SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) Products And Business Models Will Have Selective Impact

Here is InfoWorld’s Chris Kanaracus interview with Forrester’s principal analyst Liz Herbert “Analytics, service orchestration, and mobility are just a few of the new facets of on-demand software”.

Liz Herbert’s report identifies five key areas of change for SaaS: Industry specialization, embedded analytics, orchestration of multiple services, social networking, and mobility.

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) is an important new set of capabilities and engagement models in the IT industry, particularly in the emerging world of cloud computing. We project that SaaS offerings will grow from 7% of total software revenues in 2010 to 17% in 2013.

“Some industry solutions will go beyond encapsulated best practices and code templates to include bundles of applications, either in a preconfigured, ready-to-go solution or in a cloud orchestration or marketplace model for a specific industry,” Herbert wrote.

“Faced with the proliferation of SaaS applications and smaller, often riskier vendors, some firms want a simpler solution that will provide a single point of responsibility for contracting, billing, provisioning, support, integration, upgrades, and testing,” she wrote. Right now, vendors like Hewlett-Packard are offering such services, but for the most part, they are “one-off, ad hoc arrangements.” However, buyers can expect this model to mature, she added.

SaaS buyers also need to ensure their providers have a strong social media strategy and capabilities, according to Herbert. “Leading firms recruit through channels such as Facebook and Second Life and talk to customers through Twitter and Facebook,” she wrote. “Sourcing executives must look for solutions that can integrate social information into traditional sources of information, including analytics that can take a 360-degree view of employees, customers, and products.”

“Mobile is still a newer trend for most SaaS solutions. Cool and innovative features may not have much value if your workforce has older devices,” she wrote. But over the next 10 years, falling prices, advancements in battery life and high-speed coverage as well as other factors “will drive mobility to the forefront,” she added.

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The source: Forrester: As SaaS matures, buyers face new considerations

To purchase the report “Which Software Markets Will SaaS Disrupt?” from Forrester’s website for price: US $2495