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Gartner: Key Issues for Software as a Service, 2009

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As organizations' capital budgets dry up, clients evaluating SaaS offerings are finding a market of increasingly viable and mature solutions. Gartner's SaaS agenda focuses on topics that have broad applicability to a wide range of software domain areas.

Topic Definition and Scope

Software as a service (SaaS) is getting looked at by organizations whose capital budgets are drying up during this economic slowdown. This will cause SaaS deployments to receive potentially greater pieces of shrinking IT budgets in 2009. However, companies looking at SaaS out of budget necessity must practice proper due diligence. What may appear to be the answer to getting much-needed software capabilities without busting the 2009 budget can very quickly become problematic. Documenting proper service-level agreements, examining the security and privacy of a SaaS provider's data center operations, and understanding the computing scale and software configuration capabilities are just a few of the elements a company must look at during a proper SaaS deployment.

Originally called an "application service provider," SaaS has grown in scope and acceptance. Gartner defines SaaS as "software that's owned, delivered and managed remotely by one or more providers." The provider delivers software based on a single set of common code and data definitions that are consumed in a one-to-many model by all contracted customers anytime, on a pay-for-use basis, or as a subscription based on use metrics. SaaS is being adopted in multiple enterprise markets, such as CRM (for example, CRM on demand), human capital management (for example, performance management and recruitment), workplace collaboration, procurement, e-mail and enterprise integration (for example, integration as a service). Each market that has adopted SaaS may use different terminology, and may have variations in functionality, but all market categories that adhere to our definition, regardless of terminology, would be considered SaaS solutions, as long as they meet the basic SaaS criteria outlined herein.

The purpose of Gartner's SaaS agenda is to provide foundational, cross-domain research for user organizations and vendors in multiple software domain markets. The objective here isn't to provide research on comparing CRM, human capital management or procurement SaaS vendors, because that will be accomplished in the CRM research agenda (the same is true for other research topics, such as human resources and enterprise integration), the objective is to provide a SaaS vendor evaluation framework that can be used by CRM, human resources or any other application of the SaaS delivery model. In 2009, new emerging concepts, such as cloud computing and infrastructure utilities, will have an impact on SaaS delivery. The following Key Issues affect user organizations and vendors deploying or providing SaaS.


Key Issue: How will SaaS evolve to deliver increased value to customers?

Background and Context: Lower costs during the first two years of SaaS and quicker deployment times are very enticing for companies with tight budgets and urgent software needs. Although these benefits may be enticing, taking a longer-term view of the impact of a SaaS delivery model on an organization may yield a different result. Measuring the ability of SaaS to meet business needs during a three- to five-year period will provide a more complete picture. Cost, derived business value and agility to meet evolving business conditions are just a few of the metrics SaaS must be measured against.

Impact: A balanced view of the SaaS delivery model enables user organizations to accurately assess the business impact SaaS will have on their companies, as opposed to focusing only on alternative IT deployment techniques.

Planned Research: Our research in this area will provide cross-software domain frameworks for users to assess the business impact and value of SaaS on their organizations, including total cost of ownership and other comparative deployment model frameworks. Our research will also address how SaaS can be used to support and improve end-to-end processes.

Published Research:

"Essential SaaS Overview and Guide to SaaS Research"

"The Role of SaaS in IT Modernization"

"SaaS Must Be Put on CIO Agendas"


Key Issue: How will SaaS technology and architecture meet the needs of evolving business models?

Background and Context: There's no single architectural approach to delivering SaaS. Vendors have chosen architectures ranging from a grid metadata model to providing complete separation of databases for each customer. With the advent of cloud computing and multilayer virtualization, architectural options will continue to expand.

Impact: Security, reliability, and integration with other SaaS and on-premises solutions are among the many concerns related to a SaaS provider's technology and architecture.

Planned Research: Our research in this area will provide cross-software domain frameworks for users to assess the business impact that SaaS architectures and emerging concepts, such as SaaS application platform as a service, will have on their organizations.

Published Research:

"Reference Architecture for Multitenancy: Enterprise Computing 'in the Cloud'"

"SaaS Integration: How to Choose the Best Approach"

"Tutorial for Understanding the Relationship Between Cloud Computing and SaaS"

"Ten Challenges for Successful Composite Multienterprise SaaS Integration"

"Critical Recovery Questions to Ask SaaS Providers"

"Hybrid SaaS: Questions and Answers"


Key Issue: How will SaaS impact buyer and market dynamics for software and IT services?

Background and Context: SaaS has altered the software buying and provisioning dynamics for many companies. Business buyers have gained more control over their destinies, and no longer need to rely solely on the IT organization to deliver capabilities. Early SaaS successes in markets such as human resources, CRM, Web analytics and Web conferencing will serve as the foundation for growth in other markets during the next five years. However, don't assume that SaaS will replace traditional, on-premises software delivery models for all software categories.

Impact: Vendors and user organizations should be aware of changes in SaaS buying habits by market segment, as they relate to delivery, provisioning, pricing and risk. Not all market segments will be suited for SaaS.

Planned Research: Our research in this area will analyze emerging buying trends, as well as the maturity of SaaS in different software segments and geographic markets during the next five years.

Published Research:

"The State of SaaS, 2008"

"Hype Cycle for Software as a Service, 2008"

"The Role of SaaS Changes as Market Segments Evolve"

"Five Main Technical Challenges of SaaS for ISVs"

"Six Business Challenges of SaaS for ISVs"

"Market Trends: Software as a Service, Worldwide, 2007-2012"

"User Survey Analysis: Software as a Service, Enterprise Application Markets, Worldwide, 2008"

"Market Trends: Software as a Service, Worldwide, 2007-2012"


Key Issue: What SaaS best practices will be required for maximizing business value?

Background and Context: A successful SaaS project has multiple components, including staffing a project team; funding and designing from a life cycle perspective; managing risk associated with confidentiality, integrity and availability; negotiating a contract; choosing members of the pilot group; and training. With some SaaS deployments now approaching five years of maturity or more, we will provide research on how best to optimize and manage already deployed SaaS solutions.

Impact: Understanding SaaS best practices enables companies to achieve faster implementation times, and to derive benefits and results for deploying SaaS solutions. Innovations in business strategies, processes and technologies also help companies maintain a competitive advantage by adopting leading competencies.

Planned Research: We will provide practices that demonstrate leadership in all facets of deploying SaaS solutions. These practices will be applicable to multiple software domains and industry environments.

Published Research:

"Shelfware as a Service: Paying for Unused SaaS Subscriptions"

"SaaS Contracting Guide: Avoid Costly Mistakes"

"Best Practices for Negotiating Software-as-a-Service Contracts"

"Case Study: Japan Post Improves Customer Service Effectiveness With SaaS and APaaS"

"Case Study: How a Dutch Insurer Increased Revenue With SaaS"

"Toolkit: SaaS Readiness Assessment Checklist"

"Toolkit: How to Evaluate a Software Vendor's Commitment to SaaS"

"Toolkit Presentation: Five Steps to Developing a SaaS Strategy"

"Location Matters: A Model for Assessing Information Risk"

"Assessing the Security Risks of Products and Services"

Source:https://www.gartner.com/resources/164800/164873/key_issues_for_software_as_a_164873.pdf

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