Baseline magazine’s Software as a Service Survey of more than 250 CIOs reveals increased momentum for SaaS HR applications floating at the C-level:

• HR/benefits applications are most likely to be implemented.
• 72% got up and running within the timeframe they expected.
• 43% have been using SaaS for three years or more.
• 65% say that SaaS has lowered software costs.

Total cost of operation with SaaS—as opposed to total cost of ownership which only happens when you buy a traditional license—means no maintenance costs and low-cost or included support services. Of course there are optional premium support packages available for large complex or global enterprises that require that level of support.

However, with traditional ERP providers charging an average of 22% on top of already high license and implementation fees, SaaS total cost of operations is a true value. Maybe that’s why more than half of those surveyed experience greater satisfaction with SaaS than in-house, purchased, and hosted applications.

Not to mention that SaaS makes your company greener. This survey further validates that when software is a service, everyone wins and shifts the advantage from software vendors to the customers.

Saugatuk Technology’s Enterprise-Ready, or Not: SaaS Enters the Mainstream outlines how SaaS adoption is growing in all sizes of enterprises, going international, and demonstrating strong customer satisfaction.

“In just a few short years, SaaS has evolved from simple subscription-based application solutions at the margins – email, web conferencing, and CRM – to offering core application solutions such as HR, Finance, BI and Procurement, as well as IT infrastructure solutions delivered as cloud-based services.”

Nicholas Carr, author of The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google, notes this in an interview with CIO Insight:

“If you can get the information processing you need in a more economical way, then companies will naturally move in that direction…Companies are more open to using software-as-a-service offerings and other Web-based computing services than they were a year ago...Smaller and midsize companies are leading the way…It allows them to level the playing field without having to invest a lot of capital.”

BusinessWeek’s technology columnist Sarah Lacy agrees in her Valley Girl post:

“Great news for the user, but the software makers miss out on the once-lucrative massive upgrade every few years and seemingly endless maintenance fees for supporting old versions of the software.”

This great news for the user is bad news for traditional legacy ERP companies. They complain they can’t make as much money and even sometimes rant and rave. Here’s an odd example: SaaS market will 'collapse' in two years. From Lawson CEO Harry Debes:

“People are stupid…Getting signed up as a SaaS customer is fast, but getting out is just as fast. Whereas traditional software is like cocaine--you're hooked. It's too difficult and expensive to switch providers once you've invested in one…Larry Ellison has the same perspective as I do.”

Perhaps Mr. Debes is in denial and doesn’t see the elephant in the room. In any case, you can catch more of Sarah Lacy’s perspectives along with Marcus Buckingham and Polly LaBarre live at Taleo WORLD 2008.

For even more on SaaS, check out Computerworld’s Software As A Service Grows Up executive briefing guide which outlines these basic advantages and more:

• Lower equipment, staffing and power/cooling costs than internal hosting.
• The ability to grow the number of users or functions quickly.
• No commitment to long software licenses or infrastructure upgrades.