Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is cited as 82% of today’s cloud investments, and is the deployment model for 84% of new applications, so what is SaaS? SaaS is a software distribution model in which applications are hosted by a vendor or service provider, and made available to customers over a network. SaaS provides the most visible value to end users of the cloud models.

SalesForce was created in 1999, and was the first SaaS platform built from scratch to achieve rapid growth. The products and services of SalesForce included customer relationship management, the sales cloud, and the service cloud, among others. Today, the list of SaaS applications is very large, including analytics, business intelligence, accounting, customer service, and Ecommerce. One of the key drivers of SaaS growth are API’s. Out of 1000 API’s surveyed; SaaS API’s were number one.

Analysts are seeing SaaS as the primary type of cloud investment, and SaaS valuations are off the charts, far exceeding Software, NASDAQ, and IT Supply Chain Services. Media and entertainment, mobile location and GPS location data, E-Commerce, and the benefits of big data and analytics are all different forms and benefits of cloud computing that are being engrained in our daily lives. To learn more about SaaS and the future of applications in the cloud, check out the infographic below presented by ProfitBricks.