What is SaaS in cloud computing with example

Defining IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS

A vendor provides clients pay-as-you-go access to storage, networking, servers, and other computing resources in the cloud.

Platform as a service (PaaS)

A service provider offers access to a cloud-based environment in which users can build and deliver applications. The provider supplies underlying infrastructure.

Software as a service (SaaS)

A service provider delivers software and applications through the internet. Users subscribe to the software and access it via the web or vendor APIs.

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IaaS

Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is a cloud computing offering in which a vendor provides users access to computing resources such as storage, networking, and servers. Organizations use their own platforms and applications within a service provider’s infrastructure.

Key features:

• Instead of purchasing hardware outright, users pay for IaaS on demand.

• Infrastructure is scalable depending on processing and storage needs.

• Saves enterprises the costs of buying and maintaining their own hardware.

• Because data is on the cloud, there can be no single point of failure.

• Enables the virtualization of administrative tasks, freeing up time for other work.

PaaS

Platform as a service (PaaS) is a cloud computing offering that provides users with a cloud environment in which they can develop, manage, and deliver applications. In addition to storage and other computing resources, users are able to use a suite of prebuilt tools to develop, customize, and test their own applications.

Key features:

• PaaS provides a platform with tools to test, develop, and host applications in the same environment.

• Enables organizations to focus on development without having to worry about underlying infrastructure.

• Providers manage security, operating systems, server software and backups.

• Facilitates collaborative work even if teams work remotely.

SaaS

Software as a service (SaaS) is a cloud computing offering that provides users with access to a vendor’s cloud-based software. Users do not install applications on their local devices. Instead, the applications reside on a remote cloud network accessed through the web or an API. Through the application, users can store and analyze data and collaborate on projects.

Key features:

• SaaS vendors provide users with software and applications via a subscription model.

• Users do not have to manage, install or upgrade software; SaaS providers manage this.

• Data is secure in the cloud; equipment failure does not result in loss of data.

• Use of resources can be scaled depending on service needs.

• Applications are accessible from almost any internet-connected device, from virtually anywhere in the world.

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An IBM perspective: IaaS vs. PaaS vs. SaaS

In the traditional method of consuming services or resources, the owner of the infrastructure is responsible for managing every piece of hardware and software he or she uses. Normally, it takes some time for a user to access a new resource, but it can be configured exactly as needed.

Traditional infrastructure is often related to legacy core applications (tied to older technologies perhaps) that cannot be easily migrated to cloud paradigms. Elasticity, standardization and other clear cloud advantages are not sufficient reasons to migrate. In other cases, rigid security and country regulations sometimes force users to have data located nearby and/or under total management control.

Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)

The management responsibility for the company starts with the operating system layer and the provider ensures the availability and reliability of the infrastructure provided.

Several use cases can benefit from this pattern. Companies that lack an owned data center look to IaaS as a quick, cheap infrastructure for their business initiatives that can be expanded or terminated as needed. Traditional companies that need compute power to run variable workloads with less capital expenditure are perfect examples of IaaS adoption. In both cases, companies will only pay for the services they use.

Platform as a service (PaaS)

Development companies and/or factories that want to implement agile methodologies are the most suited for PaaS. PaaS providers publish many services that can be consumed inside applications. Those services will be always available and up-to-date. PaaS provides a very simple way to test and prototype new applications. It can save money when developing new services and applications. Applications can be released more quickly than usual to get user feedback.

The API economy is the new paradigm in development, and the cloud provides the perfect platform for its implementation.

Software as a service (SaaS)

Today, SaaS patterns are generally accepted by many companies that want to benefit from application usage without the need to maintain and update infrastructure and components. Mail, ERP, collaboration, and office apps are the most accepted SaaS solutions. The flexibility and elasticity of the SaaS model are great benefits.

There is no “one-size-fits-all” solution for cloud adoption. Companies should consider their own cost and benefit equation and then decide on the best model. Each application and process needed is a workload, and a deep workload assessment is normally performed by companies that have decided to move to the cloud.

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SaaS: Software as a Service Cloud application services or “Software as a Service” (SaaS) are probably the most popular form of cloud computing and are easy to use. SaaS uses the Web to deliver applications that are managed by a third-party vendor and whose interface is accessed on the clients’ side. Most SaaS applications can be run directly from a Web browser, without any downloads or installations required. SaaS eliminates the need to install and run applications on individual computers. With SaaS, it’s easy for enterprises to streamline their maintenance and support, because everything can be managed by vendors: applications, runtime, data, middleware, O/S, virtualization, servers, storage, and networking. Gmail is one famous example of an SaaS mail provider.

PaaS: Platform as a Service The most complex of the three, cloud platform services or “Platform as a Service” (PaaS) deliver computational resources through a platform. What developers gain with PaaS is a framework they can build upon to develop or customize applications. PaaS makes the development, testing, and deployment of applications quick, simple, and cost-effective, eliminating the need to buy the underlying layers of hardware and software. One comparison between SaaS vs. PaaS has to do with what aspects must be managed by users, rather than providers: With PaaS, vendors still manage runtime, middleware, O/S, virtualization, servers, storage, and networking, but users manage applications and data.

IaaS: Infrastructure as a Service Cloud infrastructure services, known as “Infrastructure as a Service” (IaaS), deliver computer infrastructure (such as a platform virtualization environment), storage, and networking. Instead of having to purchase software, servers, or network equipment, users can buy these as a fully outsourced service that is usually billed according to the amount of resources consumed. Basically, in exchange for a rental fee, a third party allows you to install a virtual server on their IT infrastructure. Compared to SaaS and PaaS, IaaS users are responsible for managing more: applications, data, runtime, middleware, and O/S. Vendors still manage virtualization, servers, hard drives, storage, and networking. What users gain with IaaS is infrastructure on top of which they can install any required platforms. Users are responsible for updating these if new versions are released.

Software as a Service (SaaS), also known as web-based software, hosted software, and on-demand software, is a business model where a company host its application on the cloud which is available to the consumers. The software or app is accessed via any internet enabled device such as smartphone or a laptop. The software and all the relevant data are stored on the cloud in different data centers which makes it accessible via the internet and from any web browser.

The difference between SaaS model and traditional software is that SaaS isn’t downloadable and isn’t installed on computer or user device. SaaS is one of the leading cloud computing applications (other than IaaS and PaaS).

SaaS companies are everywhere. Over 38% of companies say that they are running completely on SaaS and 73% plan to switch completely to SaaS by 2022. Businesses with less than 50 employees use 25-50 SaaS apps while companies having more than 250 employees use more than 100 SaaS tools on average.

Not all SaaS model businesses are successful despite an estimated global earning of over $72 billion in 2018. The global SaaS market revenue is expected to cross $113 billion by 2022. Is your SaaS company prepared for it?

What makes a SaaS company stand out from the crowd?

Here is a list of common SaaS examples that will inspire you to take a leap ahead and start pushing your company in the right direction.

1. Lumen5

Lumen5 is a leading video creator SaaS app that lets businesses create amazing videos with its drag-and-drop interface. It creates video automatically form text or any URL. The text is converted into a video that can be personalized by positioning text, adding images from the library, highlighting keywords, adding brand colors, tweaking font style, and changing video resolution. Lumen5 receives 220K+ monthly visitors which shows how popular it is.

The best thing about Lumen5 is its automated workflow AI that determines the scene length based on text and it also calculates the position of the text based on media file selected by the user. The important keywords are highlighted automatically. These amazing features make Lumen5 a great SaaS example.

2. FutureFuel

FutureFuel is a perfect SaaS example that is sure to inspire you. It is a student debt management app for businesses and HR practitioners. It helps companies attract and retain top talent by addressing repaying the loans of students. The students, in return, work for their company as dedicated employees. FutureFuel provides businesses with access to the future workforce that will stick with them for years to come.

3. Squibler

Squibler is a SaaS creativity app that helps writers tell stories. It has a great interface that makes writing hassle-free. It has many prompt writing categories that serve all types of writing such as books, novels, journals, screenwriting, or others.

Moreover, provides timed writing, goal writing, community, real-time feedback, and even a random prompt generator.

Dhaval and I founded this SaaS company and developed it in 6 months. As part of their strategy, they acquired a writing app with thousands of users. Squibler gets 4500 new users every month from organic traffic.

4. Buffer

Buffer is a perfect SaaS example for pretty much any SaaS business out there. It is a simple yet effective tool that helps social media management and scheduling easier for businesses of all sizes. But what’s more important is that how Leo Widrich guest blogged for 10 months which helped Buffer acquire 100K users in less than a year.

Buffer is committed to transparency. It shares fundraising details, revenue and spending, and the business strategy openly with the public. Transparency is one of Buffer’s core values and it is committed to it to date.

5. Dropbox

Dropbox is a leading cloud storage SaaS company that makes it easier for businesses to store, share, and collaborate on files and data on the go. It offers you a smart workplace that lets your workforce work from anywhere. Dropbox is a perfect SaaS company for businesses that rely heavily on freelancers and remote workforce. The smart content suggestion is a great feature that recommends content based on your Dropbox activity. Paper by Dropbox is a document for teams where team members collaborate without any hurdle.

What makes Dropbox a great SaaS example is its ease-of-use. Storing and sharing files on the internet with real-time syncing is what makes it a loved SaaS company. Dropbox has more than 500 million registered users with a revenue of $1.4 billion.

6. Amazon Web Services

Nothing beats Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a SaaS example. With more than 150 services on offer, AWS provides businesses and individuals with all the tools they need such as database, IoT, business applications, machine learning, storage, robotics, security, customer engagement, blockchain, and more. All the apps are cloud-based which means you can use these tools from any internet-enabled device.

AWS is a subsidiary of Amazon with a revenue of $25.6 billion and has more than a million users. AWS is used by some of the leading companies such as NASA, US Navy, and Netflix. There is indeed a lot to learn from AWS and it makes a perfect example of SaaS companies that are successful and cross billion-mark revenue which provide numerous SaaS solutions.

7. HubSpot

HubSpot is a leading SaaS tool for businesses and even enterprise software companies. It offers sales, marketing, CRM, CMS, and services software to businesses. The marketing software helps businesses attract visitors, convert them, close deals, and retain them. It offers an all-in-one marketing, sales, and CRM suite. HubSpot’s best feature is its cost-effectiveness the SaaS tools that it offers come with free trials.

What you’ll love about HubSpot is its content marketing strategy. If you own a SaaS company and are struggling to drive traffic to your SaaS website, you need to learn from HubSpot. It publishes several blog posts in a single day and covers pretty much every topic that’s either directly or indirectly related to its core apps.

8. Cloud-Based Microsoft Office 365

Microsoft Office doesn’t need any introduction. However, it’s cloud-based Office 365 is indeed something worth talking about. You can now create, edit, share, manage, and access your office files from any device. Office 365 cloud is a pure SaaS example that shows how Microsoft has fulfilled the needs of its users by offering them SaaS products. You can still install and use Microsoft office 365 on your personal computer but with the cloud platform, you get access to it on the go as you can access it from any Microsoft’s data center.

Don’t need the desktop versions for your operating system? No problem, you can only opt for cloud-based applications with its Business Essentials plan which works great for small businesses. It offers email, conferencing, teamwork apps, file storage and sharing features, and superior security that every business needs.

9. Salesforce

You can’t go without discussing Salesforce. It is one of the most popular software as a service provider that excels in cloud computing. It is a complete customer relationship management suite for businesses. Salesforce lets businesses collect, store, access, monitor, and analyze customer data from a single dashboard. It’s a complete cloud-based CRM tool that any business can run and manage without an IT expert. Salesforce comes with several tools that include marketing, sales, analytics, engagement, and more.

Salesforce is another SaaS vendor example having more than $10 billion in revenue. It crossed $13.28 billion in 2019 and is a public company with more than 150K active customers. 

10. G Suite

Google has probably the best (and mostly free) SaaS and cloud services tool for both personal as well as business use. The G Suite is the Google Cloud SaaS applications that include several cloud-based apps. G Suite includes Gmail, Calendar, Hangouts, Google Drive, Sheets, Docs, Forms, Slides, Sites, Vault, and several other apps. I’m sure you must have used most of these apps without realizing that all the apps in Google Suite are purely cloud-based with no on-premise software.

Google apps are cost-effective and streamline businesses as they support sharing, collaboration, and project management. Interacting with fellows and sharing feedback and progress on a specific task with team members is extremely easy with G Suite. For instance, Google Drive lets you store, edit, and share files in real-time from any computer or mobile.

Unlike Microsoft Office 365, Google’s Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms can’t be downloaded on a personal computer and don’t have any desktop version. G Suite has more than 5 million active paying users as opposed to Office 365 180 million monthly active users.

11. ZenDesk

ZenDesk is another example of a SaaS company that is indeed inspiring. It is a SaaS company with annual revenue of more than $5 million. It is a customer support and ticketing software that supports several support channels including phone, email, like chat, social media, online tickets, and more. It is an all-in-one customer support software as a service provider that’s growing rapidly.

It works for all types of businesses across all industries. ZenDesk offers a lot of cutting-edge features to its customers such as Automatic Answers which is a smart tool powered by machine learning. It interprets customer queries and finds a suitable answer and responds to them. Customer support is incomplete without ZenDesk irrespective of your business size and industry.

12. Visme

Visme is an all-in-one content creation tool for businesses that lets them create content for social media, blog posts, PPT, or for any other purpose. The best thing about Visme is that it lets you create professional infographics. No need to hire a designer to create an infographic or featured image for your next blog post, this SaaS company lets you do it without any mess.

What makes Visme a great SaaS example is its huge library of templates, media, icons, photos, data widgets, and flowcharts. This helps businesses get started almost instantly. With more than 3.2 million users from over 100 countries, this infographic app is a great asset for businesses and marketers.

13. Slack

Slack is a cloud-based business communication tool that makes a great SaaS example. It claims to be an alternative to email and yes, it is. Businesses that use Slack are able to manage, organize, and communicate with teams from a single dashboard. You have to create channels for communication and organization. You can create a separate channel for each project, task, and assignment. Messages sent in a channel are visible to all the members of the channel which makes communication simple and effective. It supports private messages, video and voice calls, and supports document sharing (attachments).

Slack has more than 10 million daily active users and over 85K paid businesses. Its revenue was over $4 million in 2019. 

14. Canva

Canva is an online design tool for businesses that helps you create content for social media. It’s a helpful SaaS tool that has a drag-and-drop interface. It has a lot of templates to help you get started immediately. Choose a template, edit it, save it, share it, and download a copy. You can create graphs, blog post images, PPT, book covers, social media posts, PPC ads, posters, flyers, invitation cards, and a whole lot of other media types. What makes Canva a perfect SaaS example is that it is free to use. As a free user, you will get limited access to its media, but it works smoothly. Canva reported revenue of $291 million in 2019 and has more than 15 million active monthly users.

15. Box

Box is a cloud content management and file-sharing that is publicly traded SaaS company. It is a multi-purpose software for businesses that lets them collaborate, automate, share, and manage content and files over the cloud. It supports secure file sharing and files can be accessed from desktop, mobile, and web. Team members can collaborate and discuss everything in real-time on the document they are working on. Box Relay is a great SaaS feature that automates workflows. It lets you automate workflows throughout your business including marketing, sales, human resource, admin, finance, and others.

Box is used by more than 95K companies and 70% of Fortune 500 companies use it. This makes it an inspiring SaaS example for any business out there.

Conclusion

These software as a service examples are truly inspiring and are worth trying. It is hard to do business today without SaaS providers like
Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud Services. At the end of the day, you have to use one or more SaaS for business growth and to get other benefits including quick implementation, ease of use, cost-effectiveness, ready-to-use, and reduced infrastructure cost.

If you are in the process of developing your own SaaS, the examples shared above will provide you with inspiration and ideas. Not all SaaS are created equal so make sure you follow the footprints of the companies that have done exceptionally well. Understand their business model and see how you can replicate the same.

Even if you are developing software, you will still need to use another SaaS. You can’t create software without using one. That’s how it works. It is highly likely that you will find a perfect SaaS for your business from the list above. If not, there is always a good fit out there. Keep looking.

Josh Fechter is a business strategy consultant and founder. He’s written several world-recognized books on software configuration, speaks Spanish, ballroom dances, and owns The Product Company and Squibler.