After a decade of use, adoption of software as a service (SaaS) continues to grow and
evolve within the enterprise application markets, as tighter capital budgets demand
leaner alternatives, popularity and familiarity with the model increases, and interest for
platform as a service and cloud computing grows. Adoption varies between and within
markets. Although use is expanding to a wider range of applications and solutions, the
most widespread use is still characterized by horizontal applications with common
processes, among distributed virtual workforce teams and within Web 2.0 initiatives.
Key Findings
Project and portfolio management (PPM) emerged in 2009 as a fast-growing market for
SaaS with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 41% projected for the
next five years. Tight budgets and frustrated users have forced mature vendors to
provide SaaS alternatives to counter new entrants to the market with SaaS-only low-cost
offerings.
Office suites and digital content creation (DCC) also continue to show rapid growth for
SaaS although starting from a smaller base, with a 31.8% CAGR and a 35.7% CAGR,
respectively. Adoption is driven by new entrants in office suites but gated by Internet
broadband availability for DCC.
The content, communications, and collaboration (CCC) market continues to show the
widest disparity of SaaS revenue generation, with SaaS representing 4% of enterprise
content management (ECM) and approximately 82% of Web conferencing.
Adoption of SaaS within ERP and supply chain management (SCM) varies based on
process complexity.
SaaS within ERP remains a relatively small proportion of the overall market (in
comparison with other software segments featured in this report) at approximately 6% in
2009.
SaaS continues to penetrate the CRM market, accounting for nearly 24% of total CRM
market revenue in 2009. SaaS in CRM exhibits more-general market adoption, ranging
between 11% and nearly 40% of total software revenue, depending on the CRM
subsegment. SaaS may exceed 26% of CRM market total revenue in 2010.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Assumptions ................................................................................................................................ 4
Analysis ....................................................................................................................................... 4
Changes in Market Conditions ......................................................................................... 4
Forecast Overview ........................................................................................................... 5
Market Landscape ......................................................................................................... 11
CCC Markets .................................................................................................... 12
SaaS Drives CRM Market Growth Despite Leaner Budgets, While Competition
Heightens.......................................................................................................... 13
SaaS Within ERP — Penetration Varies by Submarket but Still Most Notable in
HCM ................................................................................................................. 15
Development of SaaS in the DCC Software Market Depends on Internet Capacity16
SaaS Offerings Complement and Coexist With Traditional Office Suite Products 17
PPM SaaS Alternatives Gain Favor in Difficult Times ......................................... 17
SaaS SCM Solutions Experience Double the Growth of the Traditional SCM
Market ............................................................................................................... 18
Other Markets ................................................................................................... 19
Regional Context and Outlook ....................................................................................... 19
SaaS in Asia/Pacific .......................................................................................... 19
SaaS in Europe ................................................................................................. 21
Current SaaS Adoption ......................................................................... 21
SaaS Application Use ........................................................................... 22
Future SaaS Investment ....................................................................... 24
SaaS in North America ...................................................................................... 24
Current SaaS Adoption ......................................................................... 24
SaaS Application Usage ....................................................................... 24
Future SaaS Investment ....................................................................... 25
Business and Market Drivers and Inhibitors.................................................................... 25
Factors Promoting Adoption .............................................................................. 25
Factors Limiting Adoption .................................................................................. 26
Market Model ............................................................................................................................. 26
Recommended Reading ............................................................................................................. 27
LIST OF TABLES
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. Total Software Revenue Forecast for SaaS Delivery Within the Enterprise Application
Software Markets, 2007-2014 Millions of Dollars........................................................................... 9
Figure 2. Percentage of SaaS by Enterprise Application Software Markets, 2009-2014............... 10
More widespread use of SaaS in companies of all sizes, and the appearance of larger
deals and expanding deployments within enterprises legitimizes the model and
broadens adoption.
Growing interest and slowly developing familiarity with cloud computing contributes to
the acceptance of SaaS as the application layer in the broader cloud stack.
Rising maintenance fees from the "megavendors," such as SAP and Oracle, can
constrain budgets and encourage buyers to entertain other options and choice of
vendors.
New expectations for time to market and more-rapid return on investment (ROI) demand
ease and speed of deployment for enterprise solutions.
The extension of SaaS to the platform creates new opportunities for developers and
independent software vendors (ISVs) and more solution choices for buyers.
Growth opportunities for vendors exist across various submarket segments, in specific
vertical industries, and within underserved niches, and within the small or midsize
business (SMB) market.
ANALYSIS
This report discusses trends, market forces, and forecast estimates for SaaS in the enterprise
application markets. Gartner's forecast represents our most recent data for SaaS in the enterprise
application software markets, updating "Market Trends: Software as a Service, Worldwide, 2008-
2013, Update" published in November 2009. Market-level forecasts for the enterprise application
markets featured in this report, including detailed regional and country-specific forecasts, can be
found in "Forecast: Enterprise Software Markets, Worldwide, 2009-2014, 1Q10 Update."
SaaS deployments are becoming larger, with deals more frequently appearing in the
range of thousands to tens-of-thousands of subscriptions within large enterprises.
Social media and social software is becoming increasingly integrated with SaaS
solutions, as social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are leveraging customer
service, sales, and marketing initiatives.
Deal structures are slowly changing to more often accommodate an actual pay-for-use
model, rather than a pay-up-front subscription model, especially in emerging markets, to
reach a wider audience and respond to customer demand.
Forecast Overview
During 2009 and 2010, the significant industry buzz surrounding SaaS and other off-premises
models shifted to cloud computing. Cloud computing is a broad concept, of which SaaS is only
one variation, representing the application layer of the overall cloud architectural stack. SaaS has
been a "lead indicator" of the cloud concept for some time. Gartner defines cloud computing as a
style of computing in which massively scalable IT-enabled capabilities are delivered as a service
to external customers using Internet technologies, where services are tracked with usage metrics
When considering market size or growth, all maturity levels are not equal. SaaS business volume
in emerging market segments will be far lower, and with potentially far higher growth rates, than
SaaS business volume in a mature market segment. A comparison of compound annual growth
rates and estimated SaaS revenue between markets illustrates this point.
This forecast is focused on enterprise application software and does not include the infrastructure
software markets, such as application development, data management, security software, and IT
operations software. Although Gartner sees other markets where SaaS is developing, this is a
representative view of market potential and can be used as a proxy for adoption. The major
enterprise application software markets that Gartner tracks, and that are included in this forecast,
are:
CCC
CRM
DCC
ERP
Office suites
PPM
PPM estimates have been added to the market forecasts and have been moved from
the "Other Application Software" category.
The rapid adoption of SaaS has contributed to growth in varying degrees across the enterprise
software markets. Gartner's forecast for estimated SaaS total software revenue within the
enterprise application software markets is a 15.3% overall CAGR from 2009 through 2014, or
more than $15 billion attributed to SaaS at the end of the forecast period. This represents a lower
CAGR, down from 17.7% in the November, 2009 forecast. Declines are more reflective of lower
overall IT spending than waning interest in the SaaS deployment model. The updated forecast
represents a shift in total SaaS revenue from just over 10% of the combined markets in 2009, to
more than 16% of these combined markets in 2014. The forecast in Figure 1, Table 2 and Figure
2 cover SaaS for enterprise application software markets, aligned to estimated revenue. The
forecast is based on results from hundreds of vendors across the markets.
Table 2. Total Software Revenue Forecast for SaaS Delivery Within the Enterprise
Application Software Markets, 2007-2014 (Millions of Dollars)
CAGR (%)
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2009-2014
CCC 1,782 2,157 2,488 2,862 3,382 4,089 4,935 5,652 17.8
Office Suites 51 56 68 100 150 199 248 271 31.8
DCC 18 44 65 92 143 207 277 298 35.7
CRM 1,231 1,872 2,279 2,502 2,831 3,177 3,598 4,015 12.0
ERP 1,044 1,177 1,248 1,346 1,465 1,612 1,805 2,013 10.0
SCM 582 690 807 922 1,056 1,200 1,378 1,547 13.9
Gartner defines total software revenue as revenue from new licenses, subscriptions, and software
maintenance and technical support services that include new version license sales to
update/upgrade an existing license to a new version, telephone support, and on-site remedial
support. SaaS is primarily a software delivery and management approach that exists in
established markets, such as CRM or ERP. However, a valid approach is to total vendors'
Market Landscape
The vendor listing in Table 3 is representative, but not inclusive, of each category; vendors are
listed in alphabetical order. Additional vendors may also have functionality in a software product
category, but are not identified in Table 3. For the CCC segment, e-learning and enterprise
instant messaging have moved to the "Others" category and enterprise e-discovery has been
added.
Representative Vendors
CCC ECM — Alterian, Auersoft, Clickability, Content Management AG, CrownPeak,
EpiServer, Eprise (SilkRoad Technology), Hyland, IBM, NetReach, Open Text,
PaperHost, PaperThin, SpringCM, Treeno Software, Xerox
E-discovery: AccessData, Anacomp, Autonomy, Case Central, Commvault, Epiq
Systems, FTI, Huron Consulting, Iron Mountain, KCura, LexisNexis, Renew Data,
Summation
E-mail — Cisco, Google, HP, IBM, Microsoft
Search — Atomz, SLI Systems
Team collaboration — DesignLinks International, EMC, Grove Technologies,
Huddle/Ninian Solutions, IntraLinks, Jive Software, TeamSpace
Web conferencing — Adobe, AT&T, Cisco, Citrix, IBM, InterCall (Genesys
Conferencing), Microsoft, NetViewer
CRM Sales — Access Commerce, ATG, Callidus, BigMachines, CDC Software, Demandware,
Firepond, Imano, Involve Technology, Kadient, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, NetSuite,
Oracle CRM On Demand, Sage, salesforce.com, SAP, SugarCRM,Venda, Xactly, Zoho
Marketing — Alterian, Aprimo, Assetlink, Elateral, ExactTarget, Coremetrics, Genalytics,
L-Soft, Lyris, Marketingisland, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Neolane, NetSuite, Responsys,
RightNow Technologies, SAP, SAS Institute, Silverpop, Unica
Customer service and support — AIM Technology, Confirmit, eGain, Enkata,
HardMetrics, InStranet, InVision, Knowledge Solutions, Merced Systems, Oracle,
Parature, RightNow Technologies, salesforce.com, SAP, Teleopti, TOA Technologies
DCC Adobe, Corel, Google, Microsoft, Avid, Yahoo, Paint.NET, Serif
ERP Human capital management — CornerStpne on Demand, CyberShift, Infor (Workbrain),
Kenexa, Saba, SilkRoad, Softscape, Sonar 6, SuccessFactors, Taleo, Ultimate Software,
VirtualEdge, Workday, Workscape
Financial management systems — FinancialForce,com, Intaact, Exact Online, NetSuite,
SAP (Business ByDesign), Twinfield, Workday
Manufacturing & Operations — Plex Systems, NetSuite, SAP (Business ByDesign)
Office Suites Adobe, AdventNet, Ajax13, Approver.com, Corel, ExpressO, Google, iNetOffice,
Microsoft, Open Source Software Institute, Peepel Technology, Sheetster, Simple
Groupware Solutions, Smartsheet.com, Software Garden, Team and Concepts,
ThinkFree, TrimPath, Vyew
CCC Markets
For CCC technologies, SaaS use varies across the market segments. The projected five-year
CAGR for revenue attributed to SaaS in this market is nearly 18%, versus more than 11% CAGR
for total software revenue for all delivery models. For certain markets, such as ECM and search,
SaaS is barely used at all, while for e-learning and Web conferencing, it is the predominant form
of software access. Recent market analysis for SaaS adoption in 2009 indicates the following:
E-mail — Much more focused on the consumer segment rather than the enterprise
segment; Cisco's entry in November 2009, Google's entry in February 2007 and
Microsoft's SaaS-based Exchange and Business Productivity Online Suite delivery may
drive accelerated adoption starting in 2011, but SaaS represented about 5% of the total
enterprise market spending in 2009.
Search and information access — Limited market impact at this time, with total market
spending of about 4% to 5%.
Web conferencing — SaaS accounts for approximately 82% of total market revenue in
2009; on-premises offerings are increasingly taking hold and so are hybrid offerings that
combine hosted and on-premises access.
SaaS Within ERP — Penetration Varies by Submarket but Still Most Notable
in HCM
The proportion of revenue attributed to SaaS within the ERP market remains consistent to
previous estimates at a little more than 6% of the total market with slow annual growth. For 2009
total SaaS revenue for the ERP market was estimated at $1.25 billion. By year end 2010, we are
projecting this to increase a further 8% to $1.35 billion in total software revenue.
The penetration of SaaS within ERP varies greatly between subsegment, with HCM being the
most penetrated (in terms of adoption and revenue growth) and EAM and manufacturing being
relatively unaffected by SaaS. Observations from client inquires and industry trends suggest that
SaaS as a delivery method for ERP is more readily considered than in previous years, but we
have not seen a mass switch in preference from on premise to SaaS based ERP solutions. Only
a small handful of vendors have delivered anything close to "full suite ERP functionality," but
within individual ERP domains, a number of increasingly strong vendors provide solutions only via
SaaS. However, these vendors are still small compared with the "megavendors" and so they
struggle for brand recognition outside their home regions. As SAP moves away from ramp-up
mode and closer to general availability for its ByDesign product, this will bring further attention
(and to some extent validation) to the existing SaaS-based ERP suites solutions in the
marketplace
ERP consists of four major subsegments related to SaaS:
Within EAM, the outlook for SaaS applications remains extremely conservative. This is
because of the complexities involved with EAM implementations, in which a high amount
of industry and specific process knowledge is required (such as in the manufacturing
and transportation sector). Another major inhibitor is that many industries that typically
invest in EAM, such as utilities, and oil and gas, have strict data and network security
policies that preclude the holding of business data outside of the business or systems
that are "shared with others." From a physical and information security perspective,
SaaS applications are often more secure than "hosted at home" systems in corporate
data centers, but the cultural aversion to SaaS in some of these industries remains
strong.
Within FMSs, SaaS applications are still a minor part of the overall market, and many
systems in use today are related to core accounting solutions for the small business
sector. However, this is rapidly changing with the development muscle and pedigree of
some well known vendors in the FMS space, such as FinancialForce.com (from Unit4)
SaaS SCM Solutions Experience Double the Growth of the Traditional SCM
Market
Our estimated revenue growth for SaaS within SCM markets is in line with that published in
September 2009, remaining more resilient than the overall SCM market through 2013. In a recent
report ("User Survey Analysis: Understanding Supply Chain Management Software Buyers, North
America, 2010"), supply chain practitioners indicated that twice as many supply chain solutions
would be sourced through a SaaS model than had been the sentiment in the three years prior.
This finding, coupled with the performance of many specialized vendors offering their solutions
via SaaS, provides confidences in a 13.9% five-year CAGR for growth, from 2009 revenue
estimates of $807 million. Growth takes into account businesses postponing enterprisewide
upgrades of core applications while continuing to seek more-rapid results from application
purchases that are often deployed around an enterprise application core. Greater traction from
existing vendors, more new vendors incorporating SaaS, and growing competition increase the
opportunity for supply chain solutions and are positive influences on the SaaS forecast.
Higher-growth markets are within organizations with less than $2.5 billion in annual revenue and
within e-sourcing (strategic sourcing) and global trade and transportation management. However,
the more-complex and more-customized applications within planning, or the deep execution
within the four walls of a warehouse management system, are unlikely to migrate wholly toward a
SaaS delivery model. Expect demand for SaaS solutions offered by other traditional suite vendors
to increase significantly throughout the forecast period, in an effort to capture lost opportunities.
SaaS trends in SCM market segments are as follows:
Supply chain planning (SCP) — The technology is pervasive as an on-premises
solution. The mature installed base has endured considerable customization because of
complexity in the business process and integration with other important business
processes, and this will continue to hinder adoption of SCP as a service. We estimate
that, while growth did come from emerging vendors, the market segment has low
penetration (3%) but growth of (15.6%) though 2014.
Procurement — Strategic sourcing (e-sourcing) emerged during the late 1990s, at the
beginning of the B2B e-business bubble, and it is one of the survivors from that era. Its
survival results from the value that e-sourcing delivers to enterprises and because many
vendors have worked to offer products through the SaaS model. In 2009, we estimate
that SaaS accounted for 26% of the segment's total software revenue and will generate
33% of the market's revenue by 2014. Despite most vendors moving toward SaaS
delivery, applications such as contract management are often desired to be behind the
firewall. If this trend continues, then we could see not only more bumps in associated
revenue, but also a required shift for vendors to adjust their business to accommodate
this user need.
Other Markets
SaaS is also fast-penetrating a host of other markets and subsegments (as shown previously in
Table 4). Although most, if not all, of these are still small market spaces, the increasing
prevalence of SaaS demonstrates that SaaS is far from being simply a phenomenon of CRM and
associated application markets.
The idea of PaaS, which began to emerge in 2008, has continued to gain traction through 2009
and 2010, although in reality this is still more a theory than a driver of significant revenue to
leading SaaS vendors that have been touting this idea.
Reasons to adopt SaaS in the region has been cost-effectiveness from total cost of
ownership (TCO) perspective, limited capital expense and fast/easy deployment
compared to on-premises solutions. Gartner research indicates these are the top
reasons for SaaS adoption in both emerging and mature countries in Asia/Pacific.
As the market is back in the growth mode in 2010, end users attitude is not
expected to change and the key reasons mentioned will remain critical in the
increasing competitive environment.
SaaS Use
SaaS in CRM has been significant, specifically with revenue growth contribution
from salesfore.com in key mature countries — such as Australia and Singapore.
With its continuous yearly double-digit growth, salesforce.com occupied 12.1% CRM
market share in Asia/Pacific in 2009, or the third-largest CRM vendor after SAP and
Oracle. Nevertheless, salesforce.com still has sporadic presence in this diverse
region.
There is an increasing trend that SaaS contract renegotiation may occur, as end
users are demanding for greater functionality. This is not surprising, specifically in
emerging countries, where users are fine tuning their scope of SaaS deployments,
and growing their user base, amidst significant economy improvement. Other
reasons for contract renegotiation are to look for better financial terms due to the
rising competition.
Northern Europe showing adoption and acceptance levels similar to North America.
Continental and Southern Europe seeing slower adoption compared with Northern
Europe due to business acceptance, culture and specific localization issues.
Eastern Europe is relatively low in adoption, but the Czech Republic, Hungary and
Poland are showing greater potential in the near term.
For the purpose of this report, the focus of the following text is on Northern and Continental
Europe because of their current and near-term potential for SaaS adoption. For areas not
discussed, please contact Gartner.
Survey respondents ranked ease and speed of deployment highest among reasons for
deploying SaaS in North America, followed by lower TCO. Limited capital expense, the
third-highest category indicated, was considered more important in North America than
the other regions based on percentage of respondents.
More companies in North America have established policies governing the evaluation,
procurement and/or deployment of SaaS than in the other regions, according to survey
results. This is not surprising, given the relative maturity of SaaS among the three
regions.
A higher percentage of companies in North America responded that they were using
SaaS to replace an existing on-premises solution than in the other regions, with half of
all U.S. companies indicating that replacement was the primary intention. In contrast,
Business
The benefits of rapid deployment and rapid ROI, less upfront capital investment, and
a decreased reliance on limited implementation resources encourage SaaS
deployments.
Rising maintenance fees and the imperative to update to Web 2.0 technologies
contribute to legacy replacement decisions.
Market
Greater market competition and increased focus by the megavendors reinforces the
legitimacy of on-demand solutions, mitigating initial objections about security and
availability for many and driving market growth. Buyers facing costly upgrades or
platform decisions are more likely to consider on-demand solutions as an
alternative.
Questions about vendor longevity and viability arise as buyers begin considering
larger deployments.
Market
Regulations governing data privacy and protection vary by country and may restrict
adoption of some vendors' solutions in certain areas.
MARKET MODEL
The SaaS forecast for each of the enterprise application markets included in this document are
developed according to Gartner's multistep forecasting methodology (see "Dataquest Guide:
Software Market Research Methodology"). The latest available market data is carefully reviewed
and compared with the most recently completed forecast. The methodology then directs the
formulation of assumptions about the future, with consideration given to factors that could cause
the forecast to stray in one direction or the other and to potential market discontinuities. These
include a range of influences, such as SaaS user adoption patterns, growth and competitive
impact of key market players, macroeconomic and regional conditions, and the relationship of
SaaS to other developing trends in the IT industry such as cloud computing.
RECOMMENDED READING
"Emerging Market Analysis: Plans for SaaS Application Software Use in China and Malaysia,
2010-2011"
"User Survey Analysis: Software as a Service, Enterprise Application Markets, Worldwide, 2010"
"Market Share: All Software Markets, Worldwide, 2009"
"Forecast: Enterprise Software Markets, Worldwide, 2009-2014, 1Q10 Update"
"Q&A: Top 10 Things You Need to Know About SaaS in Asia/Pacific"
"User Survey Analysis: Understanding Supply Chain Management Software Buyers, North
America, 2009"
"Essential SaaS Overview and 2010 Guide to SaaS Research"
"Forecast: Public Cloud Services, Worldwide and Regions, Industry Sectors, 2009-2014"
"Dataquest Guide: Software Market Research Methodology"
"Dataquest Guide: Software Market Research Definitions"
"Forecast Analysis: Enterprise Application Software, Worldwide, 2009-2014, 1Q10 Update"
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