IDC Predicts Strong Growth in SaaS for 2009

Research firm IDC recently reissued its projections for SaaS in 2009 and the story is a good one.  Contrary to most economic and development forecasts these days, IDC expects the SaaS market to increase dramatically in 2009.  This is consistent with the predictions PeopleCube recently made about the growth in SaaS due to the productivity benefits and cost savings of the SaaS model.

As Phil Wainewright of ZDNet reports in his SaaS blog, IDC expects SaaS growth to exceed 40% in 2009, up for 36% as previously forecasted in July of 2008.  Why?  According to IDC:

"… the harsh economic climate will actually accelerate the growth prospects for the software as a service (SaaS) model as vendors position offerings as right-sized, zero-CAPEX alternatives to on-premise applications. Buyers will opt for easy-to-use subscription services which meter current use, not future capacity, and vendors and partners will look for new products and recurring revenue streams.”

This falls in direct line to what we (PeopleCube) are hearing from customers and prospects.  What is it that makes SaaS so appealing when budgets are being slashed?  As we indicated, software-as-a-service accelerates a customer’s adoption of the application, which helps provide a quick return on investment. It offers a very affordable total cost of ownership, as well as the ability to increase—or decrease—usage as needs change. 

You should take a look at PeopleCube's recent press release that discusses the 2009 cost-saving predictions, including substantial growth in SaaS, alternative workspace, data reporting, and integrated workspace management.