Confidence in SaaS Increases by 62% Amongst SMEs

New Research Reveals the Impact of the Recession on SaaS, With Simple Hosted CRM Proving Most Popular With SMEs

LONDON, April 9, 2010 - A recent survey conducted by Really Simple Systems
www.reallysimplesystems.com, the UK's largest online CRM
(www.reallysimplesystems.com/simple_crm.asp) vendor, has revealed that
small and medium sized enterprises are embracing hosted applications such as
web based CRM (www.reallysimplesystems.com/default.asp) at a faster
rate than ever. The annual survey questions SME business owners, directors,
sales, marketing and IT managers, on their views of SaaS and the reliability
of the products currently available in the market.

The survey confirmed that simple hosted CRM
(www.reallysimplesystems.com/evaluate.asp) continues to outshine ERP,
Payroll, HR and Manufacturing as the preferred SaaS offering for SMEs. ERP,
Payroll, HR and Manufacturing offerings have improved their penetration in
the SME market but continue to lag behind. 67 percent of respondents reported
that they are confident in online CRM with 41 percent actively using web
based CRM applications. Hosted ERP trails behind CRM with only 13 percent of
respondents using ERP SaaS applications and only 39 percent reporting
confidence in hosted ERP applications.

From a sample of 466 respondents, the majority from small and
medium sized organisations with less than 50 employees, 62 percent report
increased confidence in hosted applications between March 2009 and March
2010. This is mirrored by the 62 percent who agreed that hosted applications
had been made a more attractive proposition by the current state of the
economy.

John Paterson, CEO of online CRM provider Really Simple
Systems comments, "These figures very much reflect our day to day experience
in the marketplace. The economic instability over the last 18 months has
sharpened SMEs' search for value for money; hosted systems' pricing and fast
ROI offers them an extremely attractive solution."

Paterson continues, "Our survey revealed that 80 percent of
respondents agree that hosted systems require less internal IT-support. This
is key in showing how SaaS is being realised as a means of dramatically
reducing IT overheads and removing the burden of system maintenance for small
organisations who would rather allocate that resource to developing the
business. Furthermore, the added advantage of SaaS is that business-critical
information like that on simple hosted CRM applications, is readily available
at all times, from any computer with internet connectivity, allowing more
flexible working across the business."

Web based CRM has almost completely caught up with in-house
CRM for SMEs, with 41 percent of respondents now using online CRM
applications as opposed to 42 percent using in-house CRM. Paterson comments,
"The rate at which SaaS CRM applications have closed the gap on in-house
systems is very impressive. Last year, the split was 47/36 percent in favour
of in-house, which just goes to show how far SaaS has come in the last few
years, impacted heavily by the economy."

The survey also revealed that almost half of respondents feel
as confident about the reliability, speed, data safety, and functionality of
SaaS applications as they do with in-house offerings. This is indicative of
the now almost identical usage of in-house and simple hosted CRM.

Outsourced CRM systems continue to prove unpopular with only
2.6 percent of respondents opting for this option and the number of
respondents not using any CRM system stands at 14 percent, a one percent drop
from the same time last year. Paterson adds "The relatively stagnated state
of the outsourced CRM market and the small change in those with no CRM
system, would indicate that there has been a migration away from in-house to
web based CRM systems, rather than new adopters entering the market."

Furthermore, the research also showed that 37% of those
questioned planned to spend more on IT in the next 12 months than they had
done compared with the last 12 months. Paterson concludes, "This is
encouraging news for the IT sector as a whole and with the affordability
offered by hosted applications, the rewards of a buoyant SaaS marketplace may
reach further that first thought."

About Really Simple Systems

Really Simple Systems simple Hosted CRM is aimed at small and
medium sized organisations with between 5 and 200 people who want a
straightforward online CRM sales, marketing and support system. The hosted
model is particularly suitable for companies with multiple locations and
sales people who work remotely or at home. Really Simple Systems, winner of
the Software Satisfaction Award 2008 Small Business Software CRM, is the
largest United Kingdom provider of web based CRM systems with offices in the
UK, North America and Australia. Users include the Royal Academy of Arts, the
British Library, the Red Cross, NHS and the Department of Health as well as
many small and medium sized companies.

    For further information, please contact:
    John Paterson
    Really Simple Systems
    Tel +44-(0)1730-823300

    Max Deeley
    itpr
    Tel +44-(0)1932-578-800

For further information, please contact: John Paterson, Really Simple Systems,
Tel +44-(0)1730-823300; Max Deeley, itpr, Tel +44-(0)1932-578-800