SaaS Showplace®

Although the SaaS market has experienced tremendous growth over the past year, the current economic crisis is raising a new round of concerns regarding the fate of many SaaS companies.

IT and business decision-makers within large-scale enterprises, as well as small- and mid-size businesses (SMBs), are taking a very careful look at the financial viability of their SaaS suppliers. They don't want to fall victim to a failed vendor, like many did during the dot.com bubble and post-9/11 period.

Venture and private equity firms are also taking a closer look at their current and prospective portfolio companies. They are telling SaaS executives to cutback on their day-to-day operations and hoard cash.

Meanwhile the incumbent software vendors(iSVs) are circling the SaaS and cloud computing waters trying to determine if the economic crisis will allow them to extend their SaaS development and delivery cycles, or gives them a new opportunity to make acquisitions to accelerate and expand their SaaS efforts.

The SaaS Showplace has become the top-ranked online directory and resource center regarding these trends. The Showplace now includes over 950 companies with over 4500 listings in 80 Application, Industry and Enabling Technology categories!

This newsletter is now distributed to over 10,000 IT/business decision-makers, IT solution providers, press and investors!

We are pleased to welcome NTRglobal as our latest sponsor of the SaaS Showplace.

THINKstrategies has also become the leading 'trusted advisor' to,

IT/business decision-makers who want to leverage the right on-demand solutions to satisfy their needs;
IT solution providers who are trying to gain a competitive advantage in the market; and
Investors looking for the best SaaS and cloud computing companies to support.

This Update includes our latest views on the SaaS market and sponsor contributions to the Showplace Best Practices Portal, powered by iCentera.

Contact me if you'd like to learn how you can leverage the SaaS Showplace or THINKstrategies' consulting services to achieve your business objectives, or to give us your feedback.

Jeff Kaplan

Managing Director

THINKstrategies

A Look Back and Forward at the SaaS Market

The past year was a watershed period for the SaaS market. Demand exploded and the market expanded exponentially.

THINKstrategies' fourth annual SaaS customer survey, in conjunction with Cutter Consortium, revealed that SaaS adoption nearly doubled, jumping from 32% in 2007 to 63% in 2008! Customer satisfaction, renewal and referral rates were also well above 90% among our survey respondents.

Despite these extraordinary ratings, customer concerns continue to constrain SaaS growth. Concerns about SaaS reliability and support have been aggravated by outages at Amazon and Google. Concerns about security and compliance are being heightened by company layoffs. And, concerns about vendor viability are being fueled by the turbulent economy.

The 'cloud rush' of 2008 in which we saw a proliferation of new SaaS and cloud computing players, will give way to an industry shakeout in 2009, as weaker players fail or are acquired.

These trends will put more of a premium on corporate customers selecting strategic sources for their SaaS solutions. In addition, SaaS/cloud computing vendors must work harder to strengthen their strategic positions in the market.

Contact me if you'd like to discuss the implications of these trends and our survey findings on your company, or to learn more about how our services can help you achieve your business objectives.

New Showplace Sponsors, Whitepapers and Benefits

NTRglobal is the latest sponsor of THINKstrategies' SaaS Showplace. NTRglobal delivers enterprise-grade, on-demand, remote support services for PCs, servers and Windows Mobile devices and remote administration.

We've recently added the following vendor-sponsored THINKstrategies whitepapers to the SaaS Insights page of the Showplace,

The SaaS Showplace Best Practice Portal, powered by iCentera, also includes a library of many more whitepapers regarding important SaaS industry trend such as,

QuickArrow, a leading provider of professional services automation solutions (PSA), is also generously offering free copies of the book entitled, "Tips From the Trenches: The Collective Wisdom of Over 100 Professional Services Leaders." Click here to obtain a copy of this book.

Click here if you'd like to learn how you can increase your visibility and add your whitepapers to the SaaS Showplace.

Upcoming SaaS Events

Be sure to listen to the following webinars this month,

I am also moderating a SaaS and cloud computing track at NetworkWorld's IT Roadmap in Washington DC, on Tuesday, December 16.

Contact us if you'd like to learn how you can include THINKstrategies' perspective at your upcoming public or corporate event.

Special Holiday Charity Offer

From now until Christmas, THINKstrategies will accept whitepapers and webcasts from registered SaaS Showplace companies who would like to support the National Alliance to End Homelessness, a nonpartisan organization committed to preventing and ending homelessness in the United States. Click here to learn more.

THINKstrategies' SaaS Readiness Assessment Services

Despite growing customer demand for SaaS, THINKstrategies has found many aspiring providers of these on-demand services are still struggling to win a share of the market because of a variety of operational challenges.

In response, THINKstrategies offers a set of Readiness Assessment Services aimed at helping aspiring SaaS vendors develop and execute their go-to-strategies, service delivery capabilities, and sales processes. We also work with IT/business decision-makers who need help evaluating their SaaS needs and selecting the SaaS suppliers to satisfy their requirements.

These services are based on THINKstrategies' extensive experience in the SaaS market and 'ecosystem' of business relationships.