Forrester IT Forum: SaaS not on CIO agenda yet

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Despite many of the big player extolling the virtues of the software as a service (SaaS) model, many of those responsible for the actual IT buying decisions in enterprises have yet to be convinced.

When asked about their take on SaaS - which is predicted to take off in a big way - during a panel debate at Forrester Research's IT Forum EMEA 2007 in Edinburgh this week, those in the IT driving seats for Associated Newspapers and Lloyds TSB both admitted a distinct lack of interest.

"It's a concept I'd like to buy but I'm a cautious buyer," said Ian Cohen, AP's chief information officer (CIO).

"I've seen emerging evidence from companies like Google etc. But what's I'm struggling with is next step, the industrialisation of the idea. I'm interested to see how plays out."

Daryl West, chief technology officer (CTO) at financial services giant Lloyds TSB was equally as dismissive and said that none of the industry players he works with have either approached him about SaaS or convinced him that someone else managing the software would be better than doing it themselves.

"It's not on my agenda at all," he said. "My organisation having core pieces of its application stack as a [service] doesn't quite sit right with the regulators or auditors. If vendors convince you to buy, you've got to plumb it in. And, if you buy just one piece as a service you have to plumb it in somewhere else and that plumbing isn't easy."

The panel discussion also focused on the viability of open source technology, but the two IT decision makers were equally as turned off by this subject area as they were for SaaS.

Cohen said: "I'm more than happy to have it embedded in hardware but it's another layer of complexity and another layer you have to develop in to. It's not particularly relevant. I'm more interested in service organisations using it so that I can the cost benefits but I'm not interested in it myself."

West echoed Cohen's comments, adding that, on closer inspection, the free option isn't always the most cost effective.

"We have looked at a number of open source opportunities and looked at the savings in licence fees, but you then have to create a support organisation internally to maintain and support it."

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