What is a Hosted Application?  What is hosted software?

Businesses can run applications hosted in data centres run by software vendors or 3rd party hosting providers instead of local infrastructure. These can be web-based apps run in a browser, or via a smartphone or tablet. Hosted software can also be traditional desktop applications using hosted desktop solutions.

A hosted application is software that is installed and run from a hosting providers infrastructure instead of a business’s own “on-premise” servers, networks and storage. Application hosting reduces overall cost and environmental impact as many apps can be run from shared servers and storage. Hosted Applications are typically accessible over the internet so can be accessed from anywhere, and workers are not tied to the office to run their business software.

There are several variations of Hosted Applications, and they may alternatively be described using one of the following titles: Software as a Service, Hosted Remote Desktops, Internet applications, web applications, remote application, online applications, Remote Desktop Services etc. This article attempts to break these down and explain the differences.

Software as a Service (SaaS)

SaaS is generally an application written by a software vendor who hosts it on a web server and it is accessed over the Internet using a web browser or via a smartphone or tablet “app”. Long standing examples of this would be Google’s Gmail or Microsoft’s Hotmail where users go to a website to see their messages instead of installing a mail application such as Outlook on their computers.
More defined examples might be services like Salesforce, Xero Accounts, Quickbooks or Zoho which are applications accessed over the Internet from browsers or apps instead of the traditional, on premise, “Client-Server” applications. In fact, these type of applications are clear examples of where SaaS is replacing the traditional desktop install model.

Software as a Service may also include “services” provided via the Internet to other applications, whether onsite or hosted for example the ability to logon to an application using your Facebook, Google or X (Twitter) account.

These would all come under the umbrella terms of: Internet based applications, hosted software, web applications or online applications.

Remote Applications – Remote Desktop Services

While the SaaS applications are generally designed to run within a browser, some applications require a dedicated “Client” to run them, providing more advanced features and functionality or better performance that can’t be provided within the confines of a browser. Traditionally the client application would have been installed on a local Windows PC or Apple Mac, and if it required a shared database then this would have been stored on a server on the user’s local network.

Larger organisations with multiple sites all wanting to work on the same database may take advantage of a technology called Remote Desktop Services – previously known as Terminal Services. This enabled the client application itself to be installed on a server near the database but the screen output from that application would be displayed on the users’ desktop at a remote site, so would appear as if it was installed on their PC.

With the increase in Internet bandwidth it is now possible to run Remote Desktop Services based applications over the Internet not just on an organisations Wide Area Network (WAN). Many companies are now hosting their client-server applications “in the cloud” as Hosted Applications on a Desktop As A Service platform, allowing them to access then anywhere over the Internet. The Remote Desktop Software installed on PCs also have versions for non-Windows devices running Mac, iOS and Android, this means that almost any application can become a “Cloud” application running on any device.

These types of Hosted Applications come under the umbrella terms of: Remote Apps, Remote Applications, WebApps, Terminal Services applications, and more widely as part of Hosted Desktops or Remote Desktop Services.

Benefits of Hosted Applications & Hosted Software?

Three reasons: convenience, security, cost.

By using hosted applications, whether Software as a Service or desktop applications on a Hosted Remote Desktop Services platform, businesses have all the convenience and flexibility that cloud computing offers, meaning they can run applications from anywhere via the Internet.

As all the infrastructure is maintained by the hosting provider businesses no longer need to worry about IT, that is someone else’s problem. Hosting providers will be geared up to manage infrastructure on a large scale with redundancy built in along with managed backups, updates, patches and anti-virus.

Changes to applications such as updates or upgrades just have to be done once on the server not on every PC.

With a Hosted Application there is rarely any up-front costs, usually a monthly subscription with perhaps a small setup fee depending upon the complexity of your environment.

Contact us about your Hosted Application today

If you are looking to host a specific Windows desktop application or a variety of hosted applications, maybe your current applications need upgrading and you’re looking at a sizeable hardware and licencing bill to support it, why not talk to one of our technical sales consultants or visit our hosted applications page to find out more. They are all experienced business people as well as IT professionals so can help find the right cloud solution for your specific requirements. Just call 01282 500318 or fill it our online contact form and we will be in touch with you shortly to talk to you about your hosted application.