Software as a service (SaaS) is sometimes presented as a “software on-demand” service.
SaaS delivers and licenses software to users. Licensing process is realized on a subscription basis.
Licensed software is centrally hosted and provided to customers over a network, typically the Internet. Interested users use a web browser as a thin client to access this service [1]. SaaS is most used for following purposes:
In case of conventionally sold traditional software users receive a license which is valid entire their life. Users pay a software price in advance plus some optional ongoing support fee.
In case of SaaS users generally pay to providers a subscription fee. This fee is most commonly paid monthly or annually. Consequently, SaaS providers offer applications with lower initial setup cost in comparison with equivalent enterprise software. The price of SaaS applications is derived by vendors from some application usage parameters (e.g. how many users are using given application).
The SaaS model includes following benefits:
Online video and picture editors (studios)
Few of the most popular online services today are online picture editors and video studios. These are typically packed with social media service providing ability to quickly and conveniently share user’s creations on the Internet.
You don’t need to download and install any picture, audio and video editing software. All you need is good computer system and a decent connection to Internet.
Some examples of online video editors are: YouTube Video Editor, WeVideo, PowToon, Wideo, Weavly, Kaltura, MIXMOOV, Shotclip, Magisto.
Personal Cloud
Personal cloud is a platform where various digital content and information services are concentrated and accessible from any device in Internet. For user this platform (cloud) doesn’t appear as a tangible entity. Personal cloud provides users with the ability to upload, store, synchronize, stream, retrieve and share content.
There are several realizations of Personal clouds. One group is implemented in local (home) data network (homemade clouds) while other group is available on Internet. A lot of people are familiar with public clouds (e.g. Dropbox or Google Drive cloud services) which are the most used types of personal cloud. As was mentioned the public clouds are available over the Internet and provided by service providers. They contain various online resources mostly data storage and software. Public clouds are built as a virtualized ecosystem.