Why will enterprises Move to SaaS?, Exerpts from Amy Wohl's Weblog,

For a long time, we (the IT industry) told ourselves that SaaS would not be very tempting to large enterprises, except for specific narrow applications serving detached locations or supporting an application used only rarely or by a very few users. These executives are betting after careful research that large enterprises might be wiling to rent some of their applications (and their underlying infrastructure); think of it as a new kind of outsourcing.

(1) Some software vendors think of this as a new selling tool. They believe that enterprises will use their applications in SaaS mode for a while (for as long as it pleases them) and then, if they wish, seamlessly convert to using the software in-house, under their own control.

(2) Others think there are some applications which even for enterprises have become commoditized outside of their areas of core competency. If the SaaS provider can offer these applications reliably and inexpensively, the enterprise IT department can focus its resources on more valuable (and more interesting) projects.

(3) A few SaaS providers are offering entirely new applications (based on web exploitation), or new versions of enterprise requirements (like financials or inventory control), designed in a whole new way. These are intended to provide a competitive advantage by offering faster implementation, different business models, or new features.

The SMB Market Will Benefit, Too
Prashanth RaiTag(s):SaaS