Companies of all sizes are planning to invest heavily in software-as-a-service (SaaS) over the next three years, according to a survey of 850 senior business executives by McKinsey & Co and Sand Hill Group.

The study found that 74% of respondents were ‘favourably disposed’ towards adopting an SaaS platform, with companies already spending 19% of budgets on subscription and on-demand services.

That is particularly evident among small and mid-sized companies. Those with less than 100 employees said they are currently committing 26% of their software budget
to subscription and on-demand services, while those with less than 1,000 are spending 17%. Companies above those levels spend 11% on such services.

SaaS and associated platforms also topped the survey’s ‘most important trends’ section, singled out by 31% of respondents as likely to have the greatest impact on their business. That put it ahead of web services/service-oriented architecture (25%) and offshore/globalisation (13%).

Further reading

Largest ever SaaS deal signed

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