18 July, 2007 - 12:45pm

CIO Insight recently wrote an in-depth article on why businesses are turning to software-as-a-service citing "fast software implementation with reduced upfront investment and minimal IT staff resources". They examine a number of SaaS uses cases such as Optimus Solutions, who needed a new CRM system that was a short ramp to implementation and simple to use for employees. They selected Salesforce along with several integrated applications, including Sxip Access, for its authentication and ability to synchronize IDs and passwords from their corporate Active Directory. Optimus' satisfaction has lead them to look at "the SaaS market to see if there is an appropriate solution each time we open the books on a new business challenge".

The article further states that this multiplicity of SaaS implementations is reflected in the tremendous growth predicted by Gartner, who estimate that SaaS revenues will triple by 2011 reaching over $19 billion. Gartner analyst Robert Desisto states of SaaS adoption, "It is clearly a disruptive force causing virtually all software players to provide some type of service solution".