Configurability in SaaS (software as a service) applications

In the last few years Software as a Service (SaaS) has changed from curiosity generating concept to an accepted mainstream concept. SaaS has transformed the way software is being delivered to the customer. This transformation has been possible with maturing technologies and the web becoming the primary medium of communication and collaboration. SaaS is a software delivery paradigm where the software is hosted off-premise and delivered via web to a large number of tenants and the mode of payment follows a subscription model. Configurability is one of the keystones to the success of any SaaS software. Configurability allows the single instance multiple tenant model which leads to many benefits both for the customers and the vendors which in turn has led to the acceptance and popularity of SaaS. Configurability in SaaS software aims to provide tenants/customers with a multitude of options and variations using a single code base, such that it is possible for each tenant to have a unique software configuration. How to capture and represent configuration data is an important consideration when designing for configurability in SaaS software. This paper addresses the issue of how to effectively and efficiently support configurability in SaaS software and proposes SaaS architecture to support configurability. A proof of concept implementation is done to support configurability with the configuration data in xml format. The paper aims to provide information on the nature of configurability in SaaS software, how it can be provided and the technologies needed to support it.