SaaS's cost effectiveness, ease and speed of deployment, meant that nearly 90 per cent of organizations surveyed, in eight major countries in the Asia Pacific, Europe and the US, expected to maintain or grow their use of the 'remotely-hosted software rental' model.

In the June and July 2008 global survey, which attracted 25 qualified respondents, Gartner found that organisations consistently said they were changing to a SaaS solution, because the total cost of operation of traditional software was becoming too costly.

Overall, Gartner's survey found that 37 per cent of respondents were currently transitioning from an on-premises solution to a SaaS solution. This drive is particularly significant in the Asia Pacific where 50 per cent of respondents indicated that they were shifting away from on-premises and India indicated a 70 per cent conversion.

Greater US confidence

North American respondents showed a greater confidence that their organizations will increase investments in products offered as SaaS or through a subscription model through year-end 2010, compared with those in Europe and the Asia Pacific. Sixty two per cent of North American respondents said that they expected new investments to increase slightly and 15 per cent said that they expected new investments to increase significantly compared with 49 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively, in Europe and 55 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively, in the Asia Pacific.