Cloud computing is the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices as a utility (like the electricity grid) over a network (typically the Internet).

Identity Access Management (IAM) encapsulates people, processes and products to identify and manage the data used in an information system to authenticate users and grant or deny access rights to data and system resources. The goal of IAM is to provide appropriate access to enterprise resources.

The ability of an organization to rapidly search, identify and verify who is accessing the systems is a critical aspect of meeting security and compliance requirements for the organization. Implementing IAM models for a small business group and incrementally covering every part of the organization can reap benefits monetarily and security wise.

IAM comprises four main components namely, Authentication, Authorization, User Management and Central User Repository. Its goal is to provide the right access to the right people in order to protect information sources.

Software as a Service (SaaS) is a software distribution model in which applications are hosted by a vendor or service provider and made available to customers over a network, typically the Internet.

SaaS is closely related to the ASP (application service provider) and on demand computing software delivery models. IDC identifies two slightly different delivery models for SaaS. The hosted application management (hosted AM) model is similar to ASP: a provider hosts commercially available software for customers and delivers it over the Web. In the software on demand model, the provider gives customers network-based access to a single copy of an application created specifically for SaaS distribution.

Benefits of the SaaS model include: 

• easier administration
• automatic updates and patch management
• compatibility: All users will have the same version of software.
• easier collaboration, for the same reason
• global accessibility.

The traditional model of software distribution, in which software is purchased for and installed on personal computers, is sometimes referred to as software as a product.