SaaS stands for Software as a Service. The simplest way to explain SaaS is to say that it is software that you rent, rather than purchase. Why would you want to do that? There are actually several reasons.
First of all, when you purchase software, you are actually only purchasing the license to use the software, which is known as an End Users License Agreement (EULA). You don’t own the software in the true sense of the word, with the right to modify or resell it to others, so in actuality, you are already renting the software.
Second, SaaS is typically priced at about 15-20% of the purchase price of software per year, so there is a significant cost savings to your organization. Considering how quickly software becomes obsolete, and how often operating systems on your PC change, you may need to upgrade your software in one or two years after you purchase it. For example, in just the last decade we’ve seen all of these operating systems released and replaced: Window3.1, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows ME, Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8. For many cases, each operating system change could have required you to upgrade the software apps running on your PC and/or servers. With cloud-based SaaS applications, that won’t happen. With SaaS, you typically receive upgrades as they become available at no extra charge.
SaaS solutions from PSSG do not run on your local computers or servers, they run on our servers in a highly secure U.S. datacenter protected by the latest SSL, (secure socket layer) certificates. SSL certificates are what the “s” is in the https:// when you conduct online banking or online shopping. SSL certificates encrypt all the information transmitted between the device you’re on and our servers so only you can see the information being transmitted and received.
Another major security feature of PSSG SaaS applications is there are no inbound e-mail connections to our servers, only outbound e-mails when sending automated event notifications. Any replies to those e-mails are sent to the senders e-mail client outside of our server. The importance of this is simple, the most common method hackers use to gain access to individuals and company computers is via “phishing attacks” (pronounced “fishing”). Have you ever received an e-mail from a friend with the subject line: “Hey check out this cool site” or “so funny, you gotta see this” or from what appears to be a legit company or bank with a subject line: “You account is scheduled to be shut down unless you reset your password”, with all of these having a link in the body of the e-mail to click on? If so that was most likely an attempted Phishing attack. Once you click on the link a virus, trojan horse, worm or ransom ware is downloaded to your computer without you knowing it. For agencies and companies, these phishing attacks usually involve installing a small computer program on your computer that “worms” it’s way through your network and into your servers where the hacker can access all your agency or company information. With PSSG SaaS solutions our servers are not attached to your network and therefore any malware placed on your network will not reach our servers.
To access your data all you need is a web connected device running any standard web browser, that’s it. Whether you’re at your office, in your agency vehicle on an MDC, or home with any web connected Smartphone, tablet or laptop you can connect to your data and take care of business as needed.
Finally, SaaS solutions put you, the client, in the position of power. If you’re not happy with the product, level of support, price, etc., you’re in control and can change vendors if need be. Think of it as renting a car for a lower monthly payment rather than purchasing it, with the ability to turn it in if you’re dissatisfied, wouldn’t that be nice? With SaaS solutions from PSSG we make it nice to be a client again and put you in the driver’s seat!
With a SaaS solution such as ODISS, TIMS and VIMS, you never have to pay extra for support or to upgrade your software—it’s all included in the low monthly fee to use the software. In addition, all of the upgrades are done automatically, at no extra charge to you! At PSSG, we work hard to earn and keep your business by providing our clients with great products and excellent customer support. Give us a call and let us show you why SaaS solutions from PSSG are right for you and your organization!
