MARKET REPORT SaaS
Dealing with SaaS
Disruptors
Nowhere is the pace of change in technology more apparent, more crucial for
vendors and more vital for users than in the sphere of software development. Not
only has this sector had to cope with a change in deployment model to SaaS but
also had to contend with industry giants for market share
The software market is both
dynamic and challenging
for all concerned - not
only to vendors and
channels need to keep up with
developments but also to users
needing to maintain awareness
of groundbreaking features that
could impact upon their business
fortunes.
Of course, the cloud market
is bigger than just SaaS as
Chandler Song, Co-Founder
and CEO of Ankr, a company
that is a proponent of cloud
computing that is accessible and
instantly distributed across the
globe, points out.
Song says that today, cloud
computing can be broken
down into three main services:
Infrastructure-as-a-Service
(IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service
(PaaS), and Software-as-a-
Service (SaaS).
While each type of cloud
platform has its own unique
advantages and use cases, at
a basic level each o ers the
universal bene ts that come with
sharing computing resources,
including scalability, ease of
use, lowered costs, burgeoning
ecosystems, and access to the
latest technology.
Progressively, over the
last decade, the question for
businesses is no longer a matter
of whether the implementation
of cloud is necessary, but rather
how or when it’ll take place.
While enterprises can
undoubtedly reap huge bene ts
from implementing cloud
computing solutions, they
come with certain drawbacks as
well. According to statistics by
Synergy Research Group, there
is a massive imbalance in the
cloud computing market share.
In 2017, the top ve giants—
Amazon, Microsoft, IBM,
Google, and Alibaba—owned
a combined market share of
almost 75% of the entire public
cloud market.
is is a result of these tech
conglomerates purposefully
targeting enterprise users to move
their workloads onto the cloud.
Chandler Song says that
while increased adoption is a
good thing, it also means that
companies may implement
solutions without a real
understanding or without really
identifying a clear need.
“ eir market dominance
also comes at the expense of the
small-to-medium sized cloud
operators who, lacking the scale
and nancial muscle of these
leaders, are unable to keep pace
with their larger competitors.
e existing monopoly of
cloud computing services can
also signi cantly impact the
ability of smaller businesses
to implement such solutions,
by making access to the cloud
incredibly expensive.”
We asked channel suppliers
if they found this to actually be
the case.
With cloud-based business
process deployment now
a given, are there common
differentiators for any given
application set?
Renat Zubairov, CEO and
co-founder, elastic.io, says the
SaaS industry has created
a challenge for itself
in not only attracting
customers and creating
di erentiation, but in the
related aspects of pressure
to make their products
‘sticky’ so that they have
time to secure revenue
and make a pro t from
the subscription model.
“ e continued
rise of the integrated
enterprise is fuelling a
new trend where we see
customers no longer
selecting a product, they
choose an ecosystem.
e impact on the buying
decision is that functionality
remains important, but
interoperability is critical (see
2019 Okta report). Customers
will discount applications that
don’t o er full integration
capability with the other systems
that are already in place. As a
result, solutions are no longer
assessed on their individual
merit and a key di erentiator
becomes their capability to
integrate with and contribute to
an ecosystem.”
Graham Wilkinson, Head
of Sales at Beyond Connectivity
Graham Wilkinson, Head of Sales at
Beyond Connectivity
notes that whilst there will
always be niche areas the market
is now dominated by a broad
spectrum of SaaS solutions.
“Key players are going after
key markets to grow faster such
as CRM applications. SaaS is
becoming more universal as the
world continues to shrink and
people work from anywhere.
ere are a lot of opportunities
fuelled by growing demand in
what is a developing sector.”
Lindsay Willott, CEO at
Customer ermometer, a
support, service and helpdesk
rm that provides customer
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