Glossary

SaaS

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is the term given to a model of software deployment and use that offers an alternative to purchasing and operating software on your computer. It is more akin to renting, typically monthly fee with no lock-in contract or set-up costs. SaaS applications operate over the internet via your browser, so the only concession to software installed on your computer is the need for connectivity. The counter advantage is collaboration since everyone with appropriate access rights can be working off one central file store, as opposed to being distributed on separate hard drives and sending copies.

SaaS is more that a trendy name, it's perhaps a turning point in democratising IT for business benefit. Never has it been easier or better value to obtain high quality business software that can be up and running in minutes.

SoA

There are many takes on Service Orientated Architectures (SOA), one of which is the notion that you can realistically produce web application mash-ups to assemble best of breed solutions. SoA can be thought of as Lego blocks of IT services that can be readily snapped together to make a composite application, rather than building everything from scratch. This can save costs and increase the richness of functionality.