Wednesday, January 21, 2009

What's Different with SaaS?

What is the impact of introducing Software as a Service (SaaS) in the enterprise? No fundamentally new IT issues are raised by SaaS but there is a shift in focus and some adjustments to the infrastructure may be needed.

There will be a stronger reliance on the SaaS provider compared with traditional software. If the SaaS provider is down - well, that's it. The troubleshooting will be limited to figuring out when the provider will restore service. The loss of control is very uncomfortable for many IT professionals but it can (and should) be addressed by managing expectations.

Another consequence of SaaS is a higher degree of dependency on the connectivity to the Internet. The biggest change is that the quality of the connection will be more important than previously.

SaaS will also affect the user experience and the change with be in both positive and negative terms. Communication is key - my experience is that a mixed bag of changes doesn't usually cause too much of a problem with users as long as it's properly communicated.