SaaS market evolution and latest trends
“SaaS (Software as a Service)”, which uses software via the Internet, has become fully established in corporate IT infrastructure and plays a central role in promoting DX (digital transformation). In recent years, the SaaS market has gone beyond simply cloud computing and entered a new phase.
One of the latest trends is the rise of “vertical SaaS.” While traditional SaaS (horizontal SaaS) targets specific “businesses” such as human resources, accounting, and sales support, vertical SaaS specializes in solving problems unique to specific “industries” such as medical care, construction, food and beverage, and real estate. By providing deep functionality tailored to industry-specific business practices and regulations, we are strongly supporting the digitalization of industries that have been slow to adopt IT.
Challenges and management strategies for SaaS implementation in enterprises
While the spread of SaaS has brought convenience, it has also created a new challenge: the proliferation of SaaS. As each department contracts for its own convenient SaaS, the problem of ``shadow IT’’, where IT departments are unable to keep track of what tools are being used within the company, is becoming more serious. This increases security risks, wastes license fees (duplicate contracts and unused accounts), and creates “data silos” where data is spread across different systems.
To address this challenge, companies are adopting SaaS management platforms (SMPs). By utilizing SMP, it is possible to visualize usage status, optimize license costs, and automate account deletion upon retirement.
It is also important to utilize iPaaS (Integration Platform as a Service) to integrate distributed data and achieve true operational efficiency. Linking multiple SaaS services using APIs to automatically synchronize data and automate business workflows will be the key to determining the success or failure of SaaS utilization in the future.