Hazy role for channels in Asia's SaaS market
ConvergenceAsia staff
20/05/2007

Springboard Research, an IT market research company, and Channel Enablers, a global channel consultancy, training, and solutions company, have revealed in their latest Software as a Service (SaaS) in Asia research that while SaaS is growing very rapidly in Asia with increased adoption and awareness, the role of the traditional IT channel in this new ecosystem is still unclear.

"SaaS has undergone a very substantial increase in awareness and adoption in the last 12 months," said Dane Anderson, CEO & EVP of Research for Springboard Research.

"Awareness jumped from 41 percent in 2006 to 61 percent in 2007, so SaaS is undoubtedly gaining traction in the market. With SaaS market revenues expected to grow 86 percent this year in Asia (excluding Japan), satisfaction levels for SaaS are currently very high, and the increased interest by larger vendors like Microsoft and SAP, we expect SaaS to continue to gain adoption."

Research also found that 73 percent of end-users perceived the role of the channel as ‘helpful’, with 68 percent of end-users further responding that the channel was ‘necessary’ for SaaS.

However, when looking at areas where end-users see the channel adding value (67 percent named ‘Training’, 55 percent indicated ‘Comfort via Face-to-Face Interaction’), they tended to be the areas of least interest to the channel.

‘Installation and Integration’, typically the highest profit areas for the channel, ranked lowest in this category with 48 percent, and 47 percent, respectively.
Said Greg Eckstein, Channel Enablers Vice President for Asia, "Up until now, the channel has been largely irrelevant to SaaS across Asia with close to 100 percent of end-users purchasing directly from the vendor."
"And although end-users see a role for the channel with SaaS, the areas they value are typically much less profitable for the channel," he added.
 

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