Enterprises plug into hosted services

Fast growing acceptance of hosted services, specifically software-as-a-service, is pushing utility computing into enterprises, analysts claim.

New research from In-Stat suggests that, as most business functions are still performed in-house, outsourcing the management of the network and related infrastructure may still be considered a "trend".

The hosted application model, however, is fast becoming a "paradigm", according to the high-tech market research firm.

"Business decision-makers plan to 'out-task' major business functions like security, storage and phone system management at a moderate pace, but adoption of third-party application hosting is the fastest growing area in managed services," said In-Stat analyst Jeff Jernigan.

"The on-demand hosted application model has seen acceptance in the small-to-medium business market, and demand is now rising among enterprise-sized firms. The on-demand model will also hasten the adoption of utility computing services."

Recent research by In-Stat points to a seven per cent overall compound annual growth rate for managed services through to 2012.

While the majority of business functions are still performed in-house, In-Stat research shows that convergence and complexity will aid in steady managed services revenue growth.

See also:

Small firms plug into software-as-a-service

Adoption rising steadily in the US, claims report  03 Mar 2008

Fasthosts offers pay-as-you-go Office 2007

Downloadable Microsoft suite starts at £5 per month  08 Feb 2008

Remote workers ignoring security

Vigilance failing as poor practice creeps in  06 Feb 2008

Google Apps adds email security

Message filtering, encryption and archiving  05 Feb 2008

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