CORVID PayGate
The History of SaaS
We hear it every day, read about it and talk about it, but do you know where the term
SaaS (“Software-as-a-Service”) actually comes from?
“SaaS” or Software-as-a-Service was
first coined in an internal document
called “Software as a Service: Strategic
Backgrounder” by the Software &
Information Industry Association (SIIA)
back in 2000.
The SIIA’s purpose for developing the
article was to measure the current
state of the SaaS market, it’s near term
prospects, and to provide insight to its
members who were deeply concerned
about the profound impact and change
that the SaaS model was bringing.
The SIIA was pretty clear on its
assessment about the software-asa-service model being capable of
providing a “sea change in the software
industry.”
However, one of the greatest challenges
that the SIIA believed SaaS faced in its
potential for widespread adoption was
a lack of clarity on defining “software
services.”
Confusion still today
This confusion still reigns today. From
most perspectives, Software as a Service
is a means of application delivery
where an application does not reside
on a personal computer, but is hosted
on another networked computer. The
application (and even the data) is then
transferred over a network connection.
Since most SaaS arrangements are
conducted over an Internet connection,
SaaS has increasingly become known
as “cloud computing” or a “hosted
solution”. Interestingly the use of the
word “cloud” actually comes from use
of a cloud icon to represent the Internet
in network diagrams in the late 1990s.
SaaS has been further defined as
a service that is deployed from a
centralised data centre across a
network (Internet, Intranet, LAN, or
VPN), that provides access and usage
based upon a recurring fee. Customers
rent or subscribe to the access and are
consequently assigned a license or are
granted access to the applications from
a central provider.
A History of SaaS
Although SaaS is talked about as a new
way of supplying applications, SaaS has
actually been an established business
model since the 1960s, when it was
known as a “time sharing system”.
Larger companies, universities, and
government organisations would have
one or more in-house computer hubs
servicing a number of terminals (also
known as “thin clients”). The costs
of the required computer hardware,
software, support and training were
generally well beyond the reach of
SME’s throughout the 1970s and early
1980s, so many companies found it
cost effective to lease time-sharing
services from third parties.
Therefore a second option was
developed known as a “Fat” or
“Thick” client. These clients are
personal computers with their own
operating system and storage, as well
as the ability to execute their own
programs. Microsoft has historically
been the primary thick-client enabler
– and indeed still provides the vast
majority of personal computers and
multiple applications designed to run
as a self-contained system across them
(Microsoft Office for example).
This model has been the standard
for the past 30 years and will remain
important for high-powered data
churning applications such as video
production, software development and
database churning.
However, as the size and volume of
data that applications were delivering
in real time grew, this became too
much for phone/modem connections
and “lagging” became a common
complaint among users of packaged
software in the mid-1990s. Equally,
hard drives were small in capacity and
expensive – and so upgrading to a
larger drive to better handle the speed
issues was not an option.
In the years following the millennium,
fast broadband connections became
as widely available in the modern SME
office as a phone or fax machine had
once been.
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This made the adoption of SaaS not only a technically
viable option, but also an increasingly attractive one
for application delivery and data management. It is
finally fulfilling the vision of a popular, secure and cost
effective deployment model it had hoped to be.
In recent years, there has been a further development in
SaaS as the ability to access software via any device has
begun to take centre stage. They say trends come back
and with SaaS, over time with continued development,
this is surely the case. Not only has it returned, but it is
better the second time around.
Why CORVID PayGate?
At CORVID PayGate, we have been offering a SaaS
solution since the beginning of 2012 – our first customer
to buy the service was a top UK national newspaper.
Their requirement for a simple, scalable solution which
could be rolled out across their business meant that
CORVID PayGate beat the competition in cost and
functionality, and with reassurance that they would
always be fully compliant with regulations.
CORVID PayGate was one of the first providers to bring
a cloud solution to the industry and since its inception,
our functionally rich platform has processed over 100
Billion GBP.
Our robust hosting partners ensure that the system is
live to use 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and with our
friendly UK based support team, we are always there
should our customers need our help. With little initial
investment, PayGate goes a long way to proving that
the SaaS model is alive and working extremely well in
today’s markets. Over 500 UK and Global Businesses
would say so too.
Conclusion
The Payments Industry was slow at first to adopt SaaS,
but has now caught on and SaaS is becoming more
and more popular as the way forward in setting up a
payments solution.
CORVID PayGate offers solutions for today, tomorrow
and for the times ahead; meaning our customers are
truly future proofed and are always operating on the
latest version of our software. True SaaS, as SaaS was
defined.
CORVID PayGate Ltd
7 Meadway Court
Meadway Technology Park
Stevenage
Hertfordshire, SG1 2EF
Main Switchboard: +44 (0)1462 482 333
Email: [email protected]
www.corvid-paygate.com
CORVID PayGate
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CORVID PayGate reserves the right to vary these specifications without notice. © CORVID PayGate Limited
v1.0