A hosted application is a software as a service (SaaS) that enables users to open and use a software application that is hosted in the cloud on a subscription basis. Hosted applications are hosted on a cloud infrastructure that users can access through the internet from anywhere in the world where and when they need it
Software as a Service (SaaS)
SaaS is generally an application written by a software vendor who hosts it on a web server and it is accessed over the Internet using a web browser. Long standing examples of this would be Google’s Gmail or Microsoft’s Hotmail where users go to a website to see their messages instead of installing a mail application such as Outlook on their computers.
These would all come under the umbrella terms of: Internet based applications, web applications or online applications.
Remote Applications – Remote Desktop
While the SaaS applications are generally designed to run within a browser, some applications require a dedicated “Client” to run them, providing more advanced features and functionality or better performance.
Larger organisations with multiple sites all wanting to work on the same database may take advantage of a technology called “Remote Desktop Services”. This enables the client application itself to be installed on a server near the database but the screen output from that application would be displayed on the users’ desktop at a remote site, so would appear as if it was installed on their PC.
It is now possible to run applications remotely from data centres very effectively. Many companies are now hosting their client-server applications “in the cloud” as Hosted Applications allowing them to access then anywhere over the Internet. Almost any application can become a “Cloud” application running on any device including Macs, Tablets, notebooks and even smartphones
These type of applications come under the umbrella terms of: Remote Apps, Remote Applications, WebApps, Terminal Services applications, and more widely as part of Hosted Desktops or Remote Desktop Services.
Benefits of Hosted Applications?
Three reasons: convenience, security, cost.
By using hosted applications, whether Software as a Service or desktop applications on a hosted terminal services platform businesses have all the convenience and flexibility that cloud computing offers.Meaning they can run applications from anywhere via the Internet
As all the infrastructure is maintained by the hosting provider businesses no longer need to worry about IT, that is someone else’s problem. Hosting providers will be geared up to manage infrastructure on a large scale with redundancy built in along with managed backups, updates, patches and anti-virus.
Changes to applications such as updates or upgrades just have to be done once on the server not on every PC.
With a Hosted Application there is rarely any up-front costs, usually a monthly subscription with perhaps a small setup fee depending upon the complexity of your environment.
Contact Us About Your Hosted Application Today
If you are looking to host a specific application, maybe your current applications need upgrading and you’re looking at a sizeable hardware and licencing bill to support it why not talk to us. We understand your business needs and cant translate the technical jargon into easy to understand concepts. We can help you find the right cloud solution for your specific requirements. Just visit our contact page and call us or fill our our contact form, and we will be in touch with you shortly to talk to you about your hosted application.