What it means
Delivery model and commercial model
SaaS describes how software is provided. Subscriptions, usage billing and one-time charges describe commercial arrangements, so SaaS should not be treated as a synonym for subscription billing.
Responsibilities still exist
The provider and customer have different responsibilities for configuration, access, data handling and continuity. A customer should examine export options, permissions, service commitments and integration behavior. In a payment context, application access, invoice status and actual receipt of funds need explicit rules rather than assumptions based on the software delivery model.
Related concepts
Subscription billing, Service-level agreement, Application programming interface.
In practice
A concrete example
A business uses a hosted billing application but still controls user permissions and verifies the status of customer payments.
Technical notes & boundaries
Using SaaS does not transfer all security, compliance or backup responsibilities to the provider. Responsibilities depend on the service contract and configuration.
Go to the source.
Original references used for this definition. Product details and standards can change.