Posted by Ben Worthen
Large businesses are increasingly interested in online software. Among the hurdles that are slowing adoption, however, is the information-technology department.
That’s according to a survey of 101 organizations – most in the Fortune 500 – released today by Kelton Research and sponsored by the consulting company Acumen Solutions. Workers access online software, or “software as a service,” through a Web browser over the Internet. Advocates say it’s cheaper and more efficient than traditional software, which businesses install and run on tech equipment they own.
The Kelton survey found that 18% of businesses already use online software to one degree or another. Another 28% say they’ll buy online software in the next six months, and an additional 19% say they’ll buy online software within the next seven-to-12 months.
When asked what concerns they have about online software, survey respondents first gave the usual answers: Sixty-two percent said the security of data that were stored on someone else’s equipment; 57% said it would be hard to get the information in the online software to interact with the information in traditional software.
Then there’s this: Thirty-five percent said they thought their businesses’ IT departments wouldn’t approve of the projects. Considering that 36% of respondents were within IT, that’s a lot of people with a negative view of IT.
Our guess is that most of the online software discovered by the survey is used by small groups of workers and not deployed companywide. The research firm Gartner says that online software only makes up 6% of software sales, which should tell you the extent to which the 65% of businesses who told Kelton they’ll be using online software have rolled it out. And they’re probably worried that IT will find out and cancel the project – or at least complain loudly. Are they right to think this? According to Forrester, only 6% of IT leaders say that online software is their preferred way to buy software.
