Demand for SaaS Business Applications Segmented by US Vertical Market

SaaS (Software as a Service) is creating a lot of hype in the market place as an alternative to traditional, installed licenses for business management applications. In its March 2008 SaaS survey, In-Stat asked US-based survey respondents about their usage of six specific business function-related applications delivered in the SaaS model: CRM, ERP, SCM, HR, Salesforce automation, and Web collaboration applications.

In-Stat also questioned respondents about their use of Microsoft Office-esque productivity applications (word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation applications) delivered as a service specifically to gauge the impact that SaaS productivity applications might have on Microsoft' s dominant position in this space.

This report is broken out into two sections; the first focuses on demand for business function-related SaaS applications, the second focuses on demand for SaaS productivity applications. Covered are the crucial reasons why businesses are or are not interested in these applications, as well as who they turn to as providers.

• Education
• Government
• Healthcare
• Professional Services

Survey data from these four vertical markets is presented and compared to results from respondents across the entire US market.

A forecast of total US business application hosting revenues through 2012 is also included.