Businesses and organizations have experience a big shift since the onset of cloud computing. Rather than owning their own computing infrastructure or data centers, companies can now rent access to anything from applications to storage from a cloud service provider.
Cloud computing can simply by define as the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage and computing power, without direct active management by the user.
Cloud computing can be broken down into different models – Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Managed Software as a Service (MSaaS), mobile backend as a service (MBaaS), datacenter as a service (DCaaS), information technology management as a service (ITMaaS) as well as desktop as a service (DaaS).
This article focuses mainly on Managed Software as a service:
Managed Software as a Service cannot be explicitly explained without the knowledge of what Software as a Service is because it is a step ahead of SaaS.
Software as a Service refers to services delivered through the cloud that a company pays for. For instance, Office 365 from Microsoft is SaaS, because Microsoft provides it through the cloud and charges firms a subscription fee for the privilege of using it, depending on the number of users.
However, MSaaS is a Saas with the inclusion of one or more human software operators in the software service offering. Users have the privilege of using the software applications without having to take the time to master the software. MSaas give users full visibility into the software process, make decisions, confirm machine learning and access analytics and reporting.
Differences between MSaaS and SaaS
- Subscription: SaaS customers pay for a subscription covering remote access to the software while MSaaS customers typically own a license to the software and their subscription covers ongoing support, upgrades and training.
- Cost: SaaS is cheaper compare to MSaaS because typically SaaS excludes services such as unlimited support, training, upgrades and app management.
- Configuration: SaaS offer little room for configuration to a specific client’s needs because they are standardized software solutions that can be downloaded and implemented immediately. However, MSaaS are core software solutions that can be configured to a specific client’s need – with the privilege of building custom features that can be pushed live to only that client’s account.
Pros and Cons of Managed Software as a Services
Managed Saas are expensive, but offer more comprehensive solutions. They not only offer the benefits of SaaS, but they can also help a company with maintenance, upgrades, and integration of software to create better workflows.
MSaaS gives the privilege of integrating more than one SaaS products together while ensuring that they work well together, in a way that SaaS providers may not be able to help with. The more efficiently these systems work together, the better they will serve the company and its productivity.
Choosing between the two IT solutions – MSaas and SaaS will depend on a business needs. There are companies that need basic software delivered over the cloud to perform their function. In this case, SaaS is the best option. While businesses that need to integrate their systems and monitor networks, using MSaaS is the best way to go.
Thinking about how important software is to your company before making a choice is very important as a business owner.