SaaS vs Traditional Software

Add comment November 15th, 2006 David Bush - Iasta

I found an interesting head to head comparison editorial which argued the SaaS versus Packaged software debate. In the first article, the first paragraph stated:

“Packaged software is slowly disappearing from the corporate landscape, and it’s being replaced by software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings. Businesses are finding these predominantly Web-based packages to be cheaper, simpler, and more flexible.”

This was the opinion of the Chief Information Security Officer at a $10 billion company, ICI. He goes on to make many of the same arguments that we believe in, as well. These would include faster deployment, lower total cost and better flexibility and simplicity.

On the other side, it was argued that SaaS would not bring about the “death of packaged software“. We agree with this opinion too. There is a place for both and each have there own benefits.

This is a good representation of both sides of the discussion but clearly shows that “winning” does not need to mean “eliminating”. There are very good solutions which operate in a SaaS model and it is not going away, only adapting to the current user landscape and needs.

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