In recent years, the growth of Software as a Service (SaaS) has been relentless. The rapid pace of innovation, combined with cost, security and usability benefits, have contributed to the continuing rise of the SaaS sector.
At CardConnect, we’re passionate about the growth of this thriving sector. We’ve collated this list of SaaS statistics which shows that, no matter which aspect you focus on, cloud computing as a whole is growing at a rapid rate.
SaaS Revenue Statistics
How large is the SaaS sector as a whole, and which are the largest companies operating in this sector?
- SaaS companies generated an estimated $72.2 billion in 2018 (Gartner)
- By revenue, Microsoft is the largest worldwide provider of SaaS services, with 18% market share. Salesforce is in second place (11.5%) and Adobe is third (6.7%) (Synergy Research Group).
- Globally, SaaS market revenues are projected to grow to $113.1 billion by 2021. (Gartner)
- The size of the corporate mobile SaaS market is anticipated to grow to $7.4 billion by 2021 (Strategy Analytics).
SaaS Growth Statistics
How widespread is the use of SaaS applications, and how is this changing the modern workplace?
- In 2015, approximately 78 million SaaS workloads were expected to be installed worldwide. In 2018, this was anticipated to grow to 206 million, and by 2021, the number is projected to be 380 million (Statista/Cisco).
- SaaS organizations are now operating in over 100 countries (Crunchbase).
- Between 2015 and 2017, the average number of SaaS apps used by organizations has doubled from 8 to 16 (BetterCloud).
- From 2010 onwards, the average spend per company on SaaS applications has increased year-over-year (Blissfully).
SaaS Churn Statistics
What is the median churn rate for SaaS companies, and what is deemed as an acceptable churn rate?
- The median churn rate for SaaS organizations reported in the 2018 KBCM survey was 13.2% (KBCM Technology Group).
- An acceptable churn rate is perceived as between 5% and 7%, depending on the size of the organization (Sixteen Ventures).
- Venture capitalist Tom Tunguz outlines that annual customer churn rates can vary from 6-10% acquiring enterprise organizations, all the way to 58% for those focusing on small/medium businesses (Tom Tunguz).
- The fastest growing SaaS companies have an average Quick Ratio of 3.9 to 1 - generating $3.9 in revenue for every dollar lost to revenue churn (Insight Squared).
SaaS Marketing & Sales Statistics
How much does it cost to acquire a new customer, and how many organizations provide free trials or “freemium” offerings?
- The median cost to acquire $1 of annual recurring revenue (ARR) for a new customer is $1.32. Using upselling strategies with existing customers, the cost drops significantly to $0.71 (KBCM Technology Group).
- Just over half of companies surveyed by Totango said they had increased their spend on customer retention in the previous twelve months (Totango).
- 48% of respondents reported an average contract length of one year. 13% reported typical contracts were month-to-month, whilst 11% said their average contract length was three years or more (KBCM Technology Group).
- 38% of SaaS companies said they do not offer any free trials or ‘freemium’ for their product or service (Totango).
- The median startup spends about 92% of the first year average contract value on the sale itself (Tom Tunguz).
- The biggest functional market globally for cloud applications is Customer Relationship Management (31.6%), followed by Human Capital Management (14.7%) and ERP Services and Operations Management (8.4%) (Apps Run The World).
SaaS Customer and Business Statistics
How is SaaS impacting the way in which workplaces operate, and what effect is this having on the customer and employee experience?
- In organizations running almost entirely on SaaS applications, employee engagement was far higher. 86% of end users said SaaS helps them succeed more than desktop alternatives (BetterCloud).
- 73% of organizations indicated nearly all their apps will be SaaS by 2020 (BetterCloud).
- 38% of organizations surveyed reported they were running almost entirely on SaaS operations already (BetterCloud).
- Salesforce, one of the world’s largest SaaS organizations, was ranked as the best place to work in the United States (Fortune).
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Sources
- Gartner, “Gartner Forecasts Worldwide Public Cloud Revenue to Grow 17.3 Percent in 2019”, September 12, 2018.
- Synergy Research Group, “Quarterly SaaS Spending Reaches $20 billion as Microsoft Extends its Market Leadership”, August 21, 2018.
- Strategy Analytics, “Global Mobile SaaS will Grow from $20.9B in 2016 to Reach $37.9B by 2021, a Growth of 12.7% CAGR Over the Forecast Period”, July 22, 2016.
- Statista/Cisco, “Number of installed cloud workloads worldwide, from 2015 to 2021, by service type”, February 2018.
- Crunchbase, Export of SaaS companies, November 25, 2018.
- BetterCloud, “2017 State of the SaaS-Powered Workplace Survey”, May 18, 2017.
- Blissfully, “2018 Annual SMB SaaS Trends Report”, 2018.
- KBCM Technology Group, “KBCM Technology Group 2018 Private SaaS Company Survey”, 2018.
- Sixteen Ventures, “SaaS Churn Rate: What’s Acceptable?”, July 30, 2015.
- Tomasz Tunguz, “The Innovator’s Dilemma for SaaS Startups”, April 9, 2015.
- Insight Squared, “Benchmarking The SaaS Quick Ratio”, February 9, 2016.
- Totango, “2016 SaaS Metrics Report”, February 1, 2016.
- Tomasz Tunguz, “Six Key Benchmarks for Your SaaS Startup”, September 11, 2013.
- AppsRunTheWorld, “Worldwide Cloud Applications Market Forecast 2016-2020, A Minsky Moment Awaits”, August 5, 2016.
- Fortune, “100 Best Companies To Work For”, 2018.