Software-as-a-service products are rocketing in popularity with software buyers across market segments, especially in mid-market companies looking for software with flexible customization options and a subscription-based payment plan. To track the changes in this space, Deutsche Bank published a new report on software-as-a-service (SaaS) market trends, including a list of 10 "key lessons" it has observed in the last year and a half. Its observations from the past 18 months are as follows:

1. Software-as-a-service (SaaS) popularity is steady and growing, thanks to its greater implementation and customization efficiency. Some market analysts brushed off SaaS as a flash-in-the-pan trend several years ago, but the usage statistics show it is only gaining in popularity amongst software buyers.
2. More private companies are rolling out their own SaaS products than ever before. It takes a while for the start-ups to get off the ground, but there are an increasing number of companies entering this arena.
3. There is a bigger push towards platforms-as-a-service, which allow companies to send SaaS applications to customers over the internet.
4. SaaS has gained the attention of big players like SAP, Microsoft, Oracle, Google and Yahoo—all of which have varying levels of investment in the technology.
5. The subscription-pricing model of most SaaS products make the SaaS companies difficult to value financially, which can make it challenging to determine software companies' viability.
6. Within specific market niches, certain SaaS leaders are emerging in their sectors.
7. Multi-tenant SaaS programs—software that can be used by multiple companies on the Internet—are also rising in popularity much faster than anticipated.
8. Despite SaaS' popularity, traditional installed software still posts solid returns—which means big installed software programs are by no means out of the picture.
9. As SaaS technology proliferates, expect to see more and more corporate consolidations.
10. The software ecosystem is changing slowly towards SaaS, though SaaS is not the major player on the scene just yet. Companies with installed software on their own computers are not leaping to change to SaaS in droves, so it will still take quite a while for companies to phase into SaaS technology if they so choose.