software as a service

noun phrase

: a subscription service that provides the management and maintenance of both software and data in the cloud (see cloud entry 1 sense 6) and that is accessed over the Internet typically through a web browser

… cloud-based software as a service has been a hot sector, but investors should remember that telecommunications companies are required to connect users with the cloud.

—Claude Walker

a software as a service company/platform

called also SaaS

Word History

First Known Use

2000, in the meaning defined above