A recent study done by Frost & Sullivan highlights the increasing awareness levels and market potential. The SaaS market in India is expected to record a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 53 percent for the period 2008-2015. The country, characterized by high presence of SMEs, growing need for mobility, strengthening internet infrastructure with heavy investments expected in 3G and WiMax promises a huge potential in this space. There is an active participation by many global software vendors as well as regional vendors to provide SaaS based offerings in the region.

The IT and ITeS markets in India have witnessed the highest adoption. Established infrastructure in these verticals enabling Internet access to all employees and greater use of CRM and Content, Communication and Collaboration applications (CCC) tools are the prime drivers for adoption. The SMB segment in the manufacturing vertical is another segment showing traction. The slower adoption in the BFSI segment is characterised by the complexity arising from the data security related challenges and the stringent regulatory guidelines and compliances.

Nishchal Khorana, Program Manager, ICT Practice, Frost & Sullivan, South Asia & Middle East reveals that cloud computing is combination of technologies and services. The CIO feels that security is the biggest concern in the cloud model. Awareness will help in the growth and adoption of Cloud Computing.

He adds, “Two years back all the organization were talking about virtualization but today they talk about cloud computing and we at Frost & Sullivan believe that cloud computing is a workable platform. Development of hardware and software will help in making this concept work.”