Software plus services
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Software plus Services [1] describes the idea of combining hosted services with capabilities that are best achieved with locally running software. It describes composite applications created by combining traditional software with remote services to provide a consistent and seamlessly integrated user experience across devices and form factors. Software plus Services is a concept that Software as a Service (SaaS) complements the traditional packaged software running on both client or server by services adding value.
Software plus Service is the paradigm that states that a software vendor can leverage the new world of cloud computing and complement the application software that runs on PC or any device to provide a better solution and richer experience to users.
There are various reasons for this to be the right approach when compared to moving everything to cloud or software as a Service model.
- Rich User Experience - Functional limitations prevent current web browser technology from being able to provide a rich user experience, thus creating feature limitations. However using local software as a client which levers the internet as a delivery mechanism for rich experiences and data provides the best of both worlds.
- Offline Capability - The Software plus Services paradigm allows a user to work locally and offline with data, and then automatically synchronize it with a remote data store located in the cloud, perhaps for access by others or stored offsite as a backup. This provides a workable and sustainable model for mobile and remote knowledge workers, such as sales representatives and home workers, who may have disconnected or occasionally connected software, and who don’t or can’t always remain connected.
- Privacy Concerns - If an organisation publishes every piece of data up to the cloud then they relinquish primary control over that data, and increase the risk of the information being compromised. With the Software plus Services model a vendor can provide their customers with an option to move non-private information to the cloud and keep more sensitive data locally, without losing any software capability.
- Captivate Audience - The fluid nature of the internet, along with minimal or zero cost of switching, creates new challenges for software vendors. However vendors that use local client software to compliment their online services makes the solution more sustainable, and provides value added experiences that are not possible in the cloud alone.
- Monetization Opportunities - For Vendors the Software plus Services paradigm opens up new business models and new opportunities to monetize their solutions with different models like Advertisement, Transaction, Subscription, Synchronise and Backup, etc.
- Powerful Devices - In line with Moore's Law, as computing devices continue to get more powerful, greater efficiency can be achieved by having software running locally and synchronizing data with other devices and databases, as and when needed.
- Architecture Options - Software developers can now architect software solutions by composing services together, bringing a whole new meaning to the Service Oriented Architecture where the service can be any third party services or their in-house services.
- IT Flexibility - Vendors can offer software in various deployment models, on premise or hosted, providing the best solution for the custom whether that be IT infrastructure, in-house IT (for on-premise software) or outsourced IT (in a hosted scenario).
The Software plus Services approach enables developers and IT professionals to easily develop and support applications that provide the kind of experiences that their users are looking for. With Software plus Services it is much simpler to find the right balance between universal Web applications that are built to take advantage of the opportunity that the Internet provides to reach the broadest possible audience, and applications designed to take advantage of the rich experiences that are available when software runs on a PC or device. And Software plus Services provides organizations with the flexibility to extend the capabilities of server software, and to find the right balance between on-premise and hosted solutions.
