16 Jan 2009

SaaS important in firms' future plans, research shows

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) is either important or very important to the future plans of almost a third of firms, a study has shown.

Research by UK-based IT body the National Computing Centre (NCC) found 30 per cent of respondents to view the future of SaaS in such high regard.

The survey involved more than a 100 businesses which turnover between £5 million and £5 billion and shows that many firms are considering new technologies as a way of tackling the crunch.

SaaS services are one way firms feeling the pinch amid the global economic downturn can look to ration their budgets, because - in return for a subscription fee charged to vendors - they can choose certain upgrades, enhancements and applications as and when their core operations require them.

Meanwhile, they do not have to invest in the time and resources that would be required to install the applications within their own IT infrastructures.

The NCC study also found that 22 per cent of companies regard cloud computing as an important part of their future activities.

According to predictions for 2009 made by the International Data Corporation last year, the industry's acceleration to the cloud model and cloud-based SaaS will accelerate as firms look to cut costs amid the effects of the global economic crisis.