One of the most important challenges we have faced in today's globalized world is the need for communication between organizations, governments, companies and individuals.
In recent years a new concept of software sales has been introduced to the market known as SAAS for its acronym in English (Software as a Service) or Software as a Service in its translation into Spanish; This new evolution of Web services proposes to take advantage of implementation, maintenance, specialized department of systems in the company, among other things.
One of the most important challenges we have faced in today's globalized world is the need for communication between organizations, governments, companies and individuals. In this contextual framework emerges the Web that provides the support infrastructure for communications; with the Web came Web services that provide the necessary tools for the interaction of applications through the Internet.
The World Wide Web Consoritum defines a web service as a "software system designed to support direct interaction between computers over the Internet. Web services have an interface described in a format that can be interpreted by computers ”(w3c 2003).
The evolution of Web services has been the anchor for the emergence of the new service-oriented software development paradigm, which uses Web tools as basic elements for application development. At the beginning of the Internet, it was only used as a repository of static pages with hyperlinks and consultation links, this at the end of the 80s; In the mid-90s, web services evolved when the Internet stopped being an academic network and was adopted by the general public, who had new access requirements to data, information and more aesthetic pages.
La respuesta tecnológica fueron herramientas como PHP, ASP, CGI, Jscript y Vbscript, pero aun así seguía utilizándose como simple repositorio de información fue entonces cuando a finales de los 90 comienza a utilizarse para realizar algunas transacciones de origen comercial en el modelo que se denomina B2B (Bussines to Bussines), principalmente con la función de pedidos y compras en línea.
In recent years a new concept of software sales has been introduced to the market known as SaaS for its acronym in English (Software as a Service) or Software as a Service in its translation into Spanish; This new evolution of Web services proposes to take advantage of the communication advantages that the Web offers us and to “rent” the software as a service, where the client is entitled, through a fee that is contributed in a certain period of time, to access to software; service maintenance and online technical support. This new paradigm proposes that there be online software for business processes that were previously controlled with software installed on their own servers and that required high costs of implementation, maintenance, a specialized systems department in the company, among other things.
There has been a debate about whether the SaaS business model is the same as what is known as ASP (Application Service Provider) and the main difference is that an ASP is not essentially developed for the Internet as a method of installation and distribution of the same..
The main features of the SaaS model; The software is hosted on the supplier's server, controls a business process such as customer management, project management, point of sale and even the control of all company processes through the integration of a ERP, the software is owned by the provider and the customer pays a monthly, semi-annual or annual fee to access the software online.
The advantages of the SaaS model for companies; that the user only has to worry about using the service, there is no license per number of users, the cost of implementation and the implementation time is reduced, the technical support is done online so its cost and response time is minor, the user does not worry about updates, server settings, the only requirement is Internet access.
To achieve applications that meet the needs of companies in terms of software functionality and that can also be Web-oriented, what is known as Service-Oriented Architecture arises; which are all those programming tools that allow programming all kinds of functionalities in the software; One of the most recent programming techniques that has allowed Web-oriented programming to be functional is known as AJAX, which is an asynchronous technology that combines Javascript and XML, its main advantage is that the applications are executed in the browser of the users and communication with the server is maintained in the background, asynchronously; in this way you can maintain communication without the need to reload the page,which gives greater agility to applications.
The challenges we face with this new business model are diverse and vary depending on the reality of the country in which it is developed, SaaS is already widely used in Europe and the United States with one of the main pioneers in the market, salesforce. com.
In Mexico it is a relatively new concept and in recent years it has been adopted mainly by large companies.
In the reality of Mexico, one of the main challenges we face to think about SaaS as a possible business model is trust, since finally the client is depositing his confidential information and previously treated "at home" under lock and key; in a public repository controlled by an external provider; We are used to treating information with the highest possible security and we do not easily trust in placing the security of the company's confidential information in a third party.
One of the main elements that help us establish this trust with customers is the security implemented in the exchange of information through data encryption by means of Secure Socket Layer padlocks or SSL for its acronym in English.
An SSL padlock provides authentication and privacy of information through the use of cryptography. This protocol allows client-server applications to communicate preventing eavesdropping, falsifying the identity of the sender and maintaining the integrity of the message; This type of padlocks is used by national and international banks.
The wide advantages of the SaaS model have made software development companies and information technology consulting firms opt for Web-based development for common business processes between companies. One of the main providers of ERP software is the German company SAP, which is already betting on the model by introducing to the market the company's first solution known as mySAP CRM, a solution focused on satisfying the needs of control of the relationship with customers; Other examples of SaaS are Human Resources consulting companies, such as TALEO, Evaluatest among others.
Taking into account the characteristics and advantages of the SaaS model, it is positive for Mexican companies to explore the possibility of adopting SaaS for those processes in which there is a need to implement a solution and that due to cost, maintenance and implementation time are not Has made.
The SaaS model can be a good opportunity to increase the productivity of Mexican companies, so that more companies have access to low-cost technological tools, always taking into account the advantages and disadvantages it has and taking care of information security aspects and the areas of the company in which it can be applied.
Online software, Software as a Service, or software on demand is consolidating itself as one of the best alternatives to meet the information management needs in the world.
Bibliography
• Glossary of the World Wide Web Consoritum; Accessed: November 7, 2008, http://www.w3.org/TR/ws-gloss/ PIATTINI Velthius Mario, GARZAS Parra Javier, Software factories: experiences, technologies and organization, 2007, Alfaomega Grupo Editor.
