86% of respondents believe that IT security budgets will be cut in 2009 and 94% of respondents believe that companies will look at more cost-effective and budget-friendly methods of IT security in 2009. The majority of the respondents (78%) believe that SaaS will become increasingly appealing to companies as a result of the economic decline.
According to the latest survey results, 54% of respondents said that they would choose SaaS because of budget considerations. Primary benefits of SaaS appeared to be reduced maintenance (75%) and predictability of costs (71%).
“In this time of belt-tightening, the flexibility of the SaaS pricing model is becoming an important factor when choosing a security solution,” comments Eldar Tuvey, CEO at ScanSafe. “SaaS solutions are extremely cost effective given that there are no outgoings associated with hardware, software or maintenance.”
“We are seeing a positive shift in perception towards the SaaS model and this is being reflected in our channel partner’s sales,” comments Stephen Dane, VP of sales at ScanSafe. “Our resellers have already more than doubled the sales of our SaaS Web security solution in 2008 compared to 2007.”
ScanSafe has recently launched a new channel partner program to provide its partners with the support, knowledge and flexibility required to maximise success. As ScanSafe’s channel partner program continues to grow with partners including AT&T, Google, Integralis and Sprint, it is essential to streamline the end-user purchasing process in order to continually provide the best service possible to customers.
“ScanSafe is proactively providing partners with a joint development and business plan coupled with tailored incentive plans to create a more flexible working channel that will reward partners as they grow,” adds Dane.
“We have seen a significant increase in the number of customers purchasing SaaS security solutions,” comments Phil Stratton, Director at Secure Desk, a partner of ScanSafe. “This is likely to be a result of the increased risk of targeted malware attacks driven by the current credit crisis.”