The Impact of SaaS on the Professional Services Industry
Software as a service (SaaS), sometimes referred to as "on-demand software," is becoming an increasingly effective and popular way to implement various business applications. This delivery approach has gained traction in application areas where there is value to "networked" or integrated functions within the application. There have also been large numbers of applications that embed business intelligence capabilities that take advantage of the integrated nature of the information with a SaaS application. Most significantly, there is a growing recognition of the positive aspects of the total cost of ownership (TCO) for companywide, enterprise-level applications.
There is little question that SaaS is becoming well-established as a way to deliver business applications. Based on our research, over 50% of professional services firms are using some form of the hosted application, and another 35% are considering it. The historical view among large professional services companies has been that a SaaS application is functionally limited; however, this view is changing. For small and midsize professional services firms, enterprise-level applications delivered as a service have been the most appealing. Tight IT budgets prevent an adequate level of IT support and infrastructure to manage in-house application systems. IDC is also seeing a growing interest from larger professional services firms to identify opportunities to implement SaaS solutions.
There is little question that the TCO can favor SaaS for both large and small companies. But the additional benefits of adaptability, comprehensive functionality, and ease of use also favor integrated applications delivered using a SaaS model.
IN THIS WHITE PAPER
This white paper looks at the growing applicability of SaaS for enterprise-level business applications in the professional services industry. According to the anecdotal experiences of our client organizations that have deployed SaaS, a hosted option can drive significant cost savings, reduce initial implementation times, and bring new functionality with relative ease and convenience.
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