Enterprise Ready, or Not – SaaS Enters the Mainstream

Report Overview: The explosive growth of software-as-a-service (SaaS) may be netted down to two core realities that will shape SaaS markets for years to come:

-Users want SaaS throughout the enterprise, whether their enterprises are ready for it or not; and

-SaaS is spreading throughout the enterprise, whether the vendors – or their offerings – are ready to support and deliver what users want, or not.

These are two key conclusions that we examine in its latest research study on SaaS, titled "Enterprise-ready Or Not: SaaS Enters the Mainstream." The 44-page study details the disruptive evolution, status, and future of SaaS within user enterprises, from basic applications to cloud-based computing - including the effects of these changes on vendor strategies, offerings, and business models.

This comprehensive study mines our rich SaaS research program to provide insight and guidance for users and vendors regarding:

-SaaS adoption drivers, inhibitors, and strategies;

-SaaS’ evolution into core, critical business processes;

-The dramatic shift among providers toward integrative, platform-based services – including updates and refinements of our visionary market adoption and evolution models; and

-User, ISV and provider issues, strategies and tactics for managing SaaS transitions.

“Enterprise Ready, or Not – SaaS Enters the Mainstream” includes data, analysis, insight and guidance based on our market-leading SaaS research, including our 2008 worldwide user survey conducted with BusinessWeek Research Services, briefings and interviews with 30 leading and emerging SaaS providers, and in-depth interviews with user executives in key markets.

Read this report to learn:

-SaaS use is expanding dramatically while becoming more complex. What is SaaS really being used for by firms worldwide, and where will it be used in the next 12 to 36 months?

-The move from SaaS to “cloud computing” is a key shift for user and vendor business. How much of a role will SaaS – including on-demand infrastructure services – play in core enterprise IT infrastructure and systems?

-SaaS is a business-driven decision. What are the business challenges, factors and decisions driving – or inhibiting - SaaS adoption by user firms?

-The growth of SaaS remains unchecked, and unmanaged, by a surprising number of user firms. What are user executives’ strategies and tactics for acquiring, deploying, and managing SaaS as part of business and as part of IT?

-SaaS changes the nature of software markets and competition. Where, how, and why will ISVs stumble as they move to compete with SaaS, or as they work to become SaaS providers themselves?

-As we move toward an on-demand world linked to on-premise IT and operations, what are and will be the most effective business models and strategies for ISVs and SaaS providers in the coming months and years?

Research Highlights:

-SaaS not only continues to grow in successive waves of evolution and adoption, but its complexity and capabilities are accelerating. A confluence of business and technology tides has combined to raise a fourth SaaS wave – a wave that threatens to sweep IT and business up, together, and forward in ways not previously experienced by users and vendors.

-Continuous growth and innovation are core competitive requirements in most SaaS markets – especially the ability to develop and deliver updates and new releases on a quarterly (or more frequent) basis, while addressing an ever-expanding array of customer and partner desires and requirements for interfaces and function.

-Users are accepting and implementing SaaS as part of mainstream IT, particularly in North America and Europe , where experience and satisfaction with SaaS provider integration and customization capabilities are significantly higher than in Asia-Pacific. This increasing, and more mainstream, user acceptance is expected to move rapidly to widespread user expectation of ever-increasing SaaS capabilities and functionality directed at linking and interoperating with on-premise systems. And as SaaS becomes more integral to user business, user needs and demands for customization and more unified and integrative platforms increase.

-As the use (and value) of SaaS grows within user enterprises, so does the need for management. Hence, SaaS providers are driven to develop and deliver ever-more-sophisticated platform, integration and management offerings. Providers are therefore expanding and improving SaaS offerings to meet and exceed user desire and demand, as well as to establish and extend their competitive advantages.

-SaaS enables change, and especially efficiency improvements in how businesses operate as they increasingly model and manage business processes that span on-premise and cloud-based platforms. The use of third-wave SaaS thus enables, and in turn requires, transformation of the business itself.

-“Cloud Computing” actually becomes – in a very short time – “Cloud Business.” It is the natural progression of SaaS, the IT utility concept, and business process outsourcing and transformation. It enables the delivery (and refinement) of optimized IT and business simultaneously, in real-time and on-demand, or more likely, as parts of selective outsourcing strategies in a hybrid IT and business environment.

-Cloud Computing will evolve to into a series of converged platforms for the delivery of on-demand infrastructure services, SaaS enablement and cloud-based development. This vastly increases the range of opportunities for SaaS providers as well as software developers, code firms, and IT services providers. SHOW LESS READ MORE >

Introduction: SaaS and the Enterprise

Research Highlights SaaS Growth and Change from 2003 to 2016

-What the Data Shows: A Snapshot of User SaaS Realities

-The Next Wave: Platform-as-a-Service Enable Enterprise-Ready SaaS

-The Changing Competitive Landscape

-Strategic Planning Positions (SPPs)

SaaS Growth and Change from 2003 - 2016 Wave I: Cost-effective Software Delivery

-Wave II: Integrated Business Solutions

-Wave III: Workflow-enabled Business Transformation

-Strategic Planning Positions (SPPs)

-Next Wave: Cloud Computing

-Strategic Planning Positions (SPPs)

What the Data Shows: A Snapshot of User SaaS Realities SaaS Presence Right Now - Holding Steady?

-SaaS Today - Top Ten Enterprise Uses

-Business Expectations of SaaS

-The Shift to Core Systems of Record

-Strategic Planning Positions (SPPs)

-SaaS Satisfaction - and Enterprise Readiness

The Next Wave: Platforms-as-a-Services Enable Enterprise-Ready SaaS SaaS and On-Demand Infrastructure Platforms: A Taxonomy

-Strategic Planning Positions (SPPs)

The Changing Competitive Landscape The SaaS Transition: Business Challenges for ISVs

-Strategic Planning Positions (SPPs)

Conclusion: What to Do About SaaS User Guidance

Vendor Guidance

Appendix A: User Research Survey Demographics

Appendix B: Vendor Research Survey Demographics

List of Figures and Sidebars:

Figure 1: From Waves to the Cloud: Four Stages of SaaS Evolution

Figure 2: Cloud Computing and Platform-as-a-Service

Figure 3: Six Categories of Cloud Computing

Figure 4: Top Ten SaaS Users

Figure 5: Top Five Business Benefits Expected from SaaS

Figure 6: SaaS Application Adoption (Worldwide) 2008 - 2010

Figure 7: Marketplace - SaaS and Core Mission-Critical Business Processes

Figure 8: Top Areas of SaaS Satisfaction, 2008

Figure 9: Percentage of SaaS Users Satisfied or Highly Satisfied

Figure 10: Layers of SaaS Value

Sidebar: User Snapshots - SaaS Deployment Insights and Rationale

Figure 11: A Taxonomy of Services Delivered by SaaS Platforms

Figure 12: Best-Positioned SaaS Master Brands

Figure 13: SaaS Master Brands - First Mention

Sidebar: Managed Services and SaaS