Cloud-based application

SaaS applications have become the new normal in the contemporary business environment. Organizations, be it small-scale or larger ones, have either successfully implemented these applications or are in the process of implementing them. 

The customer of SaaS software can use it without worrying about anyone accessing their data. This software is installed at a central server; not on the clients’ machines. 

The vendor is responsible for providing customers with key services like technical support, maintenance, and upgrades to the software. 

Some of the key characteristics of SaaS applications are the following: 

1. Multi-tenant Model

A multi-tenant model is a kind of architecture in which multiple customers share a common code base and infrastructure of a software application that is maintained centrally. Each customer of a SaaS application is called a tenant who can customize some parts of the application. 

2. Automated Provisioning

The clients (users) should be able to access the SaaS applications on the go. Hence, the process of provisioning them with the services needs to be automated. Most SaaS applications offer this feature to their customers. Cloud Services Broker can automate this process to provide access to SaaS applications on demand basis.

3. Easy Customization

Easy customization enables users to modify applications to fit their business processes without having to affect the common infrastructure. Such customizations are exclusive to each company or user and are preserved through upgrades. 

4. Subscription-Based Billing

Generally, the pricing of SaaS applications is subscription-based. This feature enables users to buy the SaaS application whenever they want and cancel the subscription once they do not want to continue using it. SaaS apps’ pricing can vary from provider to provider, based on the number of features they offer to users, and whether they charge a per-user fee or fixed pricing plans to their customers. 

5. Data Security

SaaS applications are shared by multiple tenants, which means the users’ data security cannot be compromised. Certain types of data for every user must be encrypted so that it cannot be accessed by another tenant. An efficient Key Management Framework is an essential part of SaaS applications. 

6. Application Security

SaaS applications should be protected against vulnerabilities like OWASP/SAN identified vulnerabilities. Robust access management and identity controls should be enabled for SaaS applications. Other aspects that make the SaaS app secure are strong session management, multi-factor authentication, protection against DoS/DDoS, etc. 

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