An exploratory analysis of Software as a Service and Platform as a Service models for mobile operators

The environments of software development and software provision are shifting to Web-based platforms supported by Platform/Software as a Service (PaaS/SaaS) models. By elaborating on these concepts, their benefits and risks, mobile operators´ experiments with these models are analysed and similarities are identified. This paper will argue that mobile operators´ mobile Web services are shifting from SaaS to PaaS models and there is equally an opportunity for mobile operators to identify additional sources of revenue by exposing network functionalities through Web-based service platforms. However, analysed platforms incorporate fragmentation at several levels and are likely to face future challenges in order to succeed.