American vendors quicker to adopt SaaS than Europeans

According to IT World Canada, U.S. software vendors have been significantly faster that than their European counterparts in switching to SaaS. Traditionally, vendors have used the license and maintenance business model for their portfolios.

“It seems the Americans are going faster in that direction,” Bernard-Louis Roques, co-founder and general partner for IR invesments with Truffle Capital, told a group of journalists. According to Roques, European companies have been slow to adopt SaaS because making too sharp a shift in their license model could lead to significant revenue losses.

However, being too slow in adopting cloud policies might backfire, said Rainer Zimmerann, head of the software and service architectures unit with the European Union. “While before information and communications technology was interesting, it is today really vital,” he said. Zimmerann outlined the Europe 2020 strategy, which he said strives for “smart growth” through sustainability, intelligent products and inclusiveness.

While European vendors might be slow in adopting SaaS, cloud computing is making headway in the continent. Recently, 25 European cloud startups were announced as the finalists to pitch their services to an elite group of venture capital firms and tech industry executives.