Posted by djohnson on February 23, 2010
Julia King in Computerworld Article, Beyond CRM: SaaS slips into the mainstream, presents macro statistics as well as individual stories about the burgeoning SaaS industry.
Statistics we pulled from the article:
- IDC projected a 36% worldwide growth in 2009. The number was revised upward to 40.5% as a result of the recession.
- Gartner expects SaaS revenue to total $7.5B in 2009, nearly 18% higher than 2008. By 2013, SaaS spending will hit $14B.
- Computerworld study reported that 42% of survey respondents reported using SaaS in their organizations.
Impressive growth forecasts, but we need to be clear what is being forecast. The definition of SaaS means different things to different people. For example, the article describes several SaaS applications, then adds “even Schumcher’s PeopleSoft applications, including all financial software, run as a managed set of services.”
Is (PeopleSoft running in a managed environment) = (SaaS application)? In our opinion, no.
What is a Hosted Application versus a SaaS application?
The table below describes some of the characteristics which differentiate a SaaS offering from a hosted offerings.
| |
Hosted Applications
(license plus hosting) |
SaaS
(software as a service) |
Software license
|
Purchased and owned |
Rented from SaaS provider |
Software location
|
Customer selected hosting center |
Determined by SaaS provider |
Software upgrades
|
Installed by customer |
Installed by SaaS provider |
Backup services
|
Managed by customer |
Managed by SaaS provider |
Financial model
|
Capital expense |
Operational expense |
Deployment model
|
Usually single tenant |
Usually multi-tenant |
Cloud model
|
Internal or external cloud |
External cloud |
Many other characteristics are the same. Both require Internet access. Both can be web-based or require client software. Many SaaS applications can now be customized to nearly the same extent as licensed applications. |
