SaaS（Software as a Service）

Glossary

「SaaS（Software as a Service）」

This glossary explains various keywords that will help you understand the mindset necessary for data utilization and successful DX.
This time, we will explain the term "SaaS," which was coined with the beginning of the cloud era, and through it, we will consider the essence of IT utilization in the cloud era.

What is SaaS (Software as a Service)?

SaaS (Software as a Service) is software provided as a service. It is a form of provision in which users can use software and IT system environments via the Internet.
More generally, this term refers to cloud services for application software. It is significantly different from IT utilization before the cloud era, as it allows you to enjoy only the use of software via the Internet without the time and effort required to build, install, and operate your own IT system.

Putting into words the essence of the "great IT revolution" that has occurred in the cloud era
"SaaS (Software as a Service)"

SaaS is a term that came into widespread use with the advent of the cloud. While cloud utilization is now commonplace, the situation regarding IT utilization was very different before that. At a time when the cloud itself was new, the term seems to have come into use as a term to explain how new the cloud was, or to classify the types of newly emerging cloud services.

The situation before the cloud

Before the advent of the cloud, if you wanted to use IT, it was normal and natural that extensive preparations were required before you could actually use an IT system, which required a lot of budget and time.

Let's say you want to use IT in your company. Since it's an IT system that supports business use, it needs to be operated as a proper IT system to a certain extent. It used to take a lot of effort to get an IT system ready for use.

Purchasing hardware such as servers and network equipment
Prepare a server room or data center to house the purchased hardware
Physically Assembling the Hardware
Set up the OS on the machine and configure the network settings
Develop or purchase the applications required for business in-house
Install and configure the settings required for business use

However, completing this work did not mean that there was no work to be done afterwards. After the system went live, we still needed to secure engineers to carry out server operations and backup work, and we also needed to develop additional applications as needed (to fix bugs or add new features, etc.).

It usually required the involvement of many engineers and required a lot of man-hours, so it was not something that could be easily used. As a result, introducing an IT system typically required a budget of tens of millions of yen and took around a year to complete.

This meant that we basically had to own our own hardware, procure our own software, build our own systems, and operate them ourselves. This meant large initial costs, fixed costs, and labor costs, and it took time to start using the system. However, this was considered normal.

Since the advent of the cloud

The advent of the cloud has dramatically changed this situation, bringing about a revolutionary change in which software can now be used with just an internet connection and a web browser.

You don't need to own the hardware
No need to develop software or buy packages
You can leave the operation to us
There are often no upfront costs, and only variable fees based on usage
It is not uncommon for services to be available within minutes of card payment, allowing users to start using them extremely quickly.

In addition, because processing is done and data is stored on servers on the Internet, it also offers conveniences that are often difficult to achieve with traditional IT utilization, such as "facilitating online collaboration and data sharing."

Think back to the situation before the advent of the cloud. The emergence of the cloud and the changes it brought about were a huge shock. Those who recognized this early on coined the term "Software as a Service (SaaS)" to explain the "essence of the difference" between this unprecedented situation and traditional IT use. This term captures the essence of the change that has occurred, where software is now provided "as a service," allowing users to simply use it without owning it.

⇒ Please read the article on "XaaS" to learn about the essence of "service-based services," a major change brought about by the cloud era.

How is SaaS better than traditional IT utilization?

To reiterate, the advantages of cloud (SaaS) over the previous "traditional software usage" can be briefly summarized as follows:

No initial cost
-You don't need to own your own hardware
-No software required
-No system development or setup work required
It can be used immediately when you want to use it
It's easy to stop using the service when you want to.
Operation is hassle-free, and infrastructure engineers are no longer required.
In many cases, there are no initial costs and you can use it only with variable costs
-It becomes an expense rather than a taxable asset
Often the scale of use can be adjusted according to demand
-Avoid large upfront investments
(Suitable for small starts)
-Reduce lost opportunities due to being unable to handle demand that exceeds expectations
-Increases the ability to deal with short-term surges in usage that exceed expectations
May have internet collaboration and data sharing capabilities

These characteristics are a way of putting into words something that is now becoming commonplace, but they are also essential to understand when considering the essential differences between "IT that is not cloud" or when considering whether we are truly enjoying the benefits of the cloud.

However, SaaS is not all good (points to keep in mind)

However, SaaS does not only have good points. There are also bad points and new issues that arise as a result of SaaS. As cloud computing has become commonplace, it has become difficult to be aware of these negative aspects, but it is important to understand them as problems.

A delivery format in which processing is concentrated on the cloud server side

The initiative to "provide something like an application via the Internet" has been around for a long time, even before the term "cloud" was coined. Looking back, mainframes also use a method of centralizing processing on the server side, and "2Channel," a giant electronic bulletin board service that was also a kind of web application, was launched in May 1999.

However, the era of SaaS did not arrive at the same time as the advent of the Internet. This is because the problem of processing load being concentrated on the server side was extremely difficult given the capabilities of the hardware at the time.

For example, although email services that can be used on web browsers have existed since the 1990s, they were usually simple services with small mailbox capacities of a few megabytes. Gmail, which later gave rise to the terms "cloud" and "SaaS," made a big splash by appearing in this environment with a capacity of 1 gigabyte and advanced features.

Nowadays, it's understandable that unless it offered that much capacity, it wouldn't become a popular primary email address. Rather than the idea itself being completely new, it was the amount of resources used to provide the service that was revolutionary, and it's true that other companies couldn't imitate this.

Due to subsequent improvements in hardware capabilities, resource constraints on the server side are no longer as big an issue as they once were, but the structural problem of "an architecture prone to processing load problems" remains unchanged.

When introducing and using SaaS, it is necessary to consider the possibility that it may not be good at handling heavy processing, that it may not be able to handle high-load processing effectively, or that processing may become slow or heavy during times when a large number of users are expected.

Poor usability due to use via internet connection and web browser

SaaS uses applications on the other side of the Internet. It is not an application running on a PC in front of you. You access the results of processing on the other side of the Internet, far away, via a web browser. As a result, the experience and response tend to be worse than when using an application installed on a PC.

Network communications cannot exceed the speed of light, and light can only travel around the Earth seven and a half times in one second. Communication delays between Europe and North America alone can be hundreds of milliseconds. Furthermore, while many SaaS services are accessed through a web browser, they are essentially designed to display and view HTML documents, so it is not always possible to fully realize a UI and UX equivalent to that of a native application.

For applications that require a good user experience and high response time (such as highly real-time processing), you need to consider whether using SaaS is appropriate.

Concerns about security and line outages

When using applications on company-owned hardware, inherent security can be ensured by physically blocking access, etc. However, when using applications via the Internet, essentially anyone in the world can access them.

It becomes more difficult to ensure security and to prove that security has been ensured through audits, etc.

Also, when using SaaS for work, there will be about one day a year when you can't work due to an internet connection failure or a cloud service failure (I think anyone who has been using it for many years has experienced this). If your work doesn't allow for occasional days like this to happen, then you need to think about whether you really want to use SaaS.

Risk of service termination and lock-in

With SaaS, there is a risk that the service may one day be discontinued and become unusable. While it is unlikely that the accounting software installed on your PC will suddenly become unusable, it is possible that the cloud service may suddenly be discontinued, rendering all of your data, including the data you have stored thereafter, unusable.

Furthermore, as SaaS usage increases and the service becomes essential for business operations, there is a possibility that unacceptable price increases will be made for the service. While we won't mention specific service names, there have been cases where sudden, significant price increases have been announced, causing problems. Alternatively, as SaaS usage increases in business operations, the functions and capabilities (such as processing power and storage capacity limits) provided by the SaaS can no longer handle the business, making it difficult to switch from that service.

Not only could it become unavailable and bring your business to a halt, but it could also happen that you are unable to transfer or rescue data stored on the cloud. In that case, you need to consider whether you can migrate to another service.

Often not (sufficiently) customizable

In most cases, SaaS involves using the provided applications in ASIS. For example, you can hardly expect to get a customized Gmail for yourself.

In the past, when developing software in-house, or even when using packaged software, companies would often use customizations and add-ons to suit their own company's needs, making it easier to use for their business. However, with SaaS, customization is often not possible, or can only be used in limited ways.

In the past, when introducing IT systems, if you expressed your requests or selfish demands to the "IT provider," they would sometimes be able to come up with some way to accommodate your company. However, this is no longer the case in the cloud era. The basic principle is that you use what is provided "in your own way." Or perhaps organizations are being asked to grow into such organizations.

It is becoming more difficult to adapt IT to suit a company's needs, and it is becoming necessary to adapt your company's business operations to SaaS.

"Connecting" technology that enables effective use of SaaS

In the 2010s, especially in the first half of the decade, in addition to the concerns mentioned above, there was also a lack of experience in using the cloud for business purposes, leading people to question whether it was safe to use the cloud for business purposes. As a result, progress in using the cloud for business purposes was slow.

We have overcome these challenges and are now seeing progress in cloud utilization, but that does not mean that the concerns have essentially disappeared. It is still necessary to carefully consider the advantages and disadvantages of using SaaS. Moreover, now that cloud adoption has become a given, properly understanding the issues with SaaS mentioned above and being able to use them effectively as appropriate has become an important skill when deciding whether to introduce SaaS.

As a result, in order to address the above-mentioned SaaS issues, it has become necessary to "connect" SaaS with external entities through data integration, etc. It has become necessary to consider linking with parts that will remain but not be moved to the cloud, linking and using multiple SaaS (multi-cloud), and migrating the SaaS being used.

A delivery format in which processing is concentrated on the server side

Again, it's easy to forget when using SaaS, but there is a physical server on the other side of the internet that handles the processing, and every time you do something, it puts a load on the processing. Not only will heavy processing slow down the system, but if you use too much capacity or call processes too frequently, you may be considered a nuisance user and have your usage restricted.

For processes that require high loads or large amounts of storage, you may need to keep them on-site rather than move them to the cloud, or use a cloud service that specializes in heavy processing. Even if you take precautions within your company, problems may arise due to a surge in usage at the end of the fiscal year, which can cause unbearable slowdowns.

By making advance assessments and managing usage methods, unexpected situations can be avoided, and risks can sometimes be mitigated by integrating multiple SaaS services and data and systems that are not moved to the cloud.

Poor usability due to use via internet connection and web browser

If operations such as inputting and analyzing large amounts of data cannot be performed smoothly, it can cause disruptions to business operations. In addition, delays in processing and communication with the cloud can become a problem when high real-time processing is required.

Such processing can be left on the local side and data integration with the cloud as appropriate, or a highly responsive cloud such as a physically nearby data center can be used in conjunction with the local side to data integration.

Concerns about security and line outages

Since you are using a service over the internet, security concerns are greater. You can take measures such as trying to use a reliable cloud service or not storing very important data in the cloud (unencrypted).

Another issue that should be considered is whether it is actually safer to entrust data management to a globally recognized cloud service or to manage it using your own company's own personnel.

Line failures and service disruptions can be mitigated by making access methods redundant, providing backup services, and data integration.

Risk of service termination/lock-in

You can mitigate the risk of service termination or lock-in by data integration externally to the service.

When migrating the services you use, data integration through "connecting" methods is useful for both ensuring the smooth implementation of the migration process itself and for effectively using multiple services during the migration period.

Often not (sufficiently) customizable

Since it is difficult to make changes to the service itself, in the cloud era, necessary functions will be supplemented by collaborating with external parties and automating processes using the functions provided.

By linking it with external services, or by creating automated processes using data on the SaaS or SaaS functions from outside the SaaS, it is possible to supplement missing functionality. To achieve this, it is useful to link SaaS from outside using "connecting" methods.

Related keywords (for further understanding)

iPaaS
- iPaaS is a cloud service that "connects" various clouds with external systems and data simply by operating on a GUI.
EAI
- It is a concept of "connecting" systems by data integration, and is a means of freely connecting various data and systems. It is a concept that has been used since long before the cloud era as a way to effectively utilize IT.
XaaS (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS, etc.)
- This book explains the essence of "service-oriented" services, a major change brought about by the cloud era. This is a trend that will change not only IT but the world in the future.
API
- An API (Web API) is provided to allow cloud service functions to be used externally.

If you are interested in our "Connecting" initiative,

If you are interested, please try out our product, which allows you to freely connect various data and systems, such as IT systems and the cloud, and successfully implement and utilize SaaS.

The ultimate "connecting" tool: data integration software "DataSpider" and data integration platform "HULFT Square"

"DataSpider," data integration tool developed and sold by our company, is a "connecting" tool with a long history of success. "HULFT Square," a data integration platform, is a "connecting" cloud service developed using DataSpider technology.

Another feature is that development can be done using only the GUI (no code) without writing code like in regular programming, so business staff who have a good understanding of their company's business can take the initiative to use it.

Try outDataSpider/ HULFT Square 's "connecting" technology:

There are many simple collaboration tools on the market, but this tool can be used with just a GUI and is easy enough for even non-programmers to use, while still providing "high development productivity" and "full-fledged performance that can serve as the foundation for business (professional use)."

It can smoothly solve the problem of "connecting disparate systems and data" that hinders successful IT utilization. We offer a free trial version and online seminars where you can try it out for free, so we hope you will give it a try.

Free trial seminar here

Why not try a PoC to see if HULFT Squarecan transform your business?

Why not try verifying how "connecting" can be utilized in your business, the feasibility of solving problems using data integration, and the benefits that can be obtained?

I want to automate data integration with SaaS, but I want to confirm the feasibility of doing so.
We want to move forward with data utilization, but we have issues with system integration
I want to consider data integration platform to achieve DX.

PoC Program | HULFT Square

SaaS（Software as a Service）