What does software as a service mean to you?

Andreas Müller of WIN-Verlag GmbH & Co.KG recently asked me:

What does Software as a Service mean for you?

We are all familiar with software sold as a boxed product. You buy a software application. You pay for it once. You install it. You use it as much as you like. What you have purchased is a packaged application. Software as a Service (SaaS) is delivered on-demand; it ties the price you pay to what you do with the application, and it’s fully maintained and managed by the vendor with configurability available to the end user. It’s like when you buy a hand-held drill. You get a drill. Imagine if Sears handed out free electric drills, but collected 10 cents every time you drilled a hole. Many people would prefer that option. They would rather have the flexibility of paying for actual use rather than having to worry about the care and storage of a drill, as well an assortment of drill bits. So perhaps people will pay for software based on time of use or something like number of files created since elements like these reflect a direct relationship to the value they receive.

So how would you have answered the question? What does software as a service mean to you? Let us know your thoughts at [email protected].

Inquiring minds wanting to know are alive in the lab.