SaaS? The Cloud? Hosted? ... A Little Help Please!

Thursday, 14 June 2012 04:25

At every turn these days, you hear the buzzwords, the “Cloud,” “SaaS” and “hosted.” If you are like most accounting professionals, you are likely a bit confused on what each means and how they apply to the value to your firm.

The fact is that each type of solution – whether it’s described as in the Cloud, SaaS or hosted – offers true value to today’s busy firm. You simply have to know which is the right choice for your practice. But, before you can do that, you must be clear on what each means. Let’s examine these terms and work to make sense of it all.

• SaaS/The Cloud – These terms, in my mind, are truly interchangeable. SaaS (Software as a Service) or Cloud-based applications are written to run natively over the Internet (or in the Cloud). Some classic examples of SaaS/Cloud-based applications are QuickBooks® Online, Bill.Com, SmartVault, and Salesforce.com. These solutions are not offered in desktop versions; they are only offered via the Internet and accessed with a unique URL (e.g., SmartVault.com).
  
  
• Hosted Solutions – These solutions are typically written to run as a desktop version, but due to the value of anytime-anywhere access, are moved to a data center where they can be accessed online. Hosted solutions mimic SaaS applications, allowing users to...

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