What is SaaS

In everyday occupational tasks, your organization uses various software to manage and perform errands. The software works and conducts business operations over the cloud. The product used over the cloud by subscribing to or freely utilizing it is known as SaaS, Software-as-a-Service. Using services like Gmail and Microsoft Office 365 in daily operations is very common. These software packages are available to you through the cloud, and you can connect to them anytime. Such a service is known as SaaS. Software-as-a-service can be a free service like Gmail, Yahoo, and other email giants, or your company can subscribe to it through payment. One of the famous examples of a a paid subscription is Microsoft Office 365.

SaaS is constructed on the concept of the one-to-many relationship, as there is one service, and many users can subscribe to it. The subscription methods and time can vary, but the subscription payment amount generally depends on the number of users or the time your company subscribes for. There are many benefits of using SaaS, and this concept has been very famous to businesses and organizations as SaaS provides them with ease of conducting their operations.

The SaaS vendors are responsible for creating, hosting, upgrading, and maintaining the software on their servers. Your company need not worry about the technical details. Instead, the company can perform its daily operations hassle-free by accessing the software or service over the internet or installing the product on its systems. One of the examples of software accessed over the internet is Google services like Gmail and google meet etc. On the other hand, SaaS is available that can be installed on our systems like Salesforce Software or different CRMs.

Some of the benefits of SaaS are that:

• SaaS offers services readily with decreased implementation time: You can instantly start using or installing the software at your end. Your company does not need to worry about technical details and the time taken to upgrade the system. SaaS can be promptly installed and used, unlike the software that took time to be set up on legacy systems.
• SaaS offers decreased working costs: As in legacy systems, companies were required to buy the software and pay for its installation and working. But SaaS is available on the go through the cloud. Availability over the cloud makes SaaS accessible anywhere and anytime, cutting the headache and cost of installation and setup.
• SaaS offers ease of use: It is designed to be usable and attractive to users. Your company need not train the staff heavily for SaaS utilization. Like in previous times, the software was not user-friendly, and lots of training was needed to educate the staff. The user-centric and App-Like design of SaaS makes it easy to use as thousands of users have been kept in mind while designing the software.
• Reliability: SaaS is reliable with respect to every aspect because the software companies that have provided you with the service are responsible for its maintenance and updating. Your business does not need to worry about its upkeep or downtime. The servers on which SaaS operates are the responsibility of the software company which has provided the software.
• Scalability: As your business scale, you can also scale the software your business uses. For example, if you are using salesforce and have purchased ten licenses, then its cost will be less than buying one hundred rights.

What is Managed Services

On the other hand, managed services are services that are provided just like SaaS. Still, the companies that are Managed Service Providers (MSPs) owe many responsibilities to the businesses utilizing the services. Managed services have all the benefits that come along with SaaS but differ in a way that by hiring MSPs, you can have software that is more tailored to your business needs with all the support you need.

Your company gets the software, hardware, or network support with managed services. It is not managed service if the software is available through the cloud, but a third-party software company is not monitoring things for you with its in-house IT staff.

Some of the benefits of managed services are:

• Higher Reliability with Minimized Business Disturbances, as another company manages the software for you.
• Cost-Effectiveness, you do not need to manage your full-scare IT department, and a third party is doing the errands for you.
• Having Subject Matter Experts, you have subscribed to a company that is an expert in the subject and provides reliable services.
• Focus on business, a third party manages the IT operations for you, and your business can focus on its key competencies.

Until now, you must have understood the difference between managed services and SaaS. The variance lies between the management and maintenance of the services provided by the software companies. If you are using software over the cloud and the services are already available to everyone who subscribes to the software, then you are using SaaS. On the other hand, if you have subscribed to a customized set of services and the maintenance and updating of those services are also provided by the software companies, they manage the service for you entirely. Your business has opted for managed services.

We can take the example of a CRM (Customer Relationship Management Software) as a SaaS and Managed service. If your business uses a CRM available through subscription, its features are fully available to you for use over the cloud. Such CRM will fall under the category of SaaS.

Whereas, if, along with that CRM, you have subscribed or outsourced a call center or other operations required to support your business technologically, these are managed services. In managed services, the third-party organization might perform support operations for you, like upgrading the software, maintaining your services, looking after the hardware needs of your IT equipment, providing you with network security, etc.

Conclusion

Both SaaS and managed services have their pros and cons. SaaS Provides you with the ability to scale up and down, whereas managed services provide you with a more customized and comprehensive set of services. It depends on the type and extent of services your business requires to decide the services you need in the form of SaaS or managed Services. Both concepts have gained popularity in IT as these services can provide your business and its ROI with a tremendous boom.