Implementation delays are a significant barrier in large enterprises adopting Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions for their various business tasks, a new study by IDC commissioned by Zoho, reveals.
The study titled, ‘IDC State of SaaS Adoption in India Survey 2024’, notes that 75 per cent of Indian enterprises that have adopted SaaS solutions since 2020 have encountered implementation delays, resulting in an average timeline overrun of 57 per cent and cost overrun of 43 per cent. These setbacks have also led to an average loss of ₹5.6 crore in missed business opportunities. Additionally, it has impacted employee productivity, customer experience, and competitive positioning.
“The ability to deploy SaaS solutions efficiently is no longer just an IT priority—it is a business necessity,” said Sharath Srinivasamurthy, Associate Vice President, IDC India, said presenting the insights. “Enterprises need a strategic approach—one that integrates automation, contextual intelligence, and development tools—to accelerate implementation and unlock SaaS value faster,” he added.
According to the study, financial and accounting (F&A) solutions had the highest cost overrun (60%). F&A solutions were adopted by 66% of the respondents.
Across industries, customer experience solutions were the most implemented post-pandemic (87 per cent), averaging 51 per cent timeline overrun. However, email and collaboration solutions saw the highest time overrun at 68%, followed by legal solutions at 61 per cent.
The primary causes of implementation delays include project management inefficiencies (47%), unexpected integration or security challenges (38%), talent shortages (38%), and technical complexities in the new solution (38%).
Speaking at the event, Zoho CEO Mani Vembu said that the SaaS firm’s platform-first approach eliminates implementation bottlenecks. “By offering deeply integrated applications, low-code extensibility, and AI-powered automation, we can help businesses to deploy solutions and go live faster, reduce implementation risks, and accelerate their digital transformation efforts,” he said. The Hindu BusinessLine