New year … part 2, SaaS Vs Locally installed Software.
You have gotten your basis taken care of and your starting to transact and make a little money. Thats awesome! But now you need some accounting software. There are several out there, do you go and buy a copy of Quick Books and install it? To you use the online version? Whats the difference between the two? Which one do I need?
I think Quick Books is a great example for this post because they offers both locally installed software packages as well as on line software packages or (SaaS). (SaaS) stands for Software as a Service. SaaS is my personal preference, but I'll go over the differences between SaaS Vs. local installed software and you can make up your own mind.
- First, lets talk about a few things which concern users no matter what. Security, backup, and viruses:
- Security: Most locally installed software packages provide security of some sort, be it login security, and or, if your lucky a little encryption to the database for sensitive info like bank account and credit card numbers. I think physical security is a bigger concern. What happens if someone stole your laptop or desktop? Is your whole business world on one single computer? What information is on that computer and who has it? What about a catastrophic computer crash, they can be almost as bad as if someone stole the whole computer which leads me to point 2.
- Backup: If I where Santa Clause and my naughty or nice list depended on who did regular backups of their important data, 90% of you would get COAL … There are some good back up services out there; Carbonite, Mozypro, iBackup are just a few. These guys are software as a service based and well worth their cost.
- Virus Protection: If your a good little user you'll have an anti virus to protect against Viruses and Trojans. You will keep it up to date as well I cant tell you how important this is. This applies to SaaS and Locally installed software as both can fall victim in one way or another.
With those 3 things talked about we can get onto the meat of the subject Locally installed software Vs using Software as a Service or (SaaS):
- Pro:
- If your security conscious about your home, car, and surroundings, chances are your PC is semi safe from theft.
- This software runs on your local computer. You have direct access and control of the system and software.
- If you back up regularly your data, is safe to the last backup preformed
- if you keep virus protection up to date your data will be safe from being captured from spy ware or virus.
- Con:
- Even the most security conscious people get robbed. Banks, Casinos, and the list goes on. Bottom line if someone wants something bad enough they'll take it.
- If the computer was stolen or you experienced a catastrophic crash you will need to reload and maybe repurchase all the software you have lost along with restoring your data. A lot of time and money down the drain.
- Your backup is only as recent as the last time you performed it. you could loose days or weeks of data entry and information.
- you will need to purchase larger amounts of backup space if you use locally installed software.
- Pro:
- The software is on line and accessed through your web browser, or web based application.
- Your data is backed up on line on a server that is secured.
- You can access it from anywhere with an Internet connection.
- your data is saved up to the very last entry you made. 0 data loss if something happens to your PC.
- if you do need to back up items on your pc the amount of pack up is less if most of your business software is SaaS.
- Many people who run SaaS services have put a lot of time, effort, and money into security to protect your data.
- Con:
- Every piece of armor ever created has a chink, a vulnerable spot. This is true whether we are talking about a physical barrier or virtual, software barrier. The truth is there are thousands of bad guys armed with computers and knowhow, trying to steal your information, anyones information, everyones information! And sometimes, they succeed. Most of the time they do not.
No matter what you decide there are risks and costs, personally; I like SaaS. If my laptop gets stolen, or crashes, I buy a new laptop or restore the OS, download and install the few programs I do use, restore some back ups, and BAM, I'm back in business with almost zero data loss. On my PC, I have some programming source code, and some images, all things I have backed up off site. I also have a bunch of software Ive downloaded and evaluated, one or two of them I actually use. My PC is quite messy actually 
One thing I will recommend very strongly NEVER! EVER! ... EVER! save passwords for anything in your browser or on a spread sheet or other software EVER! That alone will save you much grief and pain. Also make your passwords some what complex. Your dogs name unless its Jj3$2 B1u is not complex... Just sayn!
On a side note, Google Apps has some AWESOME softwares provided as services. Some are free some are subscription. I use a few of their services which I'm extremely happy with.