Cloud computing in higher education: A snapshot of software as a service

Cloud Computing increases the flexibility and access of educational users to a wide range of educational resources. This includes access to infrastructure, software, hardware, and platform at any time in any place provided there is internet access. The users of cloud computing in higher educational institutions include students, lecturers, administrative staff, faculty staff, developers, programmers and researchers. Among the different cloud service models, software as a service (SaaS) is the most common service model used by higher educational institutions. As a result, the effect of SaaS on education can be serious and can impact education either positively or negatively. In this paper, we explore the use of SaaS in South African higher educational institutions with the intention to determine whether SaaS is a viable option for higher educational institutions. This paper also aims to identify the benefits and limitations of SaaS in higher educational institutions.