Software as a Service for ISVs - Part 1

Our Social Media Analyst (aka Friarminor) talked about the Platform as a Service (PaaS) hype a little earlier. In this post, we're going to discuss about deployment models, linking Software as a Service (SaaS) and PaaS into the discussion. This is a series of posts that we'll tackle in the next few days. Let's start.

Delivering SaaS is a business model that has taken hold in today?s Internet-enabled environment. Companies big and small are looking to their software vendors to provide more and more applications through a subscription-based service available anytime to anyone connected to the Internet.

Some Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) have quickly adapted to this new marketplace and model. Some vendors such as Salesforce.com have led the way in proving that the model can work, even when mission-critical data is at stake. Double digit growth rates and exposure to brand new markets have made Software as a Service an attractive new channel around the globe.

The convergence of Software as a Service with the availability of virtual data centers has leveled the playing field for many ISVs. No longer does the ISV need to build and maintain a data center from the ground up to support a Software as a Service offering. The ISV is able to leverage on-demand resources and build its own delivery environment without ever having to purchase a single server.

On the surface, software as a service is easily defined but under the covers the implementation can be complicated for a vendor. Architecting, building, and managing highly available, fault tolerant application delivery environments require a great deal of skill, time, and money. To level the playing field, a new category of software has arisen called Platform as a Service. This end-to-end application environment that combines technology with managed services holds promise for ISVs allowing them to focus on innovation.

Software as a Service comes in many flavors depending on the different types of software available today. Traditional ?thick client? software packages look to SaaS to provide an online delivery and updating mechanism. Enterprise applications look to extend beyond the data center through session delivery services. Individual web applications can be hosted on a per customer basis. And the emergence of multi-tenant applications puts the power of the web to work for the ISVs. All of these delivery methods excluding session delivery can benefit from Platform as a Service today.