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Differences between Traditional Software and On-Demand Models

	Traditional Software	On-Demand (SaaS)
Design Premise	Built as a product that customers install and manage; services are added on.	Built from the ground up as an integrated software and service solution for Internet delivery.
Architecture	Install and manage each customer as an individual, on dedicated hardware and software.	Multi-tenant “mini-utility” supports many customers on one instance of code.
Evaluation	Must purchase hardware and middleware for pilot, even if trial software is available.	Try most SaaS solutions free, via the Web, without having to invest in systems or software.
Purchase and Pricing	Customer buys software license, hardware and middleware upfront; pays additional annual maintenance and upgrade fees.	Pay-as-you-go subscription bundles software, service, maintenance, upgrades, etc. in one fee.
Deployment	Moderate to lengthy (weeks months-years).	Short (hours-days-weeks).
Management	Internal IT.	External service provider;service-level agreements.
Upgrades	Major upgrades, every 12-36 months; difficult and time consuming to implement.	Incremental upgrades, delivered automatically every few weeks.
Service and Support	Disjointed; typically involves multiple parties; one-to one problem resolution.	24/7 continuous support; streamlined one-to-many problem resolution.

SAAS (Software As A Service)

SAAS (Software as a service) is the deployment of software that is hosted and managed at a data center operated by a software vendor. Instead of purchasing and installing business management software, you pay a monthly fee for the use of it.

The SAAS applications can then be easily accessed on the Internet by team members and managers.

Research shows the cost of SAAS solutions is typically four to five times lower than traditional project management programs. Since it requires no software, hardware or dedicated IT teams, deployment costs are substantially less.

SAAS is actually an application for cloud computing. MobiWeb strongly believe that hosting Web 2.0 application on-line with SAAS as business model is a trend that is non-reverse-able.

There are some numbers to estimate the SAAS market size, courtsey of IDC and Gartner:

In 2006, the market was at $6.3B.

Back in 2007, the market was predicted to reach $10.7B by 2009. In reality, the market is closer to $13B in 2009.

It was also predicted that it will be around $19B by 2011.

SAAS Market Size