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Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Database Systems
  • 388 Accesses

Synonyms

Browser-based software; Internet application or service; Web-scale application; World wide web (WWW) application or service

Definition

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) describes Internet-accessible applications that are hosted and managed by an application provider. SaaS applications support multiple isolated, concurrent users, each of whom can customize and use their instance of the application via a web browser. Providers make SaaS applications available for free (with advertisements), via subscription, and on a pay-per-use basis.

Overview

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) represents a transformation in how software is sold, distributed, and used by consumers. Historically, software was licensed and shipped to consumers on physical media (disks, CD-ROMs) for installation on locally maintained hardware. This process was costly, time-consuming, delayed bug fixes and software improvements, and limited technology uptake. In addition, the software and the update process required testing...

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Correspondence to Chandra Krintz .

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© 2018 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

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Krintz, C. (2018). Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). In: Liu, L., Özsu, M.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Database Systems. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8265-9_80635

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