At the heart of digital transformation lies Software as a Service, or SaaS. A term that, despite being ubiquitous, is often shrouded in mystery for many. Today, let’s lift the veil and explore how SaaS solutions are shaping the future of businesses.
What is SaaS?
As a model of software delivery, SaaS lets vendor hosted applications remotely and avail them to users over the internet. Accessing SaaS could be as simple as using a web browser or a progressive web app (PWA). Imagine sipping a coffee in a London café or brainstorming ideas in your New York apartment. As long as you have a device—laptop, tablet, or smartphone—with internet connectivity, you can tap into your SaaS applications. No hardware requirements or software maintenance concerns. Your SaaS provider handles it all. Sounds refreshing, doesn’t it?
What are the key attributes of SaaS?
The key attributes of SaaS include centralised data, user accessibility via the internet, and a subscription-based pricing model. We can also break down SaaS into two tenancy structures: multi-tenancy and single-tenancy. A multi-tenant architecture enables all users and applications to share a common infrastructure and codebase. In such a setup, each customer can even have a separate, secure database, enabling cost-effectiveness and efficient maintenance.
On the other hand, a single-tenant architecture allocates a dedicated software instance to each customer. Often chosen by organisations with specific security, compliance, or performance requirements, this approach is like having your private version of the software.
However, multi-tenancy doesn’t just mean shared infrastructure—it’s also about resilience and service availability. Providers typically set up multiple deployments to safeguard against potential cloud infrastructure failures. This redundancy ensures that if one deployment fails, the others remain unaffected, preserving uninterrupted service. Such a practice, common among large-scale SaaS providers like Netflix, Spotify, and Microsoft 365, aims for maximum uptime and reliability.
How does SaaS licencing work?
You pay a recurring fee, often monthly or annually, for access to the software. This fee covers maintenance, compliance, and security costs. The terms can vary—some licenses limit users or usage levels, while others offer unlimited user licenses.
Recognising these SaaS features is crucial to avoid ‘SaaS washing’. This term refers to companies that falsely advertise their products as ‘SaaS’ without offering the key attributes of a genuine SaaS solution. These companies only aim to leverage the popularity of the SaaS model without delivering its actual benefits.
How can you avoid falling victim to ‘SaaS Washing’?
Check for the key attributes of a true SaaS model—like multi-tenancy, internet accessibility, subscription-based pricing, and centralised data. Ask vendors about their infrastructure, updates, upgrades, and product design for internet delivery. Doing your homework can protect you from higher costs, inefficiencies, and missed innovation opportunities.
Once you understand the benefits of SaaS and the importance of avoiding ‘SaaS washing’, how can you find genuine SaaS solutions that offers all these advantages?
How does THETA’s Apollo platform fit into all of this?
Here’s where THETA’s Apollo platform comes in. Apollo is a cloud-native SaaS solution, built on Microsoft Azure, which aligns with the key attributes of a true SaaS model.
Because the traditional approaches no longer suffice in a rapidly evolving trading landscape and specificially in fixed income markets. Apollo enables you to streamline operations, leverage real-time data, and make faster, more informed decisions.
This matters to traders because Apollo offers accessibility and flexibility. It allows traders to access their platform from anywhere, conduct trades efficiently, and respond swiftly to market changes. This also matters to CTOs buying SaaS solutions because Apollo does not just provides a cutting-edge, cloud-native SaaS solution but also ensures that the technology evolves with the needs of your business, offering a robust and future-proof solution. With Apollo, you’re not just levelling up—you’re redefining the future of trading efficiency.