SaaS is an application that is hosted on a server which the customer accesses via the web with a login id and password. A key aspect of SaaS is that it supports a multi-tenant architecture that allows multiple customers to co-exist.

Organizations planning for a SaaS solution usually have the following criteria:

• Keep infrastructure costs as low as possible
• Minimize software licensing costs
• Maintain a lean IT department
• No requirement for an upfront investment. Pay-per-use on a subscription basis
• Even though cost plays a crucial role in making the decision to move to the cloud, organizations cannot ignore issues related to security and compliance