SaaS or Software as a Service is yet another modern day trend in IT that seems to be making news just about everywhere. Like most other contemporary trends, I never really quite got the hang of SaaS and that's precisely why I cared so little about it. This is yet another concept that does not really seem to stir a techno's mind so much till the time he cannot actually associate himself with it, in other words, not until the time he actually gets a first-hand opportunity to experience and employ the technique in the industrial world. But, that's not cent percent true. Really!
I just happened to watch a series of videos on SaaS in the last week. With each video, I gained better and better perspective about this beautiful, modern day trend and I finally seemed to have got the crux of the matter. However, I attained the pinnacle of understanding with this great YouTube video today, this morning, and believe me I think I have now, enough to start writing a page about it. For my readers' reference, here is the link to the video:
As the video just pointed out, the IT world is now moving towards more and more centralized or cloud level administration. Until a few years back, companies that exported software services, typically, deployed the software to the client and the software then worked within the purview and premises of the client organization. This is a pretty good idea, but on better reflection, one can possibly understand that this is just another trend where human potential, time and effort are largely wasted and seldom re-used.
Most of us have an insight into computer science and engineering concepts and we should be aware of object oriented principles of abstraction and re-usability. While the former is not really very significant to this context, the latter is possibly what stirred an IT revolution and gave birth to SaaS.
Reusing existing domain knowledge and thereby saving efforts that are directed towards achieving the same, principal goal is what Re-usability is all about. In other words, never re-invent the wheel. Formerly, software systems were designed for each client organization independently and then deployment and maintenance efforts were targeted at that organization independently of other client organizations which availed of the same software service. Now, I do not really need to ramble any further as it is fairly intuitive as to what is really wasted here. Human efforts and time, principally are the wasted entities and I can just make it all the more clear with an example. Here you are, a software service provider and you take all the effort to deploy and manage the product in one organization and now, you have to repeat the same efforts for another client organization. Just plain old, same work and really boring!
This results from a heterogeneous deployment strategy wherein the software system is installed and configured on the server of each client organization separately. I really do not know who masterminded or championed the cause of SaaS which aims at centralized system deployment on a server held and managed by the software system service provider itself. The key idea here is a Multi-tenanted architecture wherein the clients are charged a monthly rental that is a direct measure of the amount of time they were billed using the software service exported by the service provider. Now, when the provider issues a version update to the system, it can be delivered to all the subscribers availing the service with just a single update to the centralized server that houses the systems used by all clients.
It's just so beautiful isn't it? An idea that can change your life!
I just happened to watch a series of videos on SaaS in the last week. With each video, I gained better and better perspective about this beautiful, modern day trend and I finally seemed to have got the crux of the matter. However, I attained the pinnacle of understanding with this great YouTube video today, this morning, and believe me I think I have now, enough to start writing a page about it. For my readers' reference, here is the link to the video:
As the video just pointed out, the IT world is now moving towards more and more centralized or cloud level administration. Until a few years back, companies that exported software services, typically, deployed the software to the client and the software then worked within the purview and premises of the client organization. This is a pretty good idea, but on better reflection, one can possibly understand that this is just another trend where human potential, time and effort are largely wasted and seldom re-used.
Most of us have an insight into computer science and engineering concepts and we should be aware of object oriented principles of abstraction and re-usability. While the former is not really very significant to this context, the latter is possibly what stirred an IT revolution and gave birth to SaaS.
Reusing existing domain knowledge and thereby saving efforts that are directed towards achieving the same, principal goal is what Re-usability is all about. In other words, never re-invent the wheel. Formerly, software systems were designed for each client organization independently and then deployment and maintenance efforts were targeted at that organization independently of other client organizations which availed of the same software service. Now, I do not really need to ramble any further as it is fairly intuitive as to what is really wasted here. Human efforts and time, principally are the wasted entities and I can just make it all the more clear with an example. Here you are, a software service provider and you take all the effort to deploy and manage the product in one organization and now, you have to repeat the same efforts for another client organization. Just plain old, same work and really boring!
This results from a heterogeneous deployment strategy wherein the software system is installed and configured on the server of each client organization separately. I really do not know who masterminded or championed the cause of SaaS which aims at centralized system deployment on a server held and managed by the software system service provider itself. The key idea here is a Multi-tenanted architecture wherein the clients are charged a monthly rental that is a direct measure of the amount of time they were billed using the software service exported by the service provider. Now, when the provider issues a version update to the system, it can be delivered to all the subscribers availing the service with just a single update to the centralized server that houses the systems used by all clients.
It's just so beautiful isn't it? An idea that can change your life!
No comments:
Post a Comment