IDC Insight: European organizations ready for Software-as-a-Service
By Manufacturing Business Technology Staff -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 4/9/2008 1:04:00 PM
In a recent end-user survey by IDC, of 2,077 IT decision makers in organizations with more than 20 employees in Western Europe, 37 percent of respondents say they would invest in Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) in the next 24 months to replace or supplement the functionality of existing ERP solutions.
Regarding CRM solutions, 35 percent would replace or supplement existing solutions in 24 months; 32 percent say they would do so for supply chain management (SCM) solutions.
These positive and ambitious spending indications by Western European end users were not limited to a particular country or company size segment. In fact, they highlight a positive attitude across all segments. Large enterprises were most positive about ERP solutions, while for CRM solutions, midsize companies lead in SaaS spending plans. By country, Spain and Italy are more bullish than the U.K., Germany, and France when it comes to SaaS.
"We were somewhat surprised that European end users are so positive when it comes to investing in business solutions delivered as a service," says Bo Lykkegaard, research director in IDC's European Enterprise Applications and Services program. "We believe SaaS spending will be directed at new applications and at replacement of broken applications, rather than at ripping and replacing working solutions. European organizations seek to leverage the SaaS delivery model to reduce risk, complexity, and upfront costs of new IT initiatives."
These findings are documented in a report series published by IDC:
1) Western European Software-as-a-Service Attitudes and Plans, an IDC Survey, 2008 (IDC #LC02Q, January 2008)
2) An End-User Perspective of the European ERP Market in 2008 (IDC #LC03Q, February 2008)
3) An End-User Perspective of the European CRM Market in 2008 (IDC #LC04Q, March 2008)
4) An End-User Perspective of the European SCM Market in 2008 (forthcoming)
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