UPSC Prelims 2022 Question:

With reference to "Software as a Service (SaaS)",

consider the following statements:

1. SaaS buyers can customise the user interface and can change data fields.
2. SaaS users can access their data through their mobile devices.
3. Outlook, Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail are forms of SaaS.
   
   

Which of the statements given above are correct?

Explanation: 

• • Software as a service (SaaS) is a software distribution model in which a cloud provider hosts applications and makes them available to end users over the internet. In this model, an independent software vendor (ISV) may contract a third-party cloud provider to host the application.
    
    
  • In the software-on-demand SaaS model, the provider gives customers network-based access to a single copy of an application that the provider created specifically for SaaS distribution. The application's source code is the same for all customers, and when new features or functionalities are released, they are rolled out to all customers. Depending on the service-level agreement (SLA), the customer's data for each model may be stored locally, in the cloud or both locally and in the cloud. Organizations can integrate SaaS applications with other software using application programming interfaces (APIs). For example, a business can write its own software tools and use the SaaS provider's APIs to integrate those tools with the SaaS offering. Thus, SaaS buyers can customise the user interface and can change data fields. This also allows SaaS users to access their data through their mobile devices. So, statement 1 and statement 2 are correct.
    
    

• Email services are also an example of SAAS, which are provided by companies like Yahoo, Hotmail and Outlook. So, statement 3 is correct.
  
  

Therefore, option (4) is the correct answer.

Subject: Science & Technology|Recent Developments