Software-as-a-Service [Saas Applications]:
The Role of Software-as-a-Service in Cloud
Computing
Renuka Bathula
Department of Computer Science,
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU),
Richmond, USA.
bathular@mymail.vcu.edu
Abstract— Cloud computing is informed by the act of sharing
resources such as software, hardware, and network. It is a form of
internet computing since it can run the program from and on many
computers at the same time. In essence, cloud computing is divided
into three categories which include: platform as a service, software-
as-a-service as well as infrastructure as a service [3]. The concerns
on this paper are software-as-a-service (SaaS) which is a cloud
computing service model that gives several benefits to the
consumers. However, the three models meet different goals, but
they complement each other. Hence they are applied or instead
used simultaneously. Software-as-a-service is one of the top
software distribution model used in is the cloud computing. The
objective of this paper is to review the current state of the art of the
cloud computing, discuss its challenges, the architecture strategies,
data models as well as the benefits, characteristics and challenges
architecture strategies of software-as-a-service [6] The paper also
focused on performance evaluation of SaaS based models and
presented the results. The demand and real world implementations
of SaaS models are presented by looking through some case studies.
Keywords: software-as-a-service, cloud computing, data model,
features of SaaS, architecture, design.
I. INTRODUCTION
Cloud computing is a form of distributed computing
through the internet, and it involves the sharing of software,
hardware as well as network. Ideally, cloud computing
delivers hosted services by the service provider via the internet
to the consumers of that particular service. Cloud computing
as mentioned in the abstract has three essential functions such
as the platform as a service, infrastructure as a service and the
platform as a service [1]. Through cloud computing capability,
services provided are sold on demand either in hours or
minutes and clients have the privilege to access the services
they want at any given time, or at their convenient time. These
services are controlled, regulated and managed by service
providers [1].Excellent and reputable service provider on a
global scale includes organization such as Google, Amazon
and the IBM among others.
Cloud can either be private, hybrid or even public. As
the word suggests, the public cloud will sell everything
through the internet. On the contrary, private cloud involves a
proprietary data center that offers service to specific clients.
The hybrid cloud is more technical in operations as the
organization will give and manager few resources both
internal and externally [4]. These lead us to understate that
software-as-a-service is a form of cloud service that provides
software services over the internet. The essence of software-
as-a-service is to enhance operations between business and
customers, between individuals as well as giving numerous
merits to the clients. However, for organizations to realize the
benefits of the SaaS, it is essential to generate the SaaS quality
paradigm shift. It is also important to look at the architecture
strategies as well as the data center challenges [4]. Software-
as-a-service has occasionally been indicated as on-demand
software where the software, as well as related data, is put on
the cloud. Users gain access by consuming a thin client via the
website browser. Software-as-a-service over the time has
turned into a public form of a distributed prototype for many
enterprises applications [5]. Some of the notable business
application utilizing SaaS includes enterprise resource
planning, customer relationship management, human resource
management as well as the association and accounting.
Through the SaaS applications, a business can achieve,
compatibility, there is the worldwide accessibility of
information, less severe in administration among other
benefits. However, these benefits are not realized each of the
three categories of cloud computing complementing each
other. Therefore, there many importance of software-as-a-
services in cloud computing [5].
Software-as-a-service play an integral role in cloud
computing, and therefore, it is paramount importance. SaaS is
entirely turnkey application like the plant engineering
management, the enterprise resource management and others
which can be accessed through a web browser regardless of
the location. SaaS is essential in cloud computing as it helps
organization managers to obtain data which enable them to
make critical decisions in critical areas such as finance, the
manufacturing cycle times, the plant engineering, human
resource capital planning as well as the vendor management
[6]. It is also essential to note that software-as-a-service in
cloud computing can be used as a business intelligence tool by
decision makers in a manufacturing firm. For instance, the
SaaS tools can have the ability to equip the decision maker
with information regarding the metric goals to be achieved
about material handling time, the cycle time, as well as the
change over time. Through SaaS, it is easy today for learners
to enjoy the services of cloud computing. This has led to
distance teach [6]. Higher learning institutions such as
universities and colleges have embraced cloud computing, and
the distance learning programs have been on the increase.
Many students are accepting and preferring the platform as it
is more flexible, less costly and convenient for those would
prefer working while learning.
II. PROBLEM STATEMENT
There has been a continuous increase in the amount
of data generated by a business enterprise which is occurring
due to the increased application of the information system to
the business. The increase in the information produced by the
company is making data storage and security a big problem
for business firms. As the technology advanced, there has been
an emergence of a new technology known as cloud computing
that provides a platform for sharing hardware, the software as
well as the network over the internet [6]. Cloud computing is
working on three platforms which complements each other.
These platforms include the software-as-a-service, the
platform as service and the infrastructure as a service. In this
case, software as a function has been utilized in the business;
it allows efficiency in industry in that an organization does not
have to purchase the program or instead develop it, but it can
buy [7]. It is even more comfortable in the error of the internet
of things as an organization can browse over the World Wide
Web. However, despite the cloud computing contributing
hugely to businesses in the form of ensuring data security,
massive data storage and high rate of computation, there is
less research which has been done on the software-as-a-
service [7]. This paper, therefore, focus on the importance of
the software-as-a-service in cloud computing, as well as the
characteristics of the software-as-a-service.
III. CLOUD COMPUTING CURRENT STATE-OF THE ART.
In recent time, cloud computing has emerged as the
new paradigm distributing and hosting services over the
internet. It continues to be adopted and implemented by
business as it facilitates an enterprise to start small and
increase the amount of the resources as the services demand
increases [7]. Even though cloud computing is offering many
benefits to enterprises; it has not fully penetrated the market as
it is still in its infancy stage. However, from the words of John
McCarthy in 1960, we can claim that cloud computing is not
new a new phenomenon as he had envisioned that computing
facilities would be offered to the public as a utility and that is
what is happening today. Cloud has been used in different
context explain the huge automated teller machine networks in
the 1990s. However, in the year 2006, the Google CEO Eric
Schmidt used the cloud as a business model used in providing
services over the internet [7].
The state –of –the –art of cloud computing in this
paper is based on the implementations of cloud computing.
And to approach that various technologies that are used to
cloud computing are discussed as well as a survey of the
popular cloud computing products [7]. Some of the
technologies used include the data centers, distributed file
systems as well as the distributed application framework over
clouds. The data center is central to the cloud as it is a home
for storage and computation power. Data center consist
thousands of devices like the servers, the routers as well as
switches. It is essential for an engineer to do proper planning
of the infrastructure when designing since it heavily influence
the performance in a distributed environment [7]. While
creating the data centers, things such as scalability as well as
resiliency features need to be considered.
Currently, the basic approach to architecture design
of the cloud computing network is the layered approach
foundation. This approach has been tested in some of the
world largest data centers. The underlying layers of the data
center include the core, the aggregation as well as the data
access layer. The access point is the point where servers
physically connect to the network and servers are arranged in
racks each consisting about 20 to 40 frames [9]. With those
technologies applied more efficiently and effectively, it is now
becoming easy and faster to extract any form of data from the
cloud host. The software-as-a-services have revolutionized
mobile computing since even with a simple device such as
Google watch and glass; an individual can store data and
retrieve it when the need to use arise. The current state of the
art of cloud computing is making it possible for a business
executive to run the operations even from remote areas [9]. An
entire organization data can be stored in the phone in the form
of an application program. Operations have been made it
easier by cloud computing technology through the SaaS
platform.
IV. CLOUD COMPUTING ARCHITECTURE.
This part of the paper explains the architectural, the
business as well as other operations models of cloud
computing. The cloud computing technology can be divided to
for essential layers that are the hardware/ data center, the
platform layer, the infrastructure layer as well as the
application layer [9].
A. The hardware layer
The critical function of this layer is to manage all
physical resources of the cloud such as the powers, the
switches, the cooling system as well as the routers and servers.
Practically, hardware can only be implemented in the data
centers. In essence data center consist of many servers that are
arranged in racks and connected to the switches and routers
[9]. Some of the critical functions that occur at hardware layer
include the power and cooling resource management, the
hardware configuration, the traffic management as well as the
fault tolerance. All these functions are necessary as they help
facilitate the software-as-a-service function effectively.
B. The infrastructure layer
It is also referred to as the virtualization layer, and it
a pool for storage as well as computing resources. It is very
critical and integral layer of cloud computing technology since
most of the features in cloud computing are made visible
through virtualization [1].
Fig. 1. Cloud computing architecture
C. Platform layer.
This layer is built above the infrastructure layer and it
essential for complementing the cloud computing function as
it houses the operating systems as well as the application
frameworks [1]. The reason for having platform layer is to
reduce the burden of direct deployment of the applications on
to the VM containers. For instance, the Google application
Fig. 2. Layer level diagram of Cloud computing architecture
engines operate this layer to give API support such storage;
database, as well as the business logic of the websites, can
effectively be implemented.
D. Application layer
In the architectural designs of the cloud computing,
this is the highest layer in the hierarchy, and it hosts the actual
cloud applications. A cloud application is different from the
traditional form in that the former can leverage the automatic
–scaling feature to improve on the performance, reduce the
operation cost as well as making information available in real
time [1].
TABLE I
CLOUD ARCHITECTURE MODELS AND THEIR KEY AREAS OF
FOCUS.
Cloud architecture Key architectural focus areas
models
Amazon EC2 Simple storage and relational
database services for enterprises
Cloud security Enterprise security
alliance
Cisco IT data centers and networks
IBM Cloud service management
Storage networking IT cloud storage
industry association
Windows Azure Microsoft data center
applications
V. CLOUD COMPUTING- AS BUSINESS MODEL
As mentioned in the previous section of this paper,
cloud computing employs a business service driven model.
That means the hardware and platform resources are offered as
services on demand. It is evidence that cloud offer services
which can be grouped into three categories that is a platform
as service, software-as-a-service as well as the infrastructure
as a service [11]. However, in business practice, and
considering the multi-architecture design, it is possible for the
PaaS provider to manage its cloud on top or above the IaaS
provider’s cloud. In today corporate world, both the IaaS and
PaaS are part of the same organization, and a good example is
the Google and Salesforce, and that becomes the reason why
the IaaS and the PaaS are regarded as cloud providers (Mamta
Meena, 2016).
However, before moving the business application to
the cloud, it is essential to consider many factors and make it
clear what you want to achieve with the cloud computing. For
instance, most of the organization wants to lower the operation
cost, others want to reach a high customer service level, and
others are after a high level of reliability as well as the security
needs and concerns [11]. It is essential to be aware of the
different types of cloud, their benefits as well as drawbacks.
There exist three types of cloud namely: public cloud, private
cloud, and the hybrid cloud. Private cloud is used exclusively
to house single organization operations as it provides a high
level of reliability, performance as well as the security needs
of the data [11]. In the public cloud, the service provider will
provide their services to the general cloud. There are various
benefits attached to the public cloud in that no requirement
initial capital for investment. But one major drawback of the
public cloud is that it lacks an excellent grained control over
the data, thus exposing the data to higher risk and
vulnerabilities in which systems can easily tamper. The hybrid
cloud takes into a combination of both the private and public
model, and it sought to address the weakness of the two
models [11].
VI. THE LOGICAL DATA MODEL FOR CLOUD COMPUTING.
Ideally, Cloud computing creates a virtual working
environment when more than one computers can share
network making it easy for data exchange and computation.
Organization data is enormous, and there is a need for multiple
data centers to collaborate since it becomes inevitable in the
current corporate world to transmit data on a single data center
[14].The section, therefore, focuses on the data models which
are anchored by the existing cloud base storage. These models
are used to address multiple challenges that occur in the cause
of transmission and storage as well as during retrieval
services.
Entity relationship model- this is widely used in the
conceptual level data model. In other words, the entity-
relationship model is a visual representation of various data
using techniques that describe how data are related [14]. The
entity-relationship model is used during the development
process to determine the relationship that exists between the
three key elements which are an entity, the attribute as well as
the contact. A substance either represents the event, person or
object that is relevant to the particular system while the quality
is the characteristic of that entity whereas the relationship
describes the interaction of the substances [14].
database [15]. However, in cloud computing technology, most
of the data model a build by the SQL data model and therefore
working on NoSQL will demand a complete re-writing of the
codes so that other applications can run effectively [15].
VII. CHALLENGES OF CLOUD COMPUTING
Cloud computing has played a critical role in the
development and growth of the business. It has played an
integral role in ensuring data is efficiently stored and that its
security is enhanced. However despite the many benefits, their
many challenges on equal measures [15]. Some of the
obstacles are explained as follows:
A. The bandwidth and performance.
Ideally, business firms will save a considerable
amount of money on the hardware but equally spend more on
the bandwidth. The cost will be low for small applications but
will be very high for data-intensive applications. It is a
common knowledge that delivering or instead of distributing a
highly complex and intensive data will need a sufficient
bandwidth [15]. The scenario explained is making business to
wait for reduced operating cost before adopting and
implementing the cloud computing. However, the challenge
should not be referred to as a roadblock but rather should be
given a sound and serious considerations to find how issues
will be addressed out even before adopting the cloud
technology [16].

Through the entity relationship diagram data model,

the designer can communicate the relationship effectively with
the customers, the software developers as well as the end users
who are end users regardless of their knowledge on the
information technology [14]. This model is efficient as it can
be used to translate data into tables which can be interpreted in
other software applications. This model is also essential in the
organization as it can be used to explain the relationship of
operations within the organizations. However, there is a need
for continuous improvement on the model used, and as a
result, there is a need for conceptual modeling which forces all
players, or rather the partners to review the current as well as
the future business requirements [15].

It is of vital importance to distinguish the cloud

databases that may be non-relational to those which are
relational. Some of the databases that can be run on cloud Fig. 3. Business model of Cloud computing
include the Microsoft SQL, the MySQL as well as the Oracle
B. The interoperability and portability challenges
. At any time a business considers migrating to cloud
computing, it should consider leveraging relocating in and out
of the cloud as well as switching providers when they want. It
is therefore essential for the business to ensure that cloud
technology has the capacity and capabilities to integrate
smoothly with on-premise information technology. If there is
lacking portability and interoperability feature in the business,
then the organization will be incurring the cost of buying new
systems [16].
C. Security and privacy of the data.
Though cloud computing is considered as secure
technology, it has not adequately addressed the security needs
and concerns, and this has been the biggest worry of firms
which are thinking of adopting the technology. The managers
worry that a sizeable amount of information will stay out of
the corporate firewall where it may be more vulnerable to
attack from intruders such as hackers [17]. The cost
implication of security breach is high, and most organization
are resistant to adopt and implement the technology. However,
these risks may be mitigated through the deployment of
security applications such as data loss software, use of the
encrypted file systems as well as the buying of the security
hardware [17].
VIII. CHALLENGES OF IMPLEMENTING SOFTWARE-AS-
A_SERVICE APPLICATIONS
SaaS is a cloud computing model that provides
software over the Internet. Users are not required to purchase
software, instead need to lease Web-based software from
providers. This approach can help to manage business
activities with ease. For example: Baidu cloud server, Ali
cloud server [17].
SaaS model is based on cloud computing platform
application model. SaaS providers are responsible for building
all the necessary information infrastructure, hardware an
software platform for enterprises. And also SaaS providers are
responsible for ensuring all pre-implementation, post-
maintenance and a progression of services. Companies are not
required to purchase software and hardware and also do not
need to build machine room and employ IT staff. Only thing
that need to be done is to use the Internet information system.
Businesses can lease software services to SaaS providers
based on actual needs just like tap water can be tapped. Cloud
service providers are responsible to take technical measures to
effectively ensure the security and confidentiality of every
enterprises data[17].
However the Saas solutions provide possible cost savings,
deeper researchers concludes that while making such changes,
challenges can become more critical. Hurwtiz & Associates
also concluded that there is a decrement in the cost savings of
a SaaS model as the number of employees increased [18]. In
addition, there are several concerns about SaaS solutions as it
is related to the security of enterprise data. Federal
Information Security Management Act of NetworkWorld
references regulations requires the sensitive data to be kept
within the country by the customers. However the access of
data from anywhere is convenient and reduces the necessity of
carrying sensitive information by the enterprise employees, it
can be large risk of a non secure endpoint[7].
With the deepening of the application on the Internet, more
and more SaaS service providers consider to build data
security solutions based on SaaS-based applications. SaaS is
very closely integrated with the needs of users. And SaaS has
a wide variety of functions. Typical examples are Botnet
detection and monitoring cloud service, DDOS attack
protection cloud service, cloud page filtering, content security
cloud service, and anti-virus application, cloud spam filtering
and prevention, security incident monitoring and warning
cloud service etc. Traditional network security technology has
the difficulty on response speed, defense capability, system
size and other restrictions. It is complicated to meet the
demand of complex security needs. But cloud computing
technology is able to make up for the above shortcomings. The
cloud computing provides massive storage capacity and large-
scale computing capacity. The cloud computing can be
collected in the correlation analysis, security incident, virus
prevention and other aspects. It helps to achieve a significant
improvement in the performance. Ultra-large-scale security
incident information processing platform can be constructed
using cloud computing that increase the security stance in the
entire network. There are various security policy factors that
affect SaaS cloud services.Some of the challenges for
implementing Saas include [17]:
A. Multi-tenant Deployment
SaaS services typically serve hundreds of clients
based on a standard set of software systems. This
characteristic requires that the SaaS service could be able to
support the separation of data and configuration between
different tenants. This can ensure the privacy and security of
each tenant's data that makes this approach to can satisfy the
users' individual needs, such as business logic, interface, data
structures, etc. As multiple tenants are supported by the SaaS
at the same time and each tenant has many more users. This
situation has a challenge to the performance, scalability and
stability of the infrastructure platform that supports the
hardware and software[17].
B. Network characteristics
The users are provided with services in the form of Internet
browser or WebServices2 Web 2.0 program connection by
Saas services. This feature of network can make SaaS
applications explicit typical characteristics of Internet
technologies [17].
C. Pay on-demand model
As SaaS (Software-as-a-service) is a service business model
for using and delivering software over the Internet. Therefore,
various problems must be considered, such as the, the
measurement of service usage, signing of service contracts,
the guarantee of online service quality, the collection of
service fees, etc. These problems are usually not considered by
traditional software[17].
D. Access Control
Authorized service is the starting point of connecting
enterprises and Cloud SaaS to communicate smoothly. It is
equipped with SSL secure channel in the procedure of network
transmission. User information is obtained by using this
Secure Sockets Layer protocol. Base on user information, the
access control record is queried to make a decision whether to
grant access. This access control list ensures that information
is official, and unauthorized users are prohibited to access the
system. However, cloud service providers and cloud tenants
use the same account as the current login cloud service role.
This approach could make it simple for criminals to access the
system [17].
E. Network Security and Physical Security
The basic guarantees for SaaS service provision are
network security and physical security. The basis for
enterprise users is that they must have a good physical and
network infrastructure in order to connect with the cloud SaaS
platform. Among them, the physical management needs to be
greatly considered. SaaS service provider staff for physical
access qualifications should be controlled strictly. The best
method has some relevant audit measures, such as face
recognition systems and fingerprinting systems. The network
is also considered. After good physical equipment has been
provided, enterprises and SaaS service providers should pay
attention on the related security measures in the
communication network and especially, when the data is
encrypted in the transmission process [17].
F. Redundant Backup
The data should be backed up in order to ensure the
sustainable operation of the system. Once the fault node is
found within a cluster consisting of multiple standby server
nodes, the other nodes can be automatically taken over the
fault node work.. The entire system services are not affected
by this mechanism. This approach can ensure highly
redundant hardware with double the amount of sample at least.
The hardware can automatically switch to realize online
replacement and hot-swappable [17].
G. Scalability
It is the application's ability to service users to
support added requirements without giving way to slow down
in response time. Saas must guarantee to provide efficient
scalability to its customers[22].
H. Reliability
Is it sensible to trust the cloud? The intended users
must be provided with a level of truthfulness and trust by the
SaaS application[22].
I. Usability
A Saas application must assure support for ease of use by
different types of users dynamically[22].
J. Data Security
It is ensuring that the user's data is safe from un-
authenticated access and it's controlled. An efficient Saas
application must provide data integrity[22].
K. Security
Saas systems must protect against logical and physical
unauthorized access[22].
L. Ownership of Data
SaaS providers should assure user's data protection
without compromising the ownership details[22].
M. Integration
SaaS must take care about the combination of different
parts so they may work together to form a whole. In
technology integration, it is often referred as Service Oriented
Architecture (SOA).This is the approach that is of wide choice
when it comes to many integration strategies[22].
N. Application Updates
The deployment of application patches and updates can be
sometimes cumbersome and time consuming. SaaS must
assure them[22].
O. Support
Support is delivered in several setups, either electronically or
through human intervention in order to assist a service user in
resolving a problematic issue[22].
To be aware of and mitigate the risks of such security
concerns, a venture who is taking an account for SaaS
solutions must inquire the correct questions when researching
about a provider. Messmer suggests some of such relevant
questions can be: Is data held encrypted? Which SaaS
employees have root database access? What security controls
are in place? Is client data separated? What information is
captured in audit logs ? What are the service level
 agreements? Understanding the security policies of the vendor
plays a critical role in the decision making process[7].
An enterprise can expect many challenges and
benefits while moving to a cloud based solution. Thorough
research must be performed to make sure data security is
properly understood and addressed[7].
IX. CHARACTERISTICS/FEATURES OF SOFTWARE-AS-A-SERVICE.
Software-as-a-service has many key features that
facilitate its function or rather which make it accomplish the
cloud computing tasks. Such features include the reusability,
the service customizability, the data managed by providing,
the quality of service, scalability, data security multi-tenant,
availability as well as configurability[17].
A. Service customizability and Configuration.
This phrase explains the ability and flexibility that
exist for a service to be changed by the consumer to suit their
taste and preferences. It is fundamental to the service provider
as it allows the company in meeting the needs of all
consumers or rather clients [17]. The cloud services are
designed in such a way that even the potential clients can
become consumers of the cloud services. However, such a
Fig. 4. SaaS (Software-as-a-service) Platform Architecture
large number of consumer make it difficult for the service
provider to the customer the services to each consumer but
instead consumers are supposed to modify their services to
suit their purpose. In case the service provider does not
provide customized service to the consumers, clients are
supposed to us what is offered but this limit the usage of SaaS
[12]. In addition to this, SaaS supports an individual service
use to be able to change the set of configuration selections that
can affect its working functionality along with its appearance
and ease of use [22].
B. Availability.
Through cloud computing technology, the
consumers of services can easily access SaaS services from
web browsing and through the internet. The service is owned
and hosted in the service provider servers. The consumers of
service to not have to purchase the service but rather access
through the internet [12]. As such the competition has become
very stiff in the market and corporations which are vendors of
the service, try to compete by maintaining highly available
services. It is a two-way street form of business, in that if the
consumers of the services are not available, then the SaaS
functionality will not be available [12].
C. Reusability.
Reusability is the ability of the software elements to
serve in the construction of other different applications. Cloud
computing is motivated by the various reuse of internet related
services. Many relationships are developed when developing
SaaS [12]. For instance, taking a look at Google maps, the
service offered to provide other sets of operations that can be
shared. Such information includes the local location and
directions which are mostly utilized by different customers.
D. Scalability
In the field of software engineering, scalability is
related to the property in or within a system that allows it to
function well by handling the ever growing amount of work in
the system [13]. However, service consumers are denied the
control of the resources utilized by the service. It can rescale
the resources without seeking consumer consent. Therefore
scalability is a crucial feature or rather characteristics that
facilitate the organization to run its operations more
effectively and efficiently.
E. Quality of service.
Quality is essential to customers, and failure to meet
the quality organization may lose part of the client of all of
them. However in the software-as-a-service, quality is taken to
mean the level of service by providing as well as the capacity
and capabilities to provide those services [13]. Service quality
must go hand in hand with consistency, such that customers
are not disappointed at one point. There are crucial elements
that are used in measuring the quality of service which
includes the usability and reliability, the performance,
availability as well as business service which includes the
usability and reliability, the performance, availability as well
as business continuity needs and concerns [8]. Data security.
Information security has become the major concerns for the
organization and managers are getting a lot of headache on the
problem. It is due to the data security issues that most of the
organization is not interested in software-as-a-service. It has
become evident that addressing the organization security
issues and concerns have become a significant problem
towards adopting a sub-service in the cloud [8]. Data security
breach can be very costly to firms and many fear to take as it
may risk their company to both external and internal threats as
well as vulnerabilities.
F. Pay per use
The cost incurred is dependent on the service
provided, the cost is estimated by using the list of service
invocation as well as the time in hours, minutes or days that
service has been utilized. It is essential in that a service
consumer will have the privilege to connect to the service and
pay only what they have used. In other word, clients can take
action without consulting the service provider [8].
G. Accelerated feature delivery
SaaS applications updates very often. It may choose
to check the user behavior while using a particular application,
fast testing is possible and only that specific provider can
execute its updating but not the user[22].
H. Open integration protocols
Any user's internals such as data base and services
cannot be accessed by SaaS, so the service providers offer
integration protocols and APIs (Application Programming
Interfaces) to make this possible[22].
X. BENEFITS OF SOFTWARE-AS-A-SERVICE
Software-as-a-Service allows pay-per-use or
subscribed users access to services or software that reside in
the cloud rather than on the user's device. Thin client software
such as web browser will be required by the SaaS application
consumer in order to access the cloud-hosted application. This
helps in the reduction of the hardware requirements for end-
users and allows for deployment, maintenance and centralized
control of the software. Gmail , and Google Apps, and
Hotmail are some examples of the popular SaaS
applications[7].
Software-as-a-service has several advantages as it
pertains to budgeting and cost savings for an organization.
Microsoft Corporation has mentioned in it’s report that one of
the largest advantage in deploying applications that use SaaS
model is the low initial investment on hardware, software and
staff. Hurwtiz & Associates have performed a study and
concluded that the solutions of SaaS have offered as huge as
64% savings over a period of 4 years when compared to
premise solutions [7].
As the SaaS solution pertains to the security of data,
it can provide several benefits to an organization. Balding
states “How many laptops do we need to lose before we get
this ?[18]” while talking about lost enterprise data. The need
for employees to carry sensitive data along with them during
travel can be eliminated by the flexibility of using centralized
data storage of a SaaS based application.It can be an
impossible task to figure out all the possible locations of data
without having a centralized location which in turn causes an
enterprise large burden and costs. In addition to this Balding
has stated that when it comes to forensics and incident
response, a centralized SaaS provider can be more
efficient.Other security benefits of SaaS include shared,
increased ability to deploy secure logging, secure builds,
security testing costs and a more efficiently tuned system [7].
A brief explanation on the benefits of SaaS is as follows:
A. Cost saving
In an attempts to make operations and processes
more efficient and effective, traditionally, business firms used
to deploy large-scale business vital software and systems such
as the customer's relationship management as well as
enterprise resource planning suites that were costly and
consumed most of the organization profits. It is true that when
deploying the types of system in the organization can bring the
unsustainable cost to the company. Besides, the skill and time
requirements for deployment of the vast and sophisticated
system can be risky to the business hence small, and midsized
firms could not afford to use such software [12].
However, contrary to the cost, the SaaS software
does not require a highly complicated information technology
infrastructure at the customer's location. Such capabilities
eliminate or somewhat reduces the upfront commitments of
scarce resources. The software-as-a-service is fundamental to
the business in the sense that it gives customers or instead
consumer an ample time to try and test the systems or rather
the software [12]. The free test time is essential to the client
since it helps reduce the much risk that is associated with
buying of a software. Also is a particular piece of software is a
need for a specific period, then it is paid for that time. The
customer or the client do not incur the cost of maintenance.
Hence, the overall profits of the organization are not affected
in any way.
Similarly, the software-as-a-service application does
not require the company to add more hardware cost hence no
extra cost of installing the hardware is incurred. This happens
because the cloud provider provides the processing power
needed to run the application. Besides, when implementing the
software-as-a-service application, there is no additional cost as
the organizationbuys claim when it is ready for usage for the
subscribers or any other users [12]. Even when there is an
update for the software, it is readily available online, and
consumers can update for themselves, and it is mostly offered
for free. That mean, there will be no new software
requirements but slightly updating the old one.
Another feature that makes software-as-a-service less
costly is the fact it is licensed with usage-based transaction
models that make it easy user-friendly. For example, the
customers are only billed for the number of times services in
which the transactions are used. However, the service provider
may implement the time-based subscription model where
clients are only required to pay a flat fee per user for a certain
period of example monthly, quarterly or even yearly [12].

Fig. 5. An example of software-as-a-service
During the time of subscription, a customer is allowed for the
unlimited use of the service upon which the expiry of time,
they are supposed to re-subscribe to access the services.
B. Easy customization
Business needs are specific and differ differently
from one to the other. It is essential to understand that
business needs are unique and people start a business with
different objectives. The service provider is aware of this facts
and therefore, the application is designed or instead developed
in such a way that users can modify them to suit their business
needs and help achieve the intended purpose. The
customization features are unique to every business, and they
are preserved through consistent and regular upgrades which
are done at lower adoption cost as well as fewer customers
risks [12].
C. Transform the IT department
The software-as-a-service has many capabilities in
the corporates, it transforms the information technology in the
organization as well as changing the way business thinks. For
instance, it re-engineers and restructures the entire role of
computing services to the rest of the organization departments.
One of the benefit of software-as-a-service is that activities
such as managing upgrades, monitoring of the performance,
ensuring high availability, keeping and maintaining the day to
day operations of the software, testing and installing the
patches are all functions handled by the service provider.
When all these functions are transferred to the provider, then
the IT team or department can focus on much more high-value
activities and have an equal opportunity to contribute to the
success of the business.
D. Ease of management
Some system is very sophisticated, and information
technology managers are having a hard time making them.
However, for the software-as-a-service applications, there are
entirely managed by the supplier or the hoster [13]. As a
matter of facts, the implementation of the management role is
opaque to the clients. There are service level agreements that
govern the relationship between the provider and the
subscriber. For instance, the customers have to produce
quality work, support the commitments and ensure service
agreed are always available.
E. Cross-device compatibility
In the world where there are as many devices as
people, and the coming of smartphones, the laptops, the tablets
as well as smart watches it is easy now to use SaaS. This
capability is made fact since most of the gadget and brilliant
gadget are internet enabled [13]. Any device that has access
to the internet can be able to install the software-as-a-service
and execute the operations. This platform is beneficial to
those who use the number of different devices, like the tablets,
the internet enabled phones, and it is suitable for people who
do not have computers.
F. Facilitate better global access
Through the software-as-a-service application, an
organization is well placed to use or instead access the internet
from all parts of the world; business firms can obtain vital
information which it causes to improves on its operations. For
instance, business firms will be able to manage the priorities,
monitor and evaluate the data use, seeing to it that every user
can access the same information at the same time and on a
real-time basis. The sharing of the same information is
achieved because all subscribers have the same information by
installing the same version of the software for ease of
collaboration and access [13]. Similarly, the software-as-a-
service can be accessed from any location because it is not
restricted for installation to a specific number of computers.
By having an internet-enabled device, the SaaS application
can be obtained from anywhere in the globe.
G. Multitenant architecture design.
The multitenant design means that all the software
users share a single and common infrastructure as well as code
that is centrally maintained. The software-as-a-service vendors
is placed on the same infrastructure as well as the code base,
that makes it possible for the vendors to innovate fast as well
as saving valuable time to for costly development that was
initially used in the maintenance of the numerous version of
outdated codes [13].
Fig. 6. Software-as-a-service internal architecture
H. Enabling business to diversify
The software-as-a-service is making business to be
dynamic and execute it operations and processes with the most
efficient and effective way than it used to be in the past. For
instance, the current corporate world is taking charge of the
SaaS pricing as well as the question [13]. It is of paramount
importance for the company to understand the essence of
diversification and take advantage of the centralization
through a single instance. The companies are supposed to take
advantage of the multitenant architecture so that they can
provide as many features as possible which can be used by
business to exploit other markets. The many features software-
as-a-service application may be essential in that company can
be able to achieve a competitive advantage in the market.
Software-as-a-service can be offered directly by the supplier,
or it can be accessed through an intermediary party who is
referred to as the aggregator [13]. The aggregator will bundle
the software-as-a-service from different suppliers and proceed
to offer them to consumers as part of a unified application.
XI. ARCHITECTURE STRATEGIES OF SOFTWARE-AS-A-SERVICE
A. Software as a Service Maturity Model
In this section, the maturity model of SaaS is presented.
Generally, the maturity model starts from separating and then
proceeding to sharing. Maturity model is used to describe four
stages of SaaS levels, where each level is diverse from the
previous stages. Scalability, multi-tenancy and configuration
are added to describe the SaaS maturity model shown in Fig. 7
[6].
• The first level of maturity is known as Ad
Hoc/Custom. In this level, each tenant has its own
customized instance and shares different instances
exclusively. This model dates back to traditional
application service provider (ASP) and its model
architecture is alike the single instance application.
With some extra development work,some
conversional client/server applications can be easily
transformed into this category.
• The second level of maturity is called to be
Configurable. In this level, unlike the first level each
tenant shares the same instance exclusively and has
its own customized instance. Each instance is left
isolated from all the others instances. The main
disadvantage of this level is the dependency on the
service providers in order to get sufficient hardware
and storage resources to support large-scale
instances.
• Multi-Tenant-Efficient is called as the third level of
maturity. In this level, all the tenants share the same
and only one instance. Configuration is supported in
order to satisfy customization. Reducing the number
instances to one is the added advantage of this model
, and the drawback is that it is impossible to be cost-
effective to add more power due to diminishing
returns.
• The fourth level of maturity is Scalable and Multi-
Tenant-Efficient. In this level, each tenant gets
 connected to the same tenant load balancing
middleware, and this middleware gets connected to
various instances. The service provider hosts multiple
tenants. Scalability is the advantage of this level
because the middleware scales up without requiring
any additional re-architecting of the application [6].
Fig. 7. Four-level saas maturity model.
B. Storage Strategies of Multi-Tenant Data
There are three storage strategies existing for multi-
tenant data from the balance between isolation and sharing.
Current SaaS data models are shown in Fig. 8.
Fig. 8. Current SaaS Solutions.
(a) Separate Application and Separate Database
Separate application and separate database is just
similar to single instance. Each tenant has its own database
and application. In this simple model , they are isolated from
each other. This model generates higher costs for maintaining
a lot of instances. In addition to this drawback, the cost of
backing up is inestimable.
(b) Shared Application and Separate Database
In this model, all the tenants share the same
application but the application uses different databases. All the
databases are physically isolated. The application security of
this model prevents any tenant from invade its own logical
application instance.
(c) Shared Application and Shared Database
In this model, all the tenants share the same
application and database. This model is further divided into
two models known as separate schema and shared schema as
shon in Fig. 8 [6].
(i)In the separate schema model, the database houses
multiple schemas in the same database, where each tenant has
its own schema (tables, views, stored procedures and triggers).
The separate schema is comparatively easy to implement but
the drawback is the massive maintenance of schemas. The
database administrator must restore all the schemas, in order
to restore the database.
(ii)The second model, shared database and shared
schema, when compared with shared database and separate
schema, all the tenants' data are stored in the same schem and
database.
The analysis on these two models has shown that the
shared schema approach has the lowest backup and hardware
costs, but has more development and maintenance work on
distinguishing the tenant data. This is due to the allowance to
serve the largest number of tenants per database server.
Generally, a multi-tenant data middleware is required to
convert the data and minimize the development work to the
greatest. But this approach may incur additional work
in case of unexpected bugs or attacks [6].
XII. SAAS PERFORMANCE EVALUATION AND
APPLICATION.
Cloud Computing (CC) is a trend of sharing pool of
configurable computing resources such as servers, storage,
networks, applications, and services that can be released and
provided by Cloud Services Provider (CSP) with the effort of
minimal management . CC is providing its services in three
models: Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-
Service (PaaS) or Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). SaaS is the
most usable and the top model in the CC models. In this
context, PRESENCE work focuses on the performance
evaluation of Web Services (WSs) deployed in the context of
the SaaS model [18].
PRESENCE framework was proposed to evaluate the
performance of SaaS model of different cloud service
providers. One of the mechanism of the PRESENCE
framework dedicated to the provision of stochastic models for
selected performance metrics that was presented. To be more
precise, 11 generated models are depicted and analyzed. Out
of which 90, 91% accurately represent Web Service (WS)
performance metrics for four representatives SaaS components
used for the validation of the PRESENCE approach [19].
PRESENCE aims at quantifying in a fair and by
stealth way scalability and the performance of the delivered
WS. The paper refer to the capacity of evaluating a given
Cloud service through multiple workload patterns that makes
them indistinguishable from a regular user traffic from the
provider point of view. PRESENCE introduces a definition for
the set of Common performance metrics for measuring the
behavior of cloud applications on top of a given CSP. This
framework opens novel perspectives for SLA contraventions
assessment, modeling, monitoring the performance metrics
for SaaS WSs [18].
The PRESENCE approach is useful to gather the data
which represent the behavior of the CSP and reveal the
performance of the delivered services. In this context, the
PRESENCE agents are responsible for a set of performance
metrics measuring a specific aspect of the WS QoS. Those
metrics have been designed to reflect scalability and
performance in a representative cloud environment [19].
On the PRESENCE client side, 8 agents are deployed
as KVM guests i.e. virtual machines running CentOS 7.3 over
4 physical servers. Each agent of PRESENCE was running
one of the benchmarking tool to evaluate the WS performance
and gathering data about the CSP behavior. Each PRESENCE
agent thus measures a specific subset of performance metrics
and attributes, also deal with a specific kinds of cloud servers.
Each measurement consists of an average over 100 runs
gathered by the PRESENCE agent to make the data
statistically significant [19].
PRESENCE aims at evaluating the QoS and SLA
compliance of a Web Services (WSs) by stealth way, i. e. by
rendering the performance evaluation as close as possible
from a regular yet heavy usage of the considered service. To
enable it, the performance metrics should be accurately
modeled .11 such models were generated using the
PRESENCE approach. Out of the 11 models, 10 of
them i.e. 90.1% of the analyzed models are proved to have
accurately represent the performance metrics collected by the
PRESENCE agents, such as throughput and latency in various
contexts depending on the considered WS[18].
The SaaS case study presented in [7], by implementing a
SaaS based data protection solution, this organization enjoyed
many of the expected advantages such as cost savings, low
initial capital costs, quick deployment, expanded features, and
a quick method to implement the requirements of a project. In
addition, the organization is well positioned to handle any
amount of data growth by selecting a SaaS solution. This case
study was a great example of a successful real world cloud
based computing implementation which has clearly
demonstrated the potential of the SaaS solution.
Cloud computing and SaaS (Software-as-a-service) are two
emerging concepts. A comprehensive research conducted on
combining them together prove that SaaS can solve various
problems such as bandwidth and insufficient hardware by
using cloud computing. And also cloud computing can create
its own powerful integrated resources in order perform
adequately through the SaaS model. Thus all these structured
the cloud computing SaaS delivery model for talents training
at university[21].
Another research on the application of SaaS-based
cloud computing in the university research and teaching
platform used SaaS model to deploy the related software on
the cloud platform in order to improve the computing of
scientific tasks quality and resource utilization [20]. Thus
Software-as-a-service model of cloud computing is used in all
the fields to achieve many benefits. SaaS is revolutionizing the
current trends of cloud computing.
After the concept of SaaS application model emerged
around year 2000, Salesforce has held the opportunity to
become one of the most successful SaaS service providers.
There are a lot of success stories that give a way to look
towards SaaS application in the world of cloud computing
[21].
XIII. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK.
Initially, business firms haven’t taken the software-
as-service as a serious consideration, and most of the
companies were reluctant to implement it. However, over the
last half of a decade, there has been a dramatic change in the
perception of the software-as-a-service as companies have
continued to adopt and implement it. It has been proved that
organizations can grow their revenue by increasing the
customer base in extensive significant manner research [8].
The customers of today are attracted to the affordability as
well as the familiarity of the worldwide web-browsing like the
user interface which is offered by software-as-a-service.
Beginning with the introduction to cloud computing
and the three cloud computing models, this paper has
discussed the Current-state-of-art, architecture, challenges,
and various models of cloud computing. Then the discussion
has proceeded focusing on the challenges of implementing
Saas models, characteristics and benefits of SaaS. As the top
model of cloud computing, Software as a service (SaaS) has
assisted the industry to develop various multi-tenant
applications. It has brought new challenges of software
architecture and data storage which have been presented in
this paper. Some case studies are provided by presenting the
evaluation models to measure the performance of SaaS based
applications and presented how the usage, implementation
and contribution of SaaS has lead to great benefits and
success.
In today corporate world, task which is related to the
accounting department like invoicing, the sales and marketing
tasks such as an advertisement, the product design, and
planning as well as the pricing quote can be done through the
software-as-a-service application. It is the wish and the
advantage of business to use one form of the software that can
perform all of the business processes to help synchronize the
operations and cut on the cost research [8]. It is therefore of
paramount importance to conclude that software-as-a-service
offer great opportunities to the business and reduce the
business risk exposure. it helps the company in transforming
the IT department making it proactive as well as well as
enhancing value production which becomes part of the
business. It is essential for a business to consider the value
implication, the SaaS flexibility as well as the risk
management.
Software-as-a-service is an example of a cloud
service which has emerged as useful reuse technology. It has
many benefits to consumers such as no initial investment, no
software maintenance cost, the service can easily be accessed
through the internet, they are profoundly and readily available,
and the cost is per usage [8]. It would, however, be essential
to evaluate the quality of the SaaS for effective management.
SaaS will continue to be adopted by the organization due to
the benefits it makes an organization to achieve.
There are still many research questions on “Cloud
computing” applications, such as: storage, resource
scheduling, service selection, cloud security issues, service
composition issues and standards and so on [21]. In the future,
more research needs to be done on the software-as-a-service to
determine why firms are reluctant to adopt and implement this
form of cloud service research [8]. More research on the data
models that are used on SaaS should be done. SaaS, As one of
the main categories of cloud computing should be essentially
focused further which would be more useful to the companies
and determine which model can be best to use in which
scenarios.
XIV. RECOMMENDATIONS
Although Software-as-a-service has beenwidely
adopted through cloud computing, the research on software-
as-a-service is still in the early stage. Many issues need to be
addressed which have not adequately been discussed in the
previous research [8]. Whereas many technologies continue to
emerge in the IT industry, it is essential for an organization to
look seriously on how to address the issues related to data
security since it is the great fear for much organization
towards adopting software-as-a-service.
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