There has been a lot of interest in SaaS and application hosting, in particular from small and medium-sized organisations who see it as a route to obtain ‘enterprise-quality software at SME prices’ The rationale for outsourcing of IT systems is that by applying economies of scale to the operation of applications, a service provider can offer better, cheaper, more reliable applications than companies can themselves.The concept of software hosting, or ‘software on demand’ is no exception to this.
More particularly, the software monthly rental model associated with SaaS, is attractive both to:
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customers, who avoid steep upfront investment in the software itself and also the indirect cost and effort of implementation (not to mention upgrades)
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software suppliers who are assured a regular, predictable annuity revenue over time, with what should normally be a much easier renewal process.
The key characteristics of SaaS applications, according to IDC, are:
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network-based access to, and management of, commercially available software
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activities that are managed from central locations rather than at each customer's site, enabling customers to access applications remotely via the web
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application delivery that typically is closer to a one-to-many model (single instance, multi-tenant architecture)
Options
Cantono's ISV hosting service offers 2 options:
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Cantono manages the software on the client’s behalf and charges on a usage basis. In this case a licensing fee and a monthly fee are separate and are paid to the maker of the software and to Cantono for hosting services.
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Cantono provides a general solution for a number of customers. This means that one copy of the software is installed for use by many companies who access the software across the web. There is no division between licensing and hosting fees and little or no customisation of software for customers
Cantono provide services covering the former where charges are made on a usage basis to a formula as agreed at the start of the contract
Cantono is in dialogue with a number of independent software vendors to deliver the latter. However, not all applications are suitable for this approach – Cantono can advise on the best solution for each customer.
Why Now?
SaaS has started to gain interest with SMEs because of
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wide prevalence of reliable broadband connections
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Security is sufficiently well trusted
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the well publicised success of a number of pioneering applications offered as a service.
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a growing business need to access applications remotely
If you are a company looking for a service which is based on usage-pricing or an ISV looking for a company who can provide the IT infrastructure for SaaS, please contact us at info@cantono.com.