If there’s one cloud that businesses are welcoming, it’s the one with ‘affordable IT’ written all over it.
Analysts predict that ‘cloud computing’ or ‘Software as a Service’ (SaaS) is set for huge growth. Previously it was a concept that tended to be the preserve of major enterprises. But now that fast, reliable broadband is the universal business norm, small- and medium-size companies are starting to buy in to SaaS as a means to cut their overheads and weather the tough economic climate.
Public sector organisations too are likely to have SaaS high up on their agendas now, following recommendations in Lord Carter’s ‘Digital Britain’ report* that they should move more of their IT applications to cloud computing to create their own ‘Government cloud.’
It’s a trend that technology industry commentators Gartner are monitoring closely. According to them, 30% of new software sales will be delivered by SaaS by 2012** – and in a worldwide market that will almost triple in value: from $56.3 billion today to $150.1 billion by 2013.
So what’s SaaS all about? It’s about software providers using the internet to deliver their products to customers as a hosted, subscription option rather than as an outright purchase. This can mean that applications that were once far beyond the budget for the average SME can now potentially be had for taxi-ride money. They can range from basic ‘utility’ services – such as virus protection – to sophisticated packages that can improve the efficiencies of many modern business operations: online data backup, customer relationship management (CRM), accounting, logistics, human resources and stock control among them.
And affordability isn’t the only attraction of SaaS. In the old days, if your business wanted to buy software, you would need to buy a software licence upfront, probably for a significant sum. You would possibly need to engage an IT specialist to install the software for you. And you’d also have to bear the long-term costs of maintaining it and upgrading it yourself.
But with SaaS, software becomes an ‘on-demand’ service. You can get the services you want as you want them. You install them yourself in just a few clicks no matter what devices or platforms you’re using, Windows or Mac. A monthly rental charge replaces big upfront lump sums and licence renewal costs. And the hassle of software maintenance and upgrades is automatically handled by the provider, rather than being in your hands. So you can be confident that your software is not only state-of-the-art but that you have the latest version.
And because SaaS is delivered online, it’s simple to deploy and use for organisations that have employees working at home, on the move or in satellite offices.
The growing market and media interest is already generating a high level of activity from major software vendors – including IBM, Microsoft, SAP and Oracle. New SaaS players such as Amazon and Google have also recognised the sales potential and entered the market – and with the help of BT Wholesale so can you.
We’re currently running a customer trial with a range of SaaS products and plan to launch them shortly as ‘ready to go’ solutions that meet your business customers’ needs – and budgets – as well as adding to your revenues.
* Digital Britain Report, June 2009
** Source: www.gartner.com. Reported in destinationcrm.com ezine
Like to join the customers who are putting our new SaaS products to the test? Contact Andy Macfarlane at andrew.macfarlane@bt.com – or speak to your BT Wholesale account management team today.
