Salesforce.com, an enterprise cloud computing company, has announced 18 months of record growth in Australia and New Zealand highlighted by, what it says, is increasing adoption of its cloud computing services amongst small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and enterprises.
 

According to Katz, this growth was underpinned by a “growing acceptance of its cloud computing model in ANZ according to recent research. The study, undertaken by ACA Research, found that Software-as-a-Service (applications delivered via the cloud) is an established technology with more than 39 percent of organisations currently using some form of SaaS in their organisation.”

“During the past 18 months we have seen widespread adoption of the cloud computing model as companies begin to realise the benefits it can deliver - particularly in the areas of increasing business performance, delivering operational efficiencies and freeing up internal resources.  When Salesforce.com first launched in ANZ, it was as much about educating people on the cloud model as it was about the benefits Salesforce CRM can bring; that changed in the past 18 months as it became much more accepted.

“Given the current economic situation, we’re seeing Australian and New Zealand businesses take a more stringent approach to justify their IT spend. This means there is an increased demand for faster implementation cycles and less capital expenditure which has driven a surge in interest for cloud-based services,” Katz claimed.

Katz said that, according to the research findings, more than 50 percent of respondents said they would switch to a cloud computing model to achieve lower total cost of ownership (TCO) or higher return on investment (ROI).

He said growth in ANZ had been across a range of business sectors and new customers signed in the three months ending 31 January 2009 include AAMHatch, Canon Australia, Elsevier Australia, EW Cox, Kronos, Media Monitors, Shepparton Newspapers and St George Bank.
 
In support of Katz, Kelvin Maude, Advertising Manager from regional publisher Shepparton News, said the company had opted for a cloud computing approach to CRM technology to increase the newspaper’s competitive stake in the industry.

 “The advertising market is increasingly cluttered and competitive. We needed to manage our contact cycles and sales team activity effectively to ensure resources were directed appropriately and opportunities were not passing us by. Salesforce CRM gives us the tools to manage our business knowledge and keeps critical relationships on track.

“Cloud computing quickly became a key criterion for us when we considered the potentially high cost and inconvenience of on-premise software delivery. We were sold on the savings in IT support and systems upgrades by moving into the cloud.”