Springboard research predicts a bright future for SaaS in Asia

Information technology market researchers at Singapore-based Springboard Research have released a study that shows strong growth in the Asian Software as a Service market in 2005, and sees a rosy future as well. Revenue of the studied area (the continent minus Japan) increased over eighty percent to $80 million in 2005, with CRM currently representing about half of Asian SaaS revenue.

Springboard prognostication has the market growing a whopping sixfold-plus to $501 million by 2008 with the juice expected to be provided from the collaboration and security sectors. A second survey showed that, in the small- and medium-sized business market in Asia, vendors cited cost benefits (with some companies reporting 55% savings), ease of use, and general business improvement as the top three reasons for adopting SaaS.

The small- and medium-sized business market is the largest in Asia. Large-sized corporations show some interest in SaaS, but such interest is still somewhat low. “The SaaS market is receiving considerable focus from software vendors operating in various spheres of the industry,” Springboard Research vice president of research Dane Anderson summarized, adding that there is “a healthy dose of respect for the power of SaaS to disrupt the competitive frameworks of the software industry in the future.”