SaaS and the Enterprise

What is SaaS?

• Provisioning of software services over the Internet
• No need for traditional software licences - what customers get is a licence to use the service
• Software provisioned via cloud services - scalable, not based on individual servers/server racks

The Market

• Worldwide: $48.8 bn revenue in 2014 (IDC)
• Estimated to surpass $112.8 bn by 2019, and
• Will account for $1 of every $4.59 spent on software in 2019

Challenges

• Cloud environments
• Contractual agreements

Cloud Environments

• Can be private or public
• Public: Shared resources, multi-tenanted environments (e.g. Amazon EC2, Windows Azure)
• Private: Distinct computing resources, greater ability to secure computing environment/communication links
• Private clouds can be on-site or off-site as well

But what about virtualization?

Virtualization - creates a private network within a public cloud

Contractual Agreements

• Not just about uptime or service standards - ownership of data, preventing vendor lock-in (via return and destruction of data) important
• Data security, data transfer across borders another issue
• Securing the cloud environment is also important

Termination

• Finally, exit rights - can you terminate without financial penalties?
• When/How can you terminate?
• Will you leave with your data?
• Will the vendor support you (for a fixed period of time) in moving to a new vendor?

Sources

• https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=257397
• http://www.cloud-council.org/deliverables/CSCC-Practical-Guide-to-Cloud-Ser...
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_private_cloud
• [Full list in slide notes]

Thank you