Gartner revises software-as-a-service forecast

Global revenues from software-as-a-service (SaaS) products will increase by 22 per cent this year, according to a leading technology analyst.
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Revising its forecasts for the year, Gartner Research has predicted that applications delivered via a hosted server will generate sales worth $9.6 billion in 2009, compared to $6.6 billion last year.

Specifically, the market intelligence firm claimed that customer relationship management programs will account for $2.1 billion of this sum, while enterprise resource planning software will experience revenues of $1.3 billion.

Sharon Mertz, research director at Gartner, explained that the current economic climate had increased the popularity of the technology.

She said: "Many factors are driving adoption of SaaS, including the benefits of rapid deployment and rapid ROI, less upfront capital investment, and a decreased reliance on limited implementation resources."

This view was supported by Deloitte and Touche last month, which suggested that SaaS delivery models had become more "compelling" to businesses because of the onset of recession.

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BY Ryan Clifford
Source：Experian QAS