Recently, I heard sad news that LucidEra, a company with a good product idea and incredibly smart and talented team, was shutting its doors. While this event may revitalize debate about SaaS viability in today’s economy, let’s not forget the facts.
LucidEra’s demise is not indicative of overall SaaS market.
The fact is that many SaaS application companies are thriving in this market. Companies such as Right90 and Marketo are growing rapidly by providing applications that automate both a transactional and analytical processes and deliver solid business value to their customers. For example, Right90 customers have decreased inventory by 20% and have increased revenue by up to 5%.
The beauty of SaaS is that customers are realizing that value within 3-4 months of purchase, whereas customers purchasing the traditional on-premise software solutions would be in the midst of a horrid 25+ person deployment project meeting. While it’s a shame to see a SaaS vendor shut down, a number of SaaS providers are still out there proving that SaaS does deliver business value quickly. And for that, customers will pay — even in these economic times.