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Entry of the global players confirms Global SaaS Trends(M2 PressWIRE Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Research from Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC) showing that Software as a Service (SaaS) is now becoming a major channel for applications delivery is confirmed by recent market moves. Recent acquisitions by Oracle and SAP, together with strategic initiatives by other global software players like Microsoft and Sage, bear out the findings in PAC's recent research report, Software as a Service - Market development, trends, challenges & risks [http://bit.ly/ykSMR1]. The report found that SaaS was "coming of age" with the entry of the major players into the market and would grow strongly against a backdrop of a largely static overall software market. The report also found that "human capital management" (HCM) would be a major battleground, replacing CRM as the area where major vendors would seek to replace large on-premise installations with SaaS solutions and try to capture the market for themselves. The other big battleground for SaaS, replacing on-premise solutions over the coming years will be collaboration solutions, particularly email. Recent market moves that bear out these findings include: - Oracle followed its $1.5bn purchase of customer-service solutions provider RightNow with its $1.9bn offer for HCM solutions provider Taleo. It also rolled out its long-awaited Fusion ERP applications in conjunction with the option to host and run them in the 'Oracle Cloud.' - SAP launched a $3.4bn bid for another of the best-performing SaaS pure-plays, HR solution provider SuccessFactors. It also reached a milestone of 1,000 customers for its SMB-focused SaaS ERP suite, Business ByDesign. - Microsoft launched Office365: cloud-hosted versions of its email and collaboration software offered on a pay-as-you-go basis - Sage launched its Sage One SaaS application for small businesses early in 2011 for the UK; following a successful 'soft launch' it announced plans to use the product as a global platform for other major country markets, suitably localised. Philip Carnelley, Research Director at PAC UK, states: "It is now clear that the major players following these trends are reaching a leadership position in offering SaaS, and thus look likely to dominate the cloud-based applications landscape just as they do the on-premise market." "Nonetheless, there is considerable scope for new entrants to make it big, as Salesforce.com has demonstrated, and the fact that the major players are having to buy their way into the market means that there is considerable uncertainty about their future roadmaps which will hold back customer investments", adds Carnelley. PAC's Global View report "Software as a Service - Market development, trends, challenges & risks" gives an insight into the developing global market for software applications delivered as a service from the Cloud ("SaaS"): the trends, challenges and opportunities for users and the vendor supply chain. For more information about the report please click here [http://bit.ly/ykSMR1]. About Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC): From strategy to execution, PAC delivers focused and objective responses to the growth chal-lenges of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) players. Founded in 1976, PAC is a privately held research & consulting firm for the software and ICT services market. PAC helps ICT vendors optimize their strategies by providing quantitative and qualitative market analysis as well as operational and strategic consulting. We advise CIOs and financial investors in evaluating ICT vendors and solutions and support their investment decisions. Public institutions and organizations also rely on our key analyses to develop and shape their ICT policies. For more information, please visit www.pac-online.com PAC Latest News: http://blog.pac-online.com For more information about the article: Author: Philip Carnelley Research Director T: + 44 (0) 20 7553 3961 [email protected] Press Contact: George Mironescu T : +44 (0) 20 7553 3966 [email protected] PAC UK Pierre Audoin Consultants 2nd Floor, 15 Bowling Green Lane London EC1R 0BD United Kingdom Tel.: +44 (0) 207 251 2810 Fax: +44 (0) 207 490 7335 [email protected] http://view.exacttarget.com ((M2 Communications disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to [email protected])). (c) 2012 M2 COMMUNICATIONS |