Web-hosted software on the rise

The global credit crunch could prove to be a boost to the software as a service (SaaS) sector, as businesses opt to spread software spending over a longer period, according to research.

A survey for vendor BIW Technologies suggests the SaaS – where software is hosted on the internet rather than bought as a package - could double its annual revenue in the UK to £2.5bn over the next three years.

More than 65 per cent of the 300 IT directors surveyed thought the current economic climate – already boosting the performance of some IT services companies – would lead to greater SaaS uptake.

Research from analyst Forrester Research shows uptake of SaaS tripled in large companies last year.

Almost 70 per cent of those surveyed thought the proportion of their overall software needs that would be provided by SaaS would at least double over the next five years, from around 15 per cent currently to more than 30 per cent.

But there were concerns over security: 70 per cent of survey respondents thought that SaaS was potentially more of a security risk than traditional software because it is hosted online and could be subject to hacking.

See also:

Red Hat profit up 28 per cent

Annual revenue for the open source firm rose 31 per cent to £262m  28 Mar 2008

Procter & Gamble adopts online workspace system

Manufacturer is using service-oriented architecture to provide workers with flexible data access  27 Mar 2008

Oracle income up 30 per cent

Software giant's acquisition strategy continues to reap dividends  27 Mar 2008

Like this story? Spread the news by clicking below:

 del.icio.us     Digg this     reddit!