Software as a service (or SaaS) is a way of delivering applications over the Internet—as a service. Instead of installing and maintaining software, you simply access it via the Internet, freeing yourself from complex software and hardware management.
Features:
1. Software as a service is a software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted. SaaS is also known as “on-demand software” and Web-based/Web-hosted software.
2. SaaS apps are typically accessed by users using a thin client, e.g. via a web browser.
3. SaaS became a common delivery model for many business applications, including office software, messaging software, payroll processing software, DBMS software, learning management systems, content management (CM), geographic information systems (GIS), and service desk management.
4. SaaS is considered to be part of cloud computing, along with infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), desktop as a service (DaaS), mobile backend as a service (MBaaS), data center as a service (DCaaS) etc.
Example: Netflix is a SaaS company that sells software to observe permitted videos on demand
