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Software as a Service as Next-Gen Business Platform
Information Management Special Reports, August 2006
These stats come from a research report entitled "SaaS 2.0: Software as a Service as Next-Gen Business Platform," based in part on a primary research program conducted January through March 2006 by Saugatuck Technology.
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Respondents are taking a cautious approach to SaaS as evidenced by the number of firms still learning about SaaS (35 percent) being virtually the same as those that are planning or implementing it (39 percent).
Further, the 26 percent who are not planning to use SaaS may indeed change their minds in the future.
A slightly higher percentage of small to midsized businesses (SMBs) than larger enterprises plan to use SaaS across the board. SaaS is planned to be used heavily to support the needs of highly distributed workforces. SMBs are more than twice as likely to use SaaS for their mission-critical applications. This supports the interest in vertical solutions and CRM shown earlier.
Figure 3: How important are the following attributes in selecting a SaaS provider?
The emphasis on financial returns continues, with price, TCO and vendor flexibility leading both "extremely important" and "very important" rankings. The large number of attributes with 90 percent or more rankings of at least "important" indicates that there are substantial "table stakes" in the SaaS market.
To purchase the report, or for more information, go to www.saugatech.com.
Saugatuck Technology is a strategic advisor to senior executives, leading information technology vendors and investors, providing strategy consulting, custom research and (C-level targeted) thought-leadership research programs focused on emerging technologies, key business/IT challenges and effective management strategies. Please visit their Web site at www.saugatech.com.
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