Software as a service

About: Software as a service is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 8514 publications have been published within this topic receiving 136177 citations. The topic is also known as: Service as a Software Substitute & SaaSS.

Sound development of secure service-based systems

Abstract: Service-based software systems are a useful concept recently developed to support the development of systems offering functions (the so-called services) which may be interrelated or may mutually depend on each other. Although appealing from a practical point of view, the development of service-based software for security-critical systems is, unfortunately, not well understood. Services may easily interact with each other in a way which may have unforeseen consequences on the various security properties provided. In this work, we propose a method for facilitating the development of security-critical service-based software systems using the computer-aided systems engineering tool AutoFocus based on the formal method Focus. We explain our method at the example of a service-based system from the automotive domain.

Joint Pricing and Capacity Planning in the IaaS Cloud Market

Abstract: In the cloud context, pricing and capacity planning are two important factors to the profit of the infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) providers. This paper investigates the problem of joint pricing and capacity planning in the IaaS provider market with a set of software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers, where each SaaS provider leases the virtual machines (VMs) from the IaaS providers to provide cloud-based application services to its end-users. We study two market models, one with a monopoly IaaS provider market, the other with multiple-IaaS-provider market. For the monopoly IaaS provider market, we first study the SaaS providers’ optimal decisions in terms of the amount of end-user requests to admit and the number of VMs to lease, given the resource price charged by the IaaS provider. Based on the best responses of the SaaS providers, we then derive the optimal solution to the problem of joint pricing and capacity planning to maximize the IaaS provider's profit. Next, for the market with multiple IaaS providers, we formulate the pricing and capacity planning competition among the IaaS providers as a three-stage Stackelberg game. We explore the existence and uniqueness of Nash equilibrium, and derive the conditions under which there exists a unique Nash equilibrium. Finally, we develop an iterative algorithm to achieve the Nash equilibrium.

Enterprise Software as Service: Online services are changing the nature of software.

Abstract: While the practice of outsourcing business functions such as payroll has been around for decades, its realization as online software services has only recently become popular. In the online service model, a provider develops an application and operates the servers that host it. Customers access the application over the Internet using industry-standard browsers or Web services clients. A wide range of online applications, including e-mail, human resources, business analytics, CRM (customer relationship management), and ERP (enterprise resource planning), are available.

Determinants of software-as-a-service benefits and impact on firm performance

Abstract: Software as a Service (SaaS) is increasingly used by firms for sourcing business application software. SaaS can enable a cost reduction and quality improvement of existing operations and provide rapid and low-cost innovation. However, decision makers are unclear about how they can benefit from SaaS. This study contributes to filling this knowledge gap by investigating factors that determine the magnitudes of operational and innovational benefits and firm performance. These research hypotheses were tested using data collected through a survey of 102 Dutch firms that use sophisticated financial SaaS services. The results show that a firm's adaptation to the SaaS model as well as its ACAP positively affects operational and innovation benefits, whereas contractual governance positively affects only the innovational benefits, and relational governance does not affect any of these two types of benefits. Although both operational and innovational benefits positively impact a firm's performance, the former have a stronger impact than the latter. The insights gained from our survey can support firms' decision-making concerning the maximization of the business benefits and firm performance.

User acceptance of SaaS-based collaboration tools: a case of Google Docs

Abstract: – The purpose of this paper is to identify and understand factors that influence users’ acceptance of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) collaboration tools in organizational settings. , – This paper develops a research model based on the Expectation Confirmation Model (ECM). Using data collected from a field study of Google Docs, the research model and related hypotheses are tested by structural equation modeling. , – Users’ confirmation with expectations positively affect their perceived usefulness and satisfaction level; Users’ perceived usefulness and satisfaction positively affect their intention to continue using such collaboration tools. Users’ prior experience with such tools and their IT skills have a moderating effect on the relationships among confirmation, perceived usefulness, satisfaction, and continuance intention. , – This study identifies the theoretical foundations of user acceptance of SaaS collaboration tools in the context of mandatory adoption. This empirical study, based on an established theoretical foundation, will help the research community to gain a deeper understanding of user acceptance of cloud computing technologies, in particular, SaaS collaboration tools. , – The findings of this study can provide vendors and implementing organizations with useful strategies and tactics to enhance users’ acceptance of SaaS collaboration tools. , – With the increasing popularity of cloud computing technologies, there have been ongoing concerns about the effectiveness of SaaS collaboration tools in organizational settings. This study is one of the first empirical research to examine the factors influencing users’ acceptance of SaaS collaboration tools.