A MAJORITY of small and medium businesses (66% ) view SaaS technology as essential to business success and plan to adopt or develop it aggressively, according to a new survey of 350 IT decision makers from SMB marketing and research firm Bredin and commissioned by Zomentum. The resulting report, Inside the SMB SaaS Technology Buying Process, finds that partners play a vital role in SMBs’ technology buying cycle, with nearly half (48%) of respondents involving their technology consultants and service providers when assessing SaaS applications, and 40% involving them in the final purchasing decision.
The primary drivers for seeking new SaaS applications, according to respondents, are the need for additional capabilities or functionality (43%), a change in processes or a new initiative (31%), cost savings (30%), a change in customer requirements/preferences and technology at end of life (both 29%).
When discovering new SaaS applications, 47% of SMBs consider peers and colleagues to be key resources, followed by SaaS vendor sales representatives (38%) and partners or MSPs (35%).
During assessment, the most critical factors SMBs look for are security (70%), proven technology (61%), and a solution that is tailored to or designed for their particular industry (49%).
The SaaS vendor brand also matters, with 37% of SMBs reporting they’d consider buying from a SaaS
vendor with a well-known brand, and 35% of respondents saying they regard third-party ratings and recommendations by experts as necessary when evaluating a SaaS application.
The research finds that clear advantages are important too, with 54% saying they would buy an application if they could easily determine specific business benefits such as time or money savings, followed by simple pricing with transparent and all-inclusive details (54%), and the flexibility to pay for only what they need and use (47%).
With 50% of SMBs planning to increase SaaS spending in 2023, channel pros have a prime opportunity to influence how those dollars are spent.
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