A company that offers individuals or enterprises access over a network, most typically the Internet in the case of cloud[1] or SaaS[2] software, to applications and related services that would otherwise have to be located in their own personal or enterprise computers.
The cloud is a general metaphor that is used to refer to the Internet, a network of connected computers. Instead of accessing files and data from a local or personal computer, you access them online from any Internet-capable device.
A model for the distribution of software where customers access software over the Internet. In SaaS, a service provider hosts the application at its data center and a customer accesses it via a standard Web browser. Three characteristics that apply to most SaaS vendors are: updates are applied automatically without customer intervention, the service is purchased on a subscription basis and no hardware is required to be installed by the customer.
