Awareness as a Verb
Our research indicates material differences between large and midmarket firms when it comes to SaaS awareness (see Figure 1). While midsized companies may be more attuned to the potential of SaaS than are large companies, nearly one-third of our midmarket respondents hadn't heard of the term. Figures 2 and 3 show where large and midmarket firms stand on SaaS maturity and deployment.
"When I got your call, I looked up [SaaS] on Google and Wikipedia," admits the CIO at a progressive Midwestern insurance company. Other respondents find SaaS equally murky. "To be honest, I had to look up SaaS to know what you were referring to," adds the CIO at an entertainment company. He then discovered that his organization's HR department uses SaaS. One application focuses on recruiting high-potential new hires; another handles expense reporting enterprise-wide.
Overall, the lack of awareness among midmarket IT executives should be a red flag to vendors. While software providers are likely to target large companies first, midmarket enterprises are quicker to move to SaaS offerings and more likely to succeed when they do (see Figures 4 and 5).
So SaaS begs a broader question about software literacy: How much do business executives or IT managers need to know about software delivery models in today's world of specialization and purchased services?
In an integrated economy, we need integrated leaders, not managers with partitioned knowledge. Executives must understand how the entire system works and interacts, not just where their piece fits. Understanding where software comes from is one of those areas where technology executives must excel.
