Web conferencing, collaboration and IT service management are emerging as new sweet spots for Software as a Service (SaaS), according to new studies by analyst firm Forrester Research.
While CRM and HR remain the two highest potential entrants to the enterprise, providers are now finding success selling SAAS subscription applications in Web conferencing, collaboration, and ITSM (IT service management).
For collaboration, Forrester sees SaaS as having great potential to significantly impact the collaboration market while Web conferencing technologies are described as “an ideal candidate” for SaaS. ITSM using a SaaS model are growing in popularity, but many of the larger vendors have yet to enter this space. But Forrester reckons that as established vendors continue to enter the market, SaaS has the potential to transform the world of IT applications. Finally, online backup has already attracted strong interest. particularly for small and medium-size enterprises, although one area of concern is recovering large quantities of data in a short time frame.
"SAAS applications have advanced beyond early market applications in human resources and CRM to become a game changer in the enterprise software market," said Liz Herbert, senior analyst at Forrester Research, who coordinated the study. "SAAS adoption continues to increase, and it is now relevant for a wide array of applications. This new research provides strategic direction to end users evaluating SAAS technologies and planning their next decade of investments."
For CRM, Forrester expects to see companies with established on-premise CRM strategies to be slow to - or in many cases will never - switch over. In the HR space, it argues that consolidation in this space has started to create broader suite offerings, increasing the potential growth of these technologies.
But Business Intelligence on demand is likely to have minimal success, says the report.“Many are still skeptical as to its potential, particularly where large volumes and real-time data transfer are concerned,” warns Forrester.
In addition, while SaaS-specific integration solutions are likely to rise, the report cautions firms against expecting too much of any integration solution. “As SaaS solutions flourish in the enterprise, SaaS-specific integration solutions will naturally rise, too. However, firms should not expect any magic integration solutions, SaaS or otherwise,” notes the research firm.
The study was conducted for sourcing & vendor management professionals who research, purchase, and manage the vendor relationships that surround SaaS.
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