There has been a lot of buzz about Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) in the BCP world. But it’s extremely important for BC professionals to understand: What exactly is true SaaS – and what is buzzword marketing?

SaaS is software that’s subscription-based and hosted within the vendor’s secure IT environment. The primary purpose of a SaaS model is to release you and your organization from the hefty cost and time overhead associated with traditional software, allowing you to start using your software for its primary business purpose as soon as possible.

The principle of a true SaaS model is simple: YOU have no responsibility for anything IT-related. YOUR VENDOR absorbs all the time, responsibilities, and costs for all of the IT hardware and services related to running the software.

Some BCP vendors do not adhere to this principle. Here are some red flags to help you find the SaaS “pretenders.”

1. All hardware and software hosting should always be at your vendor’s location, not your site.
2. Hardware configuration should always be done by your vendor and seamless to you.
3. Upgrades should be done automatically with zero downtime for you. CDs or downloads to your desktop or server environment are NOT SAAS.
4. Pricing should be subscription-based (monthly/quarterly/yearly/etc.). True SaaS includes no upfront configuration or ongoing maintenance costs.
5. There should be no extra costs. Period. Additional hardware purchase, hosting fees, ongoing hardware/software configuration, training, maintenance, and upgrades make it a pretender SaaS model.
6. All that is needed to access True SaaS software is a standard web browser.
7. The original programming language of the software is web-based. Most software in the industry was initially developed in client/server code. This non-web language requires a massive code translation (with a hefty time and monetary investment) by the vendor. Most vendors that started this way have not been willing to make the effort to re-codify their software.
8. Licensing should include unlimited users. Watch out for “cost per license” models.

The bottom line is that software that requires you to do anything IT-related or requires more than a couple of days of configuration, it is not truly a SaaS. Once you get past the slick marketing, you can start to realize the true benefits of SaaS and save your organization considerable time and money.