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SaaS trends in Asia
There is strong evidence to suggest that SaaS presents enormous opportunities for both service providers and existing software resellers.
According to Gartner, as much as 25 percent of new business software will be delivered as a service by 2011, up from just 5 percent in 2005 . In 2005 alone, the Asia-Pacific SaaS enterprise applications market stood at US$80 million. This market is projected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 84% from 2005 to 2008, faster than either Europe or North America. These predications are supported by Asian SMEs themselves, of which, according to a Springboard Research survey , 41% are aware of the SaaS concept. Furthermore, SMEs who have not adopted a SaaS model have expressed plans to do so within the next 12 months.
Higher than expected internet penetration in the region will continue to facilitate and grow the potential for SaaS. By June 2006, there were an estimated 486 million internet users in Asia and China alone. This number continues to grow rapidly with leapfrog technologies like Wimax which is estimated to make up 60% of the wireless broadband market by 2008 globally, with 45% of the user base expected to come from Asia.
For Service Providers such as telcos, internet service providers, (ISPs), managed service providers (MSPs), consultants and S.I.’s, who are already familiar with the financial implications of subscription-based billing, SaaS is an opportunity to introduce new revenue streams, lower customer churn, and increase profitability.
For existing software resellers it is SaaS which is providing the big growth opportunities. It is crucial for software resellers to establish themselves in SaaS now to position themselves at the front of this aggressive growth curve.
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