Software as a Service (SaaS) is a new software delivery model that revolutionises the way in which software is being designed, developed and consumed. The core idea in SaaS is that applications are not installed at a user's premises, but hosted remotely, accessed over the Internet, and priced on a per-user basis.
An important feature that is lacking from today's SaaS provision platforms is the ability to sufficiently customise SaaS offerings in order to address the needs of specialised business domains. The introduction of configurability and extensibility in SaaS offerings by allowing third-party actors to integrate their own application code and create specialised service add-ons is currently a pressing requirement in the SaaS market. Conversely, the development of SaaS platforms that allow for full customisation and extensibility without compromising reliability and security is recognised as a major challenge. The SaaS platform must provide mechanisms to guarantee that ill-performing customisations by third-parties will not inflict any damage to the data of other users.
The aim of CAST (Agreement number: 07EUROSTARS-E!4373) is to develop a customisation framework consisting of a reference architecture, methodological support, and a suite of tools supporting the provision of highly customisable and reliable SaaS offerings. The solution to be developed within CAST will be integrated into a SaaS platform for Customer Relationship Management services and will be launched in the market within a two-year period following the completion of the project.
