What is SaaS software?

Software as a Service has three critical elements that differentiate it from other types of software. Those elements define how the software is licensed, deployed, and most important, architected.

  • Licensing model: Customers pay to access the software on a subscription or consumption basis
  • Deployment: The software is owned, delivered, and managed in the cloud and by a third-party
  • Architecture: The software is uniquely designed to deliver new value through multi-tenancy and non-relational databases

 

SaaS has been around for nearly two decades, but more recently adoption has accelerated to become standard across all industries and most business functions. For example, SaaS represents over 80 percent of customer relationship management (CRM), over 70 percent of human capital management (HCM), and nearly half of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software by revenue.

For more information about SaaS and new SaaS offerings from PTC, please refer to this list of frequently asked questions.


SaaS FAQ


What benefits does Software as a Service provide?

See why SaaS is the future of industrial enterprise software, from product development, to manufacturing, and service:

Innovation

Innovation

With a multi-tenant architecture, updates and upgrades can be deployed more frequently and seamlessly without end users experiencing downtime.

Collaboration

Collaboration

With a non-relational database, data can be manipulated directly, enabling real-time collaboration and simultaneous editing not possible otherwise.

Total Cost of Ownership

Total Cost of
Ownership (TCO)

Consolidating maintenance, hardware infrastructure, and IT overhead enables vast economies of scale, to reduce overall costs.

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Product Development: Better and Safer via SaaS

SaaS applications deliver benefits that are essential to the success of modern industrial and engineering companies, as remote work is increasing to a permanently higher level than pre-pandemic. To assure the protection of IP in the product development process, IT leaders should carefully examine the cybersecurity capabilities of their cloud-based service providers.

Download the IDG and PTC whitepaper to learn more about:

  • SaaS benefits
  • The state of cybersecurity
  • SaaS vs. on-prem cybersecurity
  • The future of engineering and industrial software applications
Download Now

SaaS Executive Insights

Explore perspectives on Software as a Service from the PTC Executive Team

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An Open Letter to the Product Development Industry

PTC CEO Jim Heppelmann outlines what the Onshape acquisition means for the company—and to the entire industry—over time. Read more.
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The Future of the Product Development Industry: Q&A with SaaS Leader Jon Hirschtick

Jon Hirschtick, PTC EVP, President of SaaS, discusses the future of the product development industry, as a result of PTC and Onshape joining forces. Read our Q&A.
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Emerging Technologies Roundtable: The Atlas Platform

PTC's SaaS strategy delivers the feature rich capabilities of its products along with the modern benefits of SaaS to accelerate time-to-value, innovation, and enterprise collaboration.
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How SaaS Transforms Product Development Into Product Innovation

Organizations that have embraced SaaS product development are quickly realizing the ability innovate with tools like Onshape will have much greater and longer lasting effects on their success.
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The product development landscape is changing rapidly - and the tools have to evolve as well. Learn why adoption of CAD SaaS is at a tipping point in 2020.
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Product Lifecycle Management in a Remote Environment—Does Your Solution Measure Up?

Read how a PLM system that’s cloud-ready allows your teams to design anywhere, build anywhere, and service everywhere.

Explore PTC's New SaaS PLM Solution, Windchill+

Enjoy all the features and value that Windchill offers, plus rapid capability and user adoption, built-in security, and frictionless collaboration enabled through software as a service.
Learn More