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Software as a Service (SaaS)

Software as a Service (SaaS) delivers applications through a browser or app without requiring local installation, with the provider managing all underlying infrastructure. Common examples include Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Dropbox, Slack, Zoom, and Netflix.

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About this video

Software as a Service (SaaS) is a cloud computing delivery model that allows users to access fully functional applications through a web browser or dedicated app, with no local installation required. The service provider assumes complete responsibility for the underlying infrastructure, platform maintenance, software updates, and security, shifting the operational burden away from the end user entirely. This represents a significant departure from traditional software distribution, where users purchased physical media, installed applications on their own hardware, and managed updates independently. The SaaS model is now dominant across both consumer and enterprise software markets. Platforms such as Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Dropbox, Slack, Zoom, and Netflix are all SaaS products, each delivering their full feature sets remotely while users interact through a browser or thin client application. Microsoft 365 is a particularly clear illustration of the model — applications like Word and Excel that once required local installation are now fully operational in a browser, offering nearly identical functionality without any software residing on the user's machine. Understanding SaaS is foundational to grasping how modern cloud services are structured and consumed.

What you'll learn

Identify Software as a Service (SaaS) as a cloud service model and recognize common examples such as Microsoft 365, Salesforce, and Zoom
Describe the operational characteristics of SaaS, including provider-managed infrastructure and end-user access via browser or lightweight application

What's covered

Software as a Service (SaaS)

What is SaaS
- Software in the cloud
- Accessed via browser
- No local installation needed
Traditional vs SaaS Model
- Old: CD install locally
- New: Cloud-based access
- Office 365 example
SaaS Examples
- Salesforce, Dropbox, Slack
- Zoom, Netflix
- Microsoft Word in browser
Managed Infrastructure
- Provider manages full stack
- User updates app or browses
- No backend management needed

Key terms

Software as a Service: A cloud service model that delivers software applications over the internet on a subscription basis.
Cloud Computing: The delivery of computing services including servers, storage, and software over the internet on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Infrastructure as a Service: A cloud service model that provides virtualized computing infrastructure over the internet.
Provider-Managed Infrastructure: A cloud deployment model in which the service provider is responsible for maintaining all underlying hardware, software, and platform components, leaving the end user only to access the service.

Topics

Saas Cloud Service Models Cloud Computing Microsoft 365 Salesforce Browser Based Applications

Transcript

Software as a Service

Another thing that's become very popular is software as a service, or SaaS. There are a lot of SaaS companies out there that we subscribe to and we don't even realize that they're SaaS companies.

At one point in time, if I wanted Microsoft Office, I would take my laptop or desktop, I'd go buy a CD, I would install it on my machine, and then I would use it, and I could just continually use it. That's not a model that's popular with software companies right now. Instead, they are putting that stuff up in the cloud. So you have things like Office 365. Now, instead of me downloading and installing something on my machine, I just go up to the cloud, maybe through a browser, and then access those services.

That is an example of a SaaS company, a software as a service company. With a software as a service company, I don't manage the software anymore. I just get on my browser and I browse to it, and they do all of the rest.

Examples of this might be Salesforce or Dropbox, Slack, Zoom, Netflix. They manage all of the infrastructure to it, and then locally what I do is I have an app, or I have a browser that I browse to it and watch it through there. In that case right there, they are managing the full stack. There's nothing that I really need to manage. Maybe I need to just update an application now and then, but really a lot of it is that I'm just accessing it through that browser.

An Example: Word in the Browser

I'm signed into Microsoft, on Microsoft Word. We can see here this is to create a blank document. Now, many of us have probably used Microsoft Word on a computer and have used that as an application installed on a computer. This is not installed on a computer; this is in a browser.

This is a great example of SaaS, software as a service. There is software that I'm running, but it's up in the cloud. I can create a new document here, I can edit this document, I can do everything, or most things, that I could do on my machine if I had the application installed on my machine — but I don't need that application installed on the machine.

There are a lot of examples of software as a service out there. This is just one of them.

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