a business of some of the advantages that drove them to SaaS in the first place, namely simplified management and lowered total cost of ownership.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"SaaS_Vendor_Lock-in\"><\/span><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>SaaS Vendor Lock-in<\/strong><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The final major disadvantage of SaaS solutions is as old as the software industry itself: vendor lock-in. SaaS providers, like conventional software developers, have a vested interest in keeping customers once they have them.<\/p>\n<p>That means that a business using a SaaS product could end up in a situation where there&#8217;s no easy path to switch vendors, should the need arise.<\/p>\n<p>Often, obstacles like data formatting and portability are an issue, as is the need to retrain a workforce to use a new platform. In that scenario, the business gets stuck using the SaaS platform they have, even if its costs rise and its functionality falls out of alignment with the business&#8217;s needs.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Final_Word_on_SaaS\"><\/span>The Final Word on SaaS<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Today, SaaS solutions continue to gain market share relative to legacy software and licensing models. There are several compelling reasons for that, as the preceding article makes clear.<\/p>\n<p>However, SaaS solutions aren&#8217;t a panacea and aren&#8217;t well suited for every business in every situation. By weighing the applicable pros and cons, however, businesses of all stripes can make a well-informed decision to choose the path that works best for them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ever since the first modern desktop computers began appearing in offices in the 1980s, software companies have battled for supremacy. After all, a computer&#8217;s only as useful as the software running on it. That fight for dominance\u2014and the ensuing success of the Windows operating system and the eponymous Office suite\u2014turned Microsoft into a corporate juggernaut [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":14906,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"14902"}],"collection":[{"href":"../posts"}],"about":[{"href":"../types/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"../users/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"../comments@post=14902"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"14902/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14909,"href":"14902/revisions/14909"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"../media/14906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"../media@parent=14902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"../categories@post=14902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"../tags@post=14902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}