Software as a Service (SaaS) is of Value for Engineering and Environmental Consulting Firms

SaaS, or Software as a Service, is making rapid progress in taking over as the delivery model of choice among businesses large and small.  According to industry analyst IDC Corp, by 2009 the global market for “on demand” software will be $10.7 billion, and by 2010 over 50% of the software purchased will be purchased using the “on demand” model. 

According to a recent EBJ (Environmental Business Journal) article*, environmental consulting companies like Weston Solutions, Trinity Consultants, and Malcolm Pirnie are using Software as a Service to:

1. Improve revenue generation by developing and quickly deploying customer-specific solutions and bundling their best practices, intellectual property, service offering and their in-depth knowledge
2. Increase profits by leveraging the mindshare of their most highly skilled experts, who can develop solutions that can be deployed by their higher-margin resources.
3. Reduce the amount of time they need to be in the field at the client offices
4. Retaining the institutional knowledge that is constantly being lost with their aging work force
5. Standardize their approaches to certain services and best practices to mitigate liability

And adding credibility to the new SaaS model, Microsoft is entering the on-demand space.  With a new Web site called “Windows Live,” Microsoft hopes to create a new platform that will unfasten some of its applications from a computer hard drive.

The change reflects Microsoft’s recognition of the growing demand for applications and services that can be used from any place, at any time, as the lines between the home and office blur and portable computing devices become more powerful.

*Published in Environmental Business Journal
Volume XVIII, Numbers 9/10, October 2005