SaaS Expenditures To Reach $15 Billion This Year

Organizations are putting more of their IT budgets into software as a service (SaaS). According to a report from market research firm Gartner, spending on SaaS will reach nearly $15 billion this year and will grow to more than $22 billion in 2015. These numbers include new licenses, subscriptions, upgrades, and support services across all sectors worldwide.

"After more than a decade of use, adoption of SaaS continues to grow and evolve regionally within the enterprise application markets," said Sharon Mertz, research director at Gartner in a prepared statement. "Increasing familiarity with the SaaS model, continued oversight on IT budgets, the growth of platform as a service (PaaS) developer communities, and interest in cloud computing are now driving adoption forward."

SaaS is more widely used in North America, especially the United States, than anywhere else in the world.

North American organizations are forecast to spend $9.1 billion on SaaS in 2012, or almost two-thirds of worldwide SaaS spending. The most popular applications include expense management, financials, e-mail, and office suites. However, North American organizations use Web conferencing solutions more than other regions because the workforce is more highly distributed.

According to Gartner, "Users have found that using SaaS reduces the burden of application management, increases the ease and agility of deployment, and reduces initial costs of implementation."

Mertz said that the two biggest issues North American organizations encounter when deploying SaaS are limited flexibility of customization and limited integration to existing systems.

The complete SaaS forecast report is available on the Gartner site. Gartner will release its global IT spending forecast April 5.

About the Author

Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • minimalist bookcase filled with textbooks featuring vibrant, solid-colored spines with no text, and a prominent number "25" displayed on one of the shelves

    OpenStax Celebrates 25th Anniversary

    OpenStax is celebrating its 25th anniversary as 2024 comes to a close. The open educational resources initiative from Rice University has served almost 37 million students in 153 countries and saved students nearly $3 billion in course material costs since its launch in 1999.

  • abstract geometric pattern of glowing interconnected triangles, hexagons, and circles in blue, gold, and white, spread across a dark navy-to-black gradient background

    OpenAI Unveils 'Operator' AI for Performing Web Tasks

    OpenAI has launched "Operator," an AI agent designed to perform web-based tasks autonomously using its own browser. Currently available as a research preview for Pro users in the United States, the tool aims to automate everyday activities such as filling out forms, ordering groceries, and even creating memes.

  • Two professionals, one male and one female, discuss AI regulations in a modern office with holographic displays showing legal documents, balance scales, and neural network symbols.

    Congressional Task Force Releases Recommendations for AI Governance

    The bipartisan House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence recently released its recommendations to bolster American leadership in AI.

  • digital network with glowing blue and red lines, featuring multiple red arrows shifting in different directions

    Report: Attackers Change Tactics as Ransomware Payoffs Decline

    Attackers are changing tactics as they collect less money from ransomware payoffs, according to a new report from Chainalysis, a blockchain analytics firm.