We have lately been seeing a few interesting developments in the area of Software-as-a-service (SaaS). Though the concept has been around for a while, what has really brought focus to this area is Amazon’s offering of cloud computing, Hardware-as-a-service and SimpleDB, which is essentially Database-as-a-Service (DaaS), as discussed here.

Recently, LongJump.com, a California based company, announced it’s Database-as-a-Service offering. This has been built using Java layer on top of MySql database that exposes REST and SOAP based APIs to store, access and manipulate data. They also provide a web based administrative console that let’s users model the data and create data access policies and validation.

From users’ point of view, this takes away the complexities associated with having a database infrastructure, DBA, monitoring and so on. This is great news for smaller firms and startups who would rather like to focus on building the core functionality and time to market instead of handling these peripheral issues.

More companies entering this field is a great news. I think once these offerings start to mature, the next big thing in SaaS model will be to create standards (something like Java Database Connectivity (JDBC), for example) that would let users change the providers without having to change code, but these technologies have to go a long way and prove that this model works before this becomes a serious issue. I don’t really think big firms are going to be interested in these products anytime soon, but they sure could be a boon for smaller firms.

What’s your view on the potential of Database-as-a-service offerings? Do you think they are here to stay?