15 Dec 2008

Software innovation 'should be rewarded'

An industry expert believes software developers should be rewarded for conducting research and providing innovative IT solutions.

Jass Sarai, head of software and IT services at PricewaterhouseCoopers, commented that the government should encourage innovation within the UK software industry by offering financial incentives.

"One way is rewarding companies doing research and development, rewarding them through grants and giving them a favourable tax position," he said.

Despite the effects of the global economic crisis, Mr Sarai predicted that the UK software industry will continue to grow over the next couple of years, although its increase could be "very marginal".

His comments come after a recent survey by Gartner found that 90 per cent of enterprises are planning to either maintain or increase their investment in software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications.

Cost benefits, ease of use and speed of deployment were cited by firms as reasons for increasing the amount of SaaS within their IT infrastructures.