SaaS, Business Platforms and Ecosystems

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Meet the Experts

Photo of Frank Della Rosa
Frank Della Rosa

Research Vice President, SaaS, Business Platforms, and Industry Cloud



IDC's SaaS, Business Platforms and Ecosystems research explores the growth, current and future market opportunities, buyer behavior, and business success characteristics for the complete life cycle of SaaS business applications, digital platform business models and ecosystems, blockchain, and embedded technology strategies. This comprehensive service includes IDC's worldwide forecast and market share documents for SaaS, PaaS, and system infrastructure software revenue. This service also covers hybrid cloud and multicloud strategies by industry, covers the public cloud through an application software and services lens, analyzes market disruption, and examines new routes to market with a focus on cloud and application marketplaces. The service identifies operational strategies for building, selling, and purchasing SaaS, including optimal go-to-market and management strategies. The research tracks the next generation of intelligent SaaS applications that are data centric and infused with generative AI.

IDC also offers three separate companion services meant to be utilized alongside this CIS, called IDC's SaaSPath, IDC's Industry CloudPath, and IDC's CloudShare emerging ISV database. Industry CloudPath provides deep insight into how each industry (22 industries) is moving to the cloud, including current and future planned cloud adoption, application migration strategy and timing, drivers and inhibitors, budgets, purchasing preferences packaging and go-to-market, cloud maturity levels, extensive vendor ratings and advocacy scores, and adoption and buying intentions for 200+ industry-specific applications/workloads. SaaSPath provides global data on SaaS buyer attitudes and references, including deep vendor ratings and comparisons in 15 app categories (ERP, SCM, HCM, tax, A/R, A/P, salesforce automation, procurement, T&E, finance, T&R, PSA, EAM, digital commerce, and subscription billing). The CloudShare global ISV survey monitors native SaaS and transitioning ISV trends with a focus on application architecture, the cloud service provider relationship, ecosystems, and evolving ISV business models. For full details, contact Frank Della Rosa at fdellarosa@idc.com.


Markets and Subjects Analyzed


  • SaaS-enablement strategies for commercial application software ISVs
  • Customer adoption trends, attitudes and preferences, drivers, inhibitors, and success factors
  • SaaS provider issues, including projected opportunities and business/delivery model strategies
  • Hybrid cloud and multicloud solution strategies
  • The transition from monolithic software and distribution to cloud-native applications and platforms and marketplaces
  • Ecosystem strategies for SaaS providers
  • SaaS provider software, service, and operational strategies
  • Market optimization strategies such as SaaS enablement, third-party hosting, and partnering methods

Core Research


  • Worldwide SaaS Market Forecast, Market Share, and Competitive Analysis
  • Market Analysis Perspective
  • Cloud and Application MarketScapes
  • Distributor Platform MarketScapes
  • SaaS Adoption Strategies
  • Enterprise Buying Committees
  • Buyer Personas
  • The Next Generation of SaaS
  • Digital Platform Strategies
  • SaaS Economics

In addition to the insight provided in this service, IDC may conduct research on specific topics or emerging market segments via research offerings that require additional IDC funding and client investment.


Key Questions Answered


  1. Where do SaaS and cloud intersect? How can suppliers and customers prosper from understanding SaaS application workload deployment models including private and public cloud and edge locations.
  2. What are best practices in sales, marketing, business operations, R&D, billing, infrastructure operations, branding, and so forth for traditional software vendors to become "hybrid" vendors?
  3. How can software suppliers and ecosystem players use SaaS to better meet the needs of customers?
  4. What are the dominant and emerging models for SaaS? How do these providers leverage cloud infrastructure to extend their reach into new global markets?
  5. What are the use cases for SaaS providers to source and consume other lower-level infrastructure services and higher-level BP services to serve their customers?
  6. What ISVs lead in generating revenue from selling SaaS and PaaS?