The IT environment provided by SaaS (software as a service) hosted in the cloud makes an ideal place for businesses to work on collaborative projects, which for many will be an essential form of interaction.

Collaboration is something that most companies require to make progress, since operating in a vacuum is impossible, whether you are self-employed or part of a large corporation.

While there are pre-existing tools that facilitate collaboration, the emergence of new SaaS solutions should encourage companies to adopt this cloud-based technology because it offers a number of key advantages over traditional alternatives.

Accessibility
By using cloud computing to host SaaS, you will be taking all of the key hardware and infrastructural elements off site and handing responsibility for their ongoing operation and maintenance to a third-party vendor. This means that you will be able to access this type of service using any device with an internet connection and a compatible web browser, since this combination is usually all that is required to get the job done.

Even more important is the idea that the location of the end user is irrelevant to whether or not he will be able to collaborate using the SaaS tools that are made available to him. End users will not need to be situated in the office to work with colleagues, clients and business partners, but can rather harness the platform when they are out in the field or on the other side of the planet.

This makes SaaS a good collaborative solution if your business is spread across multiple sites, or you need to give field agents the ability to work remotely without being at any kind of disadvantage when they do so. When you want your business to grow beyond the physical boundaries imposed by geography, the accessibility of cloud-based collaboration software will be a real ally.

Security
An additional benefit of using SaaS hosted remotely is that you will be able to receive greater levels of security and resilience than would be available if you handled everything in house.

Vendors have an obligation to ensure that the activities of their customers are kept as secure and safe as possible, because breaches would not only be embarrassing and costly, but could irrevocably damage the reputation of the cloud provider.

Providers also have much greater resources available to invest in protecting collaborative platforms, which means you can be certain that improper access is kept to a minimum.

You should be able to determine levels of legitimate access so that tiered levels of authority keep the collaboration on a level pegging. This means the power to edit, alter and add to projects will be assigned only to the right people, while still giving you the option to let others observe or analyse the work without directly influencing it.

Cost
When investing in SaaS you will be able to not only pay for what you use, but also avoid all of the costs normally associated with maintaining internal systems that offer similar functionality.

The scalable, flexible nature of the cloud combined with the reduced overall expenses that mould to fit the particular business which is using hosted services have helped to raise the profile of this type of IT platform and increase its usage across all sectors.

If you want your business to collaborate in a modern, secure and affordable environment, choosing SaaS to achieve this will be sensible. Meanwhile, those that fail to adapt to changing times could find themselves being left behind, struggling to catch up with their better prepared rivals as the cloud becomes more widely used.

Daisy Group plc are a leading provider of Software as a Service. Visit their website for more information.