In a new report on the SaaS delivery of IT management capabilities, the independent technology analyst states that CIOs should only implement SaaS if it is right for their organisation and they are clear about the business outcome they want to achieve.

According to the report, CIOs that do not take the right approach to SaaS could find that their application is more expensive, slower and worse than before.

"There is currently a buzz around SaaS, but CIOs need to ensure their decision to introduce it is based on a strong business case, rather than on the back of industry hype," said Stephen Mann, Analyst, Ovum. "SaaS is now becoming a mainstream part of the corporate IT mix but using it for the right reasons, in the right places and in the right way within an organisation is crucial. CIOs need to establish this before embarking on an implementation project."

The report acknowledges the many benefits that SaaS can bring, such as allowing IT resources to be focused on business-critical services rather than on systems that support IT operations and the subscription-based pricing model it offers. However it states that while it may give the illusion of being cheaper, faster and better, in the long-run outcomes can be more expensive, slower and worse if a strong business case is not formed.

"In our view SaaS is the biggest shift in the IT management product landscape in the last five years. However, CIOs need to ensure applications are used within the right functions and in the right way so that it is a welcome addition. There are many issues to consider and CIOs need to ensure they are on the front foot on areas such as policy guidance for employees when they take the plunge," said Mann.