BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - February 11, 2009) - Aberdeen, a Harte-Hanks Company (
NYSE:
HHS),
surveyed 110 retailers between December 2008 and January 2009 to determine
that post-SaaS-based deployments within several areas in the retail online
technology value chain, Best-in-Class retailers reduced their IT costs by
17% (year-over-year). To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit:
http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=5622.
According to the retailers surveyed, one-third have deployed some level of
SaaS delivery for their web commerce platform in terms of bandwidth,
content management, search, comparison shopping, analytics, or other
personalization tools. There are several examples of SaaS-based web
platform models, such as the one adopted by New York & Company, where
they've outsourced their entire web platform to a SaaS-model company, or
Best Buy, which utilizes a SaaS vendor to manage their dynamic content
management. That's two major companies using SaaS-deployed applications in
very different, but very meaningful ways. "Under present economic
conditions, SaaS-based web commerce applications do support the lean IT
initiatives of retailers both in terms of reducing capital infrastructure
and associated IT support costs," says Sahir Anand, senior retail analyst
and author of the "SaaS in Retail" benchmark report.
According to Anand, "From the end user's perspective, the key benefits are
the opportunity to more freely try initiatives, remove technical
complexity, and ensure the highest levels of service. Other benefits
include vastly improved scalability, lower total cost of ownership (TCO) --
you only pay for what you use, and economies of scale. Due to many users
of the same application, the vendor is incentivized to deliver
functionality on a frequent basis and to resolve any bugs or other
technical glitches immediately." Retailers can achieve the degree of online
flexibility and system responsiveness now necessary to remain competitive.
The current recessionary conditions have brought to the fore three key
trends: 1) Migrate appropriate applications away from the retailer IT to a
third-party SaaS vendor hosting and maintaining the application; 2) Align
SaaS solutions with the company's vision, mission statement, and business
model; 3) Place customer-facing, shopping-enhancing applications at the
front of the priority list.
In SaaS technology investments, web applications are far and away the
leaders of the pack, with 65% of respondents indicating that this was the
leading area of SaaS IT spend. This large number is a result of a
confluence of factors: the "mainstreaming" of ecommerce across heretofore
reticent socio-economic lines; the near pervasiveness of broadband; and a
whole host of personalized applications often lumped under the umbrella of
web 2.0 applications. These all contribute to a more satisfying,
content-filled, dynamic and immersive ecommerce shopping experience.
A complimentary copy of this report is made available due in part by the
following underwriters: Certona and ClairVoyix. To obtain a complimentary
copy of the report, visit:
http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=5622.
For additional access to complimentary Retail Research, please visit
http://research.aberdeen.com/index.php/-retail.
About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company
Aberdeen is a leading provider of fact-based research and market
intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having benchmarked more
than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is uniquely
positioned to educate users to action: driving market awareness, creating
demand, enabling sales, and delivering meaningful return-on-investment
analysis. As the trusted advisor to the global technology markets,
corporations turn to Aberdeen™ for insights that drive decisions.
As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in
context for the global direct and targeted marketing company. Aberdeen's
analytical and independent view of the "customer optimization" process of
Harte-Hanks (Information - Opportunity - Insight - Engagement -
Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the strategic role
Harte-Hanks brings to the market. For additional information, visit
Aberdeen
http://www.aberdeen.com or call (617) 723-7890, or to learn more
about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748 or go to
http://www.harte-hanks.com.
© 2009 Aberdeen Group, Inc., a Harte-Hanks Company
451 D Street, Suite 710
Boston, Massachusetts 02210-1928
Telephone: (617) 854-5200
Fax: (617) 723-7897
www.aberdeen.com
Contact Information: Media Contacts:
Sahir Anand
Aberdeen Harte-Hanks
Sahir.Anand@aberdeen.com
Chris Cunnane
Aberdeen Harte-Hanks
Chris.Cunnane@aberdeen.com