Under the name Software as a Service (SaaS) Reference is made to a subscription-based business model, initially in terms of software programs, but it has also evolved with the popularization of Internet services in the Cloud.
In this sense, from those initial acronyms (SaaS) that affect a software-based business model, it has evolved to include other technological environments. This is also what we talk about Platform as a Service (PaaS) or Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)...
Even talking about “Everything as a Service” (XaaS) or "Everything as a Service" to the subscription services to a catalog of actions, technologies or tools that companies make available to their clients through Cloud environments. For example, monitoring, storage, databases, networks, communications, customer service, marketing...
It is a beneficial business model for both the company and the client. For the first, subscriptions allow customer loyalty and ensure recurring income. For this, it is a model of how to contract services to which you always have access. Pay-per-use allows you to save, without having to make a high initial investment to purchase a program or service.
A clear example of how the way of acquiring and consuming online services has changed in recent decades can be the Microsoft Windows office suite. From purchasing CDs with the software, we have now moved on to purchasing a monthly or annual subscription to Office 365.
The habit of purchasing music albums in physical format has also changed to maintaining a subscription to platforms such as Spotify or Apple Music, and the same occurs in the field of video games with platforms such as Steam and PlayStation Now.
Another clear example is the streaming of audiovisual content. Instead of buying DVDs, the transition to the Cloud has allowed services such as Netflix to become popular (which began selling physical CDs and DVDs), HBO Max, Flixolé, Amazon Prime Video... and all the audiovisual streaming platforms that exist.
The main "disadvantage" of SaaS is maintenance. As it is a service hosted in the Cloud, the company that provides it depends on the technical infrastructure of its cloud provider. This means that, when, for example, Amazon Web Services goes down, many online services are no longer available if they were hosted in the Amazon Cloud.
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