Software as a Service - what it means

Rather than buying expensive software packages and employing IT specialists to run them, smaller hospitality companies are opting for Software as a Service accessed over the Internet. Ross Bentley reports on this popular development

There's a revolution going on in the way that business software is being delivered, one which is having a profound effect on how hospitality companies access the latest technologies and how they pay for them.

Known as software as a service (SaaS), this increasingly popular model sees computer applications - be they back-office, property management (PMS) or stock control systems - hosted by suppliers and delivered to users over the Internet, instead of the users having to maintain the applications themselves in-house.

And whereas traditionally customers would pay a licence fee for owning each piece of software, with SaaS they are simply charged for what they use.

Think of it as the difference between buying a car outright and leasing it - you are still using the car but paying for it in a different way.

More recently, respected IT research firm Gartner included the growing trend towards SaaS in its key predictions for IT users in 2008 and beyond.

The report said: "By 2012, at least one-third of business application software spending will be as service subscription instead of as product licence. The SaaS model of deployment and distribution of software services will enjoy steady growth in mainstream use during the next five years."

But what is driving the uptake of SaaS in the hospitality sector?

According to Steve Madden, deputy managing director at hospitality software specialist MICROS-Fidelio, there are a number of factors contributing to this trend. The main reasons he cites are the decrease in communication costs and the rapid growth in the take-up of broadband in recent years, which have made the remote delivery of data from hosted data centres both affordable and reliable.

Madden says that all MICROS-Fidelio applications, such as its PMS, point-of-sale and central reservations systems, can now be delivered using SaaS. He adds that - with 26% of all its customers in Europe, Africa and Middle East already using the company's data centre to host applications - "we had the economies of scale to move into the SaaS market and be profitable straight away".

He goes on: "The hospitality sector has also gained confidence in the SaaS model from seeing it successfully adopted in other industries, such as banking."

To find out more about Software as a Service, or for more information on any of MICROS-Fidelio's solutions, call us now on 01753 501 607 or email mfuksales@micros.com.

To read the full article, click here