What is SaaS? 5 SaaS Examples You Must Know

Is there a way to use the software without installing it on your computer, how can I get software which doesn’t depend on specific hardware requirements or is there any software which doesn’t need to be set up on a network of computers in my office? These are some of the questions which come to mind when we think about the usefulness of portability and ease of access regarding software. There is only one answer to this and that is SaaS.

What is SaaS? SaaS or Software as a Service is a cloud service where customers are able to access software applications through the internet. Users are able to access these services over the internet through usually web browsers and use them as they would use software installed on their computers.

SaaS has become very popular and common software delivery model for business applications like management information systems, planning, accounting and invoicing, communication and online storage. With traditional software, you would have to install it yourself on your computers and its use by multiple people would be restricted. A SaaS is already deployed and you won’t need to install anything or worry about hardware requirements. Users subscribe to these services and have their own service accessible through a login and all of the files are stored on the cloud storage usually provided with the service. In SaaS, you can subscribe to a service by paying only for what you use on a monthly or yearly basis.

Here are the 5 best SaaS Examples you must know (you may be already using them).

Following Are 5 SaaS Examples:

Google Apps

Google Apps is a very good example of SaaS. Google Apps consists of services like Gmail, Drive, Docs, and Photos. Free users get free access to these services along with 15 GB of Drive storage. To get more storage on Drive, Gmail or Photos, you can subscribe to them by paying a monthly or yearly fee.

Google Docs are most useful for document editing because it can completely replace Microsoft Office like desktop applications. You can access Google Apps on a computer web browser and through Android and iOS apps. There are Chrome OS laptops that come with Google Apps that can work without Windows OS and MS Office.

Microsoft Office 365

Microsoft  Office 365 is the SaaS counterpart of Microsoft Office desktop applications suite and a competitor to Google Docs. Word, PowerPoint, Excel, etc. are available in Office 365. Multiple Office 365 plans are available where each plan has different software access and storage options. You can have Exchange email and other business applications such as SharePoint and Skype for Business as SaaS from Office 365 cloud. This is one of the best SaaS examples you use.

Trello

Trello is a project collaboration tool where many users can form a group and view their project as a board with many cards related to To-Do lists and tasks which are being done and remaining tasks etc. Trello is available as a free service and its SaaS for business teams is available for a per-month per-user subscription.

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a social media analytics SaaS to help all kinds of businesses to keep track of their social media accounts. Its features include analyzing what your audience is saying about your business and how well your social media efforts are working along with collaborating with your team. This service is available for free with minimum social accounts whereas the paid service for bigger businesses contains multiple social accounts and advanced analytics.

SaaS is becoming a very popular model to provide service to minimize software and hardware costs and increase productivity for businesses. When you have subscribed for a SaaS, you won’t need to upgrade your systems very regularly or upgrade any software.