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The differences are far simpler, and way more important, than you probably think.

Sometimes the best laid marketing plans end up biting back, and in some truly surprising ways. While most cases of this sort of slip up – either positive or negative – can be chalked up to a failure to get the right message across, not many can be attributed to getting a message across a little too well.

Such is the case for the apparent confusion about the differences between “Cloud Computing” and “Software as a Service” (SaaS). As the digital marketing world is clamoring to get you to “move everything to the cloud” before the next guy, it’s become critical to offer clarification to help you make sure you know what you’re signing up for. Put simply, and in strictly logical terms, while all SaaS environments are by default denizens of the cloud, not all cloud environments are necessarily SaaS.

Cloud environments deliver the use of common applications that are served from the internet and are designed to deliver computing and interaction as a utility – Facebook, Salesforce.com and Google Docs are popular examples. SaaS, by comparison, uses specific software and customized architecture to provide services – primarily to enterprise customers (but certainly not exclusively) – based on specific needs. Bridgeline’s iAPPS Product Suite, for instance, is designed specifically to run as optimally in SaaS as it does in a dedicated server environment using a perpetual license.

The differences begin with support

Maybe a good place to draw distinctions would be to talk about what the two operating environments have in common. Since both operate on hardware that exists and is supported away from your business, and both interact with users through the internet from any location on the planet, each offers significant benefits to both enterprise and individual users. Some of these benefits include a more rapid setup, development and launch cycle than would typically be required, as well as greatly reduced overhead – since all that’s necessary is connectivity with the internet and a device with which to interact – from users in both enterprise and personal settings. Other benefits include massive data aggregation, mining and researching, on a scale never before seen, that can allow for insights into user behavior, trends and more.

But one place where a company running customized applications on a SaaS environment has a clear competitive advantage over one running in the cloud is in support. Because of their inherent structure, SaaS environments are much better suited for contiguous, comprehensive support than cloud-based environments – which can be shown in the differences in uptime. SaaS environments guarantee uptime, and compensate enterprise licensees for downtime after a certain amount (which in many cases can be just a few minutes). Downtime in the cloud is simply that – down and gone (look at the ubiquity of the Twitter “fail whale” for fitting proof), until it’s back up.

Updates, patches, version control – it’s all in the package

Another clear advantage of the SaaS environment is how the march of progress is constantly dealt with. Since all development is done off-site, any new versions, upgrades, patches and more are completely in the hands of your provider. No more hassles with receiving new software packages, installing, testing, re-testing, adjusting and finally launching a simple patch upgrade – all of that is done for your company with SaaS. Obviously this also presents major savings in both time and money – since your development group no longer has to dedicate either to the grunt work, and it’s all wrapped up in the regular fees.

A Content Management platform that offers a cloud-based deployment option that is not SaaS is essentially a perpetual license deployment in the cloud – updates and patches are not automatically handled nor deployed ubiquitously across the environment. They may still be your responsibility or need to be scheduled individually.

Saas CMS platforms, like iAPPS, are a little different. These platforms rely on support infrastructure that ensures maximum uptime, while all updates, upgrades, patches, etc. are taken care of as part of a monthly fee. iAPPS is an example of the most inclusive benefits of a SaaS vs. cloud environment: it allows you to focus on developing your business, web experience and your bottom line, rather than continuously keeping the software, hardware and general IT concerns on track.

It’s your site, build the engagement your way.

This type of support also offers advantages in customization that allow you to build a web experience that’s particular to your company. With cloud apps, the environment is largely “one size fits all,” though some customization at the user level – with minimal options available to the average user (more to those who pay the provider a premium) – is usually possible. For example, with the exception of the content you or your friends post, everyone’s Facebook interface looks basically the same. In a SaaS environment however, your experience is completely customized according to your business and design needs. The way your customers reach your site, what they see when they get there, how they interact and how they wrap up visits is entirely up to you. Clients using the same SaaS environment may not look anything like each other, collect and store data in the same ways, or offer users a similar engagement – and they usually don’t.

The differences are plain to see, but still the digital industry has trouble shedding light on them, and especially their fundamental importance – and, really, it’s the marketing of the cloud that’s to blame. As a result of the clamor to popularize and populate it, the term “cloud” has become a buzzword – complete with the obligatory ambiguity or (here it comes, get ready to cringe) “cloudiness” associated with this small piece of jargon. That single term is too easily substituted for both.

You owe it to yourself – and to your business – to know the difference before you move on up.