SaaS is a product, often an application, that is sold over the internet that can involve almost limitless variety. An SaaS is not something that’s downloaded and accessed purely offline, it is instead accessed via the internet when required by the customer. This frees them from having to manage or maintain the service they pay for.

SaaS products may also be known as web-based software, on-demand software, or hosted software, but regardless of the specific name, SaaS will always run on the service provider’s servers. As such, the provider is ultimately responsible for access management, security, and compliance.