SaaS Sees Fastest Growth In Cloud Computing

Cloud computing in the Software as a Service (SaaS) form is growing at faster rates globally than the other cloud models, according to accounting firm KPMG. The global SaaS market generated revenues of $12.3 billion in 2011, an increase from $10 billion in 2010. And it is projected to expand further this year - by some $2.2 billion, KPMG says.

In the SaaS model, also known as on-demand software, organisations can access software online, which spares them the requirement to maintain applications internally.

In its "Embracing the Cloud - KPMG's 2011 Global Cloud Survey" report, the accounting firm reveals that 46% of end-users in a poll, which included over 900 executives in 15 countries, would most likely invest in cloud-delivered SaaS. The Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) models lagged behind, being the top choice for likely investment of 35% and 34% of the respondents, respectively.

According to KPMG, the growth registered in the cloud computing market worldwide is driven by companies' need to trim costs. In the SaaS segment, in particular, belt-tightening is one of the three main drivers, alongside the ease and speed of deployment of the model and its rising adoption overall by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Region-wise, North America accounted for the lion's share of the global SaaS market in 2011 - 63.4%, on the back of a 20% year-on-year increase in revenues to $7.8 billion, data provided by Gartner shows. Western Europe saw SaaS revenues grow 23.3% to $2.7 billion, while Asia Pacific bumped up its figure by 21.5% to $730.9 million.