TechValidate Survey Report: SaaS

Application Trends and Challenges

TechValidate Survey Report: SaaS Application Trends and Challenges 2

The current growth rates and investments in SaaS are astounding. In 2016, SaaS is

forecasted to account for 25% of all new business software purchases1. Technology

innovation for SaaS received $11.7B in VC funding in 2014, a 70% YoY increase2.

Why are companies implementing and deploying SaaS solutions, and what are their

biggest concerns and challenges? How does Akamai stand up to these challenges?

TechValidate Research surveyed over 60 Akamai customers in roles associated with

choosing, implementing, and maintaining a SaaS platform. The results show a

wide range of vertical and horizontal uses, the importance of web security, and the

significance of SaaS application availability.

Most Popular SaaS Applications

Of the SaaS applications developed, there was a blend of horizontal

and vertical web applications. Of the horizontal applications, 47%

were for Service and Support, 41% for Business Intelligence/Analytics,

and 31% for Collaboration. Of the vertical applications developed,

24% were for Marketing, 15% were for e-learning applications,

12% for Finance applications, and 10% for HR applications.

Fast Fact – Over 50% of CRM

applications will be cloud based in 20166.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

47%

41%

31%

29%

24%

17%

15%

12%

10%

7%

2%

Service and Support

Business Intelligence/Analytics

Collaboration

Marketing

Sales

Other

E-Learning

Finance

HR

Healthcare

Real Estate

Most Popular SaaS Applications

TechValidate Survey Report: SaaS Application Trends and Challenges 3

Top Concerns with Adopting SaaS

The traditional software deployment model for on-premise software is expected to significantly shrink from

34% to 18% by 20173. The top concerns with adopting SaaS varied from business reasons to web application

performance and security threats.

Top SaaS Challenges Addressed with Akamai

Clients have adopted Akamai to improve global web and mobile application performance and availability. They also

chose Akamai to defend web applications against DDoS and data breach attacks. Here the respondents indicated the

top challenges that Akamai’s cloud-based solution addressed.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

61%

49%

34%

29%

27%

Customer Satisfaction

Slow/unreliable control

DDoS attacks

Application-layer attacks

Loss of control

Top Concerns with Adopting SaaS

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

53%

43%

37%

16%

14%

Poor web site and/or application performance

Reaching new users in new global regionsin a timely, cost-e�ective manner

Di�culty scaling on demand to meetadditional infrastructure

Inconsistent availability of site and applications

Need to maximize new users in new globalregions in a timely, cost e�ective manner

Top SaaS Challenges Addressed with Akamai

TechValidate Survey Report: SaaS Application Trends and Challenges 4

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

56%

24%

9%

9%

9%

4%

Downtime

Poor performing web sites andapplications due to cyberattacks

Revenue loss due to downtimecaused by cyberattacks

Brand issues/customer trustissues due to cyberattacks

Corporate and regulatory compliance

Personal identi�able informationprotection and loss

Web Security Challenges Addressed with Akamai

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

36%

25%

25%

23%

14%

14%

Coverage: we needed 24/7 �always on”security coverage

Expertise: we needed additional intelligenceand knowledge from outside experts

Proactive: we wanted to be ready to respondto today’s changing threat landscape

Cost: we wanted to save on oursecurity coverage

Spend: we were looking for an operational vs.capital expense model (OPEX vs. CAPEX)

Compliance: we were responding to anupcoming audit or internal directive

Why Akamai Cloud Security

Protect Data and Defend Against Attacks

Businesses need to innovate without fear. Unfortunately, web security

threats, such as DDoS attacks and data breaches, represent very real

vulnerabilities for SaaS application providers. Akamai’s highly scalable,

always-on Cloud Security Solutions defend against these threats,

helping to reduce the risk of network downtime, protect revenue, and

maintain web application performance during cyberattacks.

Web Security Challenges Addressed with Akamai

Why Akamai Cloud Security

Fast Fact

– Software and technology companies

ranked #2 in DDoS attacks in Q3 20154

– 70% say security is a top concern

(IT & business managers)5.

TechValidate Survey Report: SaaS Application Trends and Challenges 5

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

51%

33%

27%

24%

18%

16%

12%

In-country presence with global reach

Self-service functionality to manage solutions

Breadth of insight and expertise

Cloud-based approach (cost and timeavoidance associated with alternative...

Customized service options that meetbusiness objectives

Operation expenses vs. capital expense

Ability to solve complex problems

Why Akamai for SaaSWhy Akamai for SaaS

Conclusion

The SaaS market has experienced tremendous growth during the past several years, which has accelerated the transition

of on-premise hosted applications to web applications that are hosted in the cloud and accessed over the Internet.

The growth of the market, combined with sky-high expectations of customers, has introduced new business and technical

challenges that SaaS providers must address in order to maintain a competitive advantage.

Akamai’s Web Performance Solutions enable SaaS providers to deliver all their SaaS applications to any user

(e.g., customers, partners, and suppliers), on any device, anywhere in the world by overcoming the inherent challenges

related to web performance, reliability, and security. Additionally, Akamai’s cloud services provide SaaS provider-specific

capabilities on top of Akamai’s Web Performance Solutions, bringing together Akamai’s globally distributed Intelligent

Platform™ with a comprehensive, integrated collection of web performance and reliability capabilities designed to meet

the unique demands of delivering Software-as-a-Service applications today and tomorrow.

Sources:

1 IDC

2 CB Insights SaaS Trends Report

3 Gartner,

4 Akamai’s [State of the Internet] Security Q3 2015 Report

5 Exoprise Cloud Trends Survey 2014 of IT and Business Managers

6 IDC, Worldwide Enterprise Application Spend by SaaS and On-Prem, 2013-2018. Gartner Worldwide CRM Spending

By Vendor, 2013.

TechValidate Survey Report: SaaS Application Trends and Challenges 6

©2016 Akamai Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited. Akamai and the Akamai wave logo are registered

trademarks. Other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners. Akamai believes that the information in this publication is accurate as of its publication date; such information is

subject to change without notice. Published 02/16.

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