The Software as a Service model is certainly here to stay. I think there is a misconception that SaaS is geared only for the CRM market. Sure SaaS has been successful in this space, as seen by a short list of CRM providers listed below, but we are seeing more and more successful SaaS-based companies emerge in other markets: supply chain, email marketing, recruiting, content management, etc.
SaaS has not been around as long as the traditional client-server model but over the last 5-7 years SaaS companies have made huge strides. WebEx, the leader in the online meeting market, now has close to 30,000 corporate customers and over 5 million users per month. Over 85,000 online WebEx meetings take place across 70 different countries per day! Salesforce.com has over 20,000 customers and about 400,000 subscribers. These numbers are not only impressive but will continue to grow.
The fact that many Fortune 1000 companies are also adopting SaaS technologies means that no longer is SaaS geared for only the small businesses. Large corporations can also benefits from the low start up costs, quick deployment times, and ease of use. Imagine being able to deploy a SaaS technology quickly and efficiently across a single business unit as a test piece and then rolling the technology out on an enterprise level once the technology proves itself out. Little financial investment, little IT resources during implementation, very low risk. Why not?
CRM:
Other SaaS Companies:
- WebEx: online web meetings and collaboration
- Taleo: talent/recruiting management solution
- ClickCommerce: supply chain
- OpSource: SaaS consultants
- Live Person: online customer interaction applications
- Sage Software:
- ExactTarget: email communications and marketing
- Clickability: web content management
- OpenAir: project-based management applications
- Vocus: corporate communications and PR
- Concur Technologies: expense management
- CrownPeak: website and content management
- Omniture: business optimization and web analytics solutions
- EmailLabs: email marketing solutions
- Intranets: document management and virtual web office solutions (Acquired by WebEx)
- DealerTrack: automotive retail solutions
SaaS has staying power and will not be going anywhere in the long term. It will continue to disrupt the traditional client-server model and revolutionize the way companies receive products and services in a real-time, cost-effective, scalable, and reliable manner.
