In the traditional IT environment, data and applications were housed in on-premises datacenters, and IT system administrators were also company employees. But the shift toward subscription-based services under a SaaS model has been underway for years. Several years ago, a Gartner researcher predicted that by 2020, all new market entrants and 80% of legacy providers would offer products on a SaaS basis.
Customer enthusiasm for SaaS is high because it reduces or eliminates in-house maintenance costs. The pandemic underscored another benefit: business continuity. TechCrunch reported that sales have soared at SaaS companies during the COVID-19 crisis. Revenue at Zoom increased by nearly 170% year-over-year as people used the platform to replicate in-person meetings and training sessions.