Ecosystems to Accelerate SaaS Adoption in Asia
By CXOtoday Staff
Mumbai, Jun 11, 2008 1445 hrs IST

The Springboard report, titled "SaaS Enablement - The Emerging Ecosystem," points out that the current SaaS ecosystem landscape in Asia is comprised of pure SaaS application providers such as Salesforce.com, NetSuite, and WebEx. The new age SaaS enabling technology and infrastructure include providers like OpSource and Jamcracker, established system integrators and technology providers like IBM and Microsoft. It also includes application hosting service providers like WebCentral and Kaz, and telecommunications service providers such as Tata Communications and Telstra, all of whom are bolstering SaaS growth in Asia Pacific. Balaka Baruah Aggarwal, senior manager of emerging software for Springboard Research said, "As enterprises become used to buying SaaS and as more and more ISVs step in to fill demand for additional applications, the importance of a robust SaaS ecosystem will grow. According to Baruah the analysis of these ecosystems indicate that although they are still in an early stage of evolution in the region, going forward they will play a key role in the growth and expansion of Asia Pacific's SaaS market. Springboard also added that many SaaS vendors are building ecosystems to broaden their offerings and to create a portfolio of integrated business applications through partnerships with other ISVs. Salesforce.com's AppExchange, IBM's SaaS Showcase, WebCentral's Application Marketplace and Jamcracker's Service Delivery Network are all positioned as marketplaces for on-demand software applications. In addition, these ecosystems aim to attract ISVs with a range of incentives that include access to technology, infrastructure and customers. Telecom companies in the SaaS ecosystem Springboard's research report further stated that telecom companies have started participating in the SaaS ecosystem as it provides an opportunity to expand their offerings to enterprises. Examples of this include Tata Communications in India (which tied-up with Microsoft to sell communication and collaboration software as a service to SMB customers) and Telstra (through its subsidiary, Kaz) in Australia. Related Links: Serena Software goes the SaaS Way "Saas can help organizations in data management"