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 Saugatuck Technology Inc. examines 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 Saugatuck’s 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 Saugatuck’s 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 Saugatuck’s 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.

“Enterprise Ready, or Not – SaaS Enters the Mainstream” will be available for purchase and downloading via Saugatuck’s web site July 10, 2008.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE REPORT DETAILS OR TO PURCHASE

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 adoption 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?

Sample Research Findings:

• SaaS continues to grow in successive waves of evolution and adoption, and 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.

• 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.

• User acceptance of SaaS will 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, 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.

Sample Strategic Planning Positions (SPPs):

• By YE 2010, services that enable user management of “SaaS bloat” – the typical, haphazard growth and spread of increasingly-complex SaaS throughout the enterprise – will provide rapidly-accelerating opportunities for SaaS providers, especially SIPS and other platforms/ecosystem/marketplace providers.

• By YE 2008, the majority of SaaS usage in large enterprises will be Wave II-style offerings that combine integrative capabilities with Wave I-functionalities.

• By YE 2010, services that enable user management of “SaaS bloat” – the typical, haphazard growth and spread of increasingly-complex SaaS throughout the enterprise – will provide rapidly-accelerating opportunities for SaaS providers, especially SIPS and other platforms/ecosystem/marketplace providers.

• By YE 2012, several countries and geographic markets, including India, Malaysia, and Northern Europe, will build on advancements in telecom and business practices to leapfrog from Wave I-style SaaS to Wave III and cloud computing.

• Through 2012, Virtualization and Multitenancy, both common components of these SaaS Platforms, will offer advantages and have limitations; both, however, will also offer the promise of “Green” IT, as they consume fewer resources relative to the traditional on-premise data center for any given workload.

• Through 2012, the ability to capture, access and manage data – aggregating and channeling customer data, analyzing and understanding operational data, and assessing Ecosystem partner data – will be key to the success of the Ecosystem/Marketplace/Platform system, as Master Brands assert control over their customers, their partners and their platforms.

• Through 2010, SaaS Platforms will evolve beyond ecosystem-driven integration in support of customers, complementary long-tail offerings and other business partners to embrace development and runtime services.

• By YE 2009, 40 percent of traditional ISVs will have brought a SaaS solution to market, either by acquisition, development or virtualization. In that same timeframe, multiple SaaS providers with similar functionality and capabilities will have emerged in those vendors’ markets, making SaaS a competitive survival necessity.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE REPORT DETAILS to view the Table of Contents (TOC) and Table of Figures (TOF), or to download a complimentary copy of the EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (registration required).

Saugatuck Technology Inc. provides market strategy consulting and subscription research services to senior executives, information technology vendors, and investors, combining strategy development, business planning, and market intelligence with first-hand research of executive technology buyer trends. Founded in 1999, Saugatuck is headquartered in Westport , Connecticut ( USA ), with offices in Silicon Valley and in Germany .  For more information, go to www.saugatech.com, or call +1.203.454.3900 in the US, or +49.6123.630285 in Germany.

• To request a briefing with our analysts, contact Chris MacGregor at chris.macgregor@saugatech.com.

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