Thousands of SaaS companies offer cloud services to customers around the world, but some stood out during the decade that began with 2010.
Image: Iurii Motov, Getty Images / iStockphoto
The widespread acceptance of cloud-based computer services by companies and organizations around the world continues to accelerate with a remarkable clip. According to Gartner, total global cloud revenue by the end of 2019 will be $ 214.3 billion. Compare that amount with TechJury’s estimate that the same global cloud revenue amount was only $ 24.65 billion in 2010. Almost a full order of magnitude better in 10 years.
If we look at the Gartner statistics, we see that the Software as a Service (SaaS) market is expected to reach nearly $ 100 billion in 2019. Of course, the growth of the SaaS market in the decade of 2010 contributed significantly to the overall growth of cloud computer services. But of the approximately 12,000 SaaS companies that offer services, which ones have not stood out during the decade?
SEE: Top cloud providers 2019: a guide for the most important players (TechRepublic Premium)
Best SaaS companies of the decade
Before we start naming names, I would like to mention that this list of the best SaaS companies is purely a personal choice and is not based on fixed measurable criteria. There are literally tens of thousands of SaaS companies that provide exceptional services to customers around the world. If your favorite is not listed here, you can tell us why it should be in the discussion below.
For the purposes of this list, we’re also going to skip the obvious big three players in the cloud computing services space – Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. In this article we will consider the collective offer from those companies to fall into the categories Platform as a Service (PaaS) or Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).
Sales team
It would be difficult to find a company that embodies the SaaS category and Salesforce for the past ten years. Since its inception in 1999, Salesforce has had a mission to provide quality CRM services to its customers and its sales have grown from $ 1.4 billion in 2010 to $ 13.28 billion in 2019.
Perhaps even more remarkable is Salesforce’s dedication to cloud computing as a service that can also transform run businesses and organizations into market leaders. In many ways, Salesforce has been the most important cheerleader of the decade for the benefits of the SaaS and cloud services industry.
Microsoft Office 365
When CEO Satya Nadella took over at Microsoft, he documented the company’s product line and services to the business enterprise and the cloud. This transition and reorientation of resources has paid off in many ways, including the aforementioned Azure and the venerable productivity suite Office 365.
By creating the primary components of Office cloud services, which are accessed by subscription model, Microsoft has been able to maintain and even increase its productivity market share. The cloud character of Office 365 means that the productivity package can be updated as desired with new features and security patches – a model that companies expect from all cloud-based services.
As a cloud-based system, Office 365 can respond to the growing mobile staff trends of the 2010 years. Collaboration via cloud services such as text, video conferencing, e-mail, shared documents, etc. is now, after a transition period of ten years, standard for many businesses. Microsoft Office 365 responds to these trends and can therefore retain its relevance.
SEE: Office 365: a guide for technical and business leaders (free PDF) (TechRepublic)
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While an established technology company like Microsoft had to switch to the cloud, Slack’s trajectory was organic and driven by a perceived need. Slack grew from a small, internal idea to make a better collaboration tool to a large cloud service company in about seven years.
Slack, launched in August 2013, has defined a whole new genre of business software: the collaboration hub. The success of Slack is part of the reason that there is such a thing as Office 365. Slack became a listed millionaire company in 2019 and is now a primary player in the very important team collaboration space.
Zoom Video communication
Like Slack, Zoom Video Communications appeared in 2011 to change the way companies and collaborative teams hold meetings, especially video conferences. Zoom offers external meeting services using cloud computing.
Before Zoom, video conferencing systems were expensive, inconvenient and often did not work as advertised. By removing that sizeable and unreliable infrastructure from the comparison, Zoom has been able to make video conferencing a productive reality for many companies who could not afford such perks earlier.
By adding additional collaboration, planning and educational tools, Zoom has become an integral part of the team collaboration space. Many Zoom services are accessible for free, with the basic business package for around $ 15 a month.
Dropbox
Another company that is active in the collaboration market is Dropbox. The company was founded in 2007, but gained prominence in cloud-based SaaS circles in the 2010s. Dropbox became public in 2018 and has more than 14 million paying customers from November 2019. The standard plan sells for $ 12.50 / month / user.
Dropbox offers a shareable cloud-based file storage system that is easy to use and does not depend on the IT infrastructure of the customers it serves. If a user has access to the internet, he has access to his saved Dropbox files. A team that simultaneously has access to the same document can collaborate on the content of that document. A simple but important concept with a simple solution.
Adobe
The success of the subscription payment model for so many cloud-based SaaS companies has led to many ‘old-tech’ companies changing the way they do business. For example, Adobe now offers its trusted range of business products online, with access granted through a subscription. This change in price philosophy took place in the second half of the decade of 2010 and can be attributed to Adobe’s renewed success.
By offering Photoshop, Illustrator and Acrobat for around $ 30 a month instead of claiming thousands of dollars in advance, Adobe has become affordable for more users, increasing profits and profiling the company. The prominent role of collaboration as standard business practice has also inspired the company to create new products for a new generation of users.
Oracle Corporation
Another old-fashioned company that found new success in embracing the cloud in 2010 is Oracle Corporation. Although it continues to focus on large business enterprises and their need for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and databases, Oracle has changed its approach to expensive hands-on installations of new hardware with long-term maintenance contracts towards cloud-based SaaS services that are more have customers can afford. The transformation, started and completed in the past decade, has made Oracle relevant again.
Sophos
During the 10 years that have been part of the 2010 years, cyber security attacks have skyrocketed to become a daily problem for every company connected to the internet. It is practically impossible for an individual company to keep up with the ever-changing cyber security protocols. This is where a cloud-based SaaS such as Sophos can help.
Using the power of cloud computing, Sophos can provide companies with security protections and protocols ranging from an improved firewall to detection of threats to responses to breaches. By outsourcing these security measures, organizations can concentrate on their daily activities, while Sophos is concerned about criminal cyber security activities.
Trends follow until the 2020s
Looking at the list of the best SaaS companies in the decade of 2010, you will notice several trends that will remain relevant in the 2020s.
Undoubtedly, the most successful companies in the next decade will be the ones embracing the possibilities and preferences of the modern, always mobile workforce. As younger employees are employed, their affinity with mobile devices continues to penetrate to this day and companies must be willing to take advantage. Contracts with leading SaaS companies may be the most cost-effective method.
The other important trend that must be deduced from the decade of 2010 is cyber security – or rather the lack thereof. With ransomware and other attacks, criminals have found a lucrative form of security breach that will not disappear soon. Cyber ​​security attacks are taking place every day and companies are likely to need help from specific cloud-based services to survive the attack.
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