Australian SaaS market targeted in 2009

Australian ISVs have flagged software-as-a-service (SaaS) as a target growth market in 2009 as many intensify efforts to develop applications amidst the economic downturn.

Coordimax managing director, Martin O’Connor, said the company was in the process of taking its applications to the browser.

“Lots of our customers are asking for it,” O’Connor said. “With the economy in the state that it’s in, we need to offer choices. I see big systems, such as accounting applications, remaining in house, but other applications, such as CRM and help desks, will appeal as SaaS solutions.”

QSR International CEO, John Owen, said it was also looking at developing SaaS applications.

“SaaS appeals to those not sure of the total need of ownership at the time – they would rather purchase applications as they need them and better manage cost structure as a result,” he said.

“Customers will be able to access more powerful tools without investing in the total cost of ownership.”

Recent research by Evans Data that polled more than 1300 programmers worldwide revealed that more than half of all developers will work on SaaS applications this year; the highest percentage (30 per cent) was found in North America.

Manage Protect vice-president of sales and marketing, Andrew Johnson, said the SaaS specialist distributor had also noticed a spike in interest in the applications.

“In 2009, we see integrators and VARs moving more towards managed services, and SaaS is a means to offer that to customers,” Johnson said.

“In Australia, SaaS, and particularly security-based SaaS applications, look to be a recession proof industry. We’re seeing some changes with the big players. MessageLabs is shaping up to be a SaaS player following its acquisition by Symantec, for instance.”