Commenting on the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business model, SMU Associate Professor of Information Systems Ma Da said, “SaaS changed the traditional software application [business model] from buying to renting.” She added that renting makes more sense for firms with low-budget or sporadic software usage. “Buying is expensive, and there are a lot of hardware implementations and business costs. [In contrast], renting means you don’t have to pay a lot [as you only] pay when you want to use it.”