Software as a service is in the midst of an evolution, and enterprise customers considering an SaaS purchase need to ask an evolving set of questions, according to Forrester Research. Industry-specific offerings are becoming more sophisticated, comprehensive and easier to use, but all of that comes at a price, reports Chris Kanaracus at IDG News Service.

Some SaaS offerings include sets of applications that are preconfigured for specific verticals, but they are far more expensive than more generic offerings, according to Forrester analyst Liz Herbert. "For example, some microvertical solutions built on NetSuite sell for four times the cost of NetSuite," she said in a recent report.

In addition to industry specialization, the SaaS business is evolving to include embedded analytics, social networking, mobility and "orchestration of multiple services," Herbert found. "For many organizations, the most valuable analytics will include industry-specific benchmarking data to compare themselves against, which some SaaS providers are starting to provide," she said.

Increasingly, there will be greater options for managing bundles of applications. Some vendors, including Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), offer a single point of responsibility for multiple applications, such as billing, contracting, integration, provisioning, support, testing and upgrades, and more vendors are expected to do so down the road.

For more:
- see Chris Kanaracus's article at Computerworld

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