Cloud Computing easily understood - SaaS

SaaS is simply software that I use for myself or my organization, but often with limited customization.
Characteristics of SaaS:

• SaaS customers are provided with login credentials (usually username/password) to the software application.
• SaaS customers are typically billed a fixed fee per month for that they use the software.
• SaaS software offers limited customization.
• SaaS software can be branded with a customer's own look-and-feel.
• SaaS customers usually don't need to install any software to use the application, a web-browser or mobile device will suffice.

Some every day examples of Software as a Service applications for personal use, small or large business, government or non-profit:

• Email, calendaring... - gmail, yahoo, or hotmail are all providers of email which a customer accesses using a browser with a login and password. (Companies that choose not to install and maintain their own email servers and software, can use email services such as gmail, Microsoft Exchange online and others).
• Productivity applications such as Word processing, Spreadsheets, presentations etc. Two examples are Google docs and Microsoft Office 365
• Financial applications such as online tax preparation and personal finance: example turbotax or quicken
• Customer Relationship Management: salesforce.com and sugarcrm are two examples used by small and large organizations.
• Enterprise Resource Planning: SAP and Oracle are two examples used by small and large organizations.
• Backup solutions: Backup files and data from servers, laptops and desktops to cloud storage, two examples: mozy and carbonite.
• Electronic Medical Records. Software as a Service to enable healthcare providers to access patient data via a browser or mobile device. Example: PracticeFusion
• Many others....

In summary, no software to to install, maintain or deploy but little customization available. Simply pay as you go...