78% considering SaaS

John Fontana of NetworkWorld is writing about the rise of SaaS....interesting quotes:

A survey released in November by AMR Research shows that more than 78% of 500 respondents across major vertical industries and company sizes are currently using or considering software-as-a-service. Only 18% said they have no plans to consider software-as-a-service.

In an October survey of 118 IT professionals by Cutter Consortium, an IT advisory firm, 65% of respondents said they were using or considering software-as-a-service, while 35% said they are not considering it. Of the 34% who are considering adopting software-as-a-service, 82% said they plan to do it in the next six to 12 months.

And *why* is SaaS gaining such momentum? (again quoting)

"Users are saying I would be nutty not to at least give [software-as-a-service] strong consideration going forward," says Bill Gannon, vice president of consulting for AMR. "Whether they do it is another item, but upwards of 60% of customers are saying to get on my short list, software-as-a-service is one of the key criteria I am looking for. What they are saying is they recognize all the promised benefits of decreased cycle time, faster time to value, lower cost per user, lower [total cost of ownership], not to mention the change in the economic model from a capitalized expenditure to a manageable [monthly] expense."

I wouldn't underestimate the power of that last poinnt -- from capital expenditure to manageable monthly expense -- those types of accounting changes can be very powerful in some business models.