The cloud. It’s an elusive term that’s susceptible to myths when it comes to technology. In simple terms, cloud computing means storing and accessing applications over the internet. Software as a Service (SaaS) uses cloud computing to deliver applications online.

SaaS spending will exceed $22 billion in 2015, that’s a 57% increase from 2012.  According to IDC, SaaS delivery will outpace traditional software, growing nearly five times faster than the software market as a whole.

According to a recent survey, reducing costs dominates as the main reason for cloud adoption, but there are many benefits driving the rapid growth of SaaS solutions:

 
• Easy implementation
 
• Accessible anywhere
 
• Predictable monthly costs
 
• No infrastructure
 
• Instant software updates

We know these benefits are important for businesses and digital agencies that don’t have the budget or the manpower to manage applications on site.  

“The biggest benefit of cloud hosting is reliability. Environments are always going to be up and running, scalable with no concern for performance and accessible from anywhere.” -Nick Astroth, Glew’s Director of Product Development  

While the rewards of cloud applications are clear, companies considering SaaS products often have questions and concerns regarding data security. Much of that is due to the lack of control and visibility into how their data is stored.  

‍“Loss of control is the main reason people are hesitant to go to the cloud. They can’t go and physically touch their server. I understand that hesitancy. But how much more secure is it if you have one or two IT guys running it versus having a specialized team 24/7 monitoring your servers.” -Ryan Currington, Glew Software Developer  

 The fact is, SaaS applications hosted in the cloud are often more secure than on premise. SaaS products are able to invest more in security, backups and maintenance and must conform to regulatory and industry standards.  

49% of enterprise data centers experienced targeted malware/botnet activity as opposed to 5% of cloud-hosting providers. The State of Cloud Security Report, Alert Logic

A good way to understand the security of a SaaS model is to think of it as online banking. Each banking customer uses the same bank technology for personal financial transactions without worrying about anyone accessing their personal banking data.  Like a bank, SaaS vendors must design security context around their application that protects sensitive data like usernames, passwords and Personal Identifiable Information (PII) data. SaaS solutions must also undergo third party application security audits as well as additional regulatory requirements that vary by industry.  

“There is a common misconception about hacking. Most security breaches are not brute force hacks but social engineering that allows for intrusions. A brute force hack would be when someone is able to completely open a system – which is mostly done by running queries to guess a username and password.“ -Ryan Fink, Glew’s Director of Software Engineering  

Digital marketers using SaaS platforms have the peace of mind knowing there are dedicated team behind the scenes keeping their data secure and their application up and running. They also have access to those applications anywhere, anytime.  Businesses getting beyond the myths and embracing cloud based solutions like Glew are innovating faster, collaborating more and outpacing their competitors. So before you are left behind, consider a SaaS solution that best fits the needs of your business or digital agency.