One of the most essential areas of technology nowadays is software as a service. While its transformative potential was quite clear before the pandemic, the sudden pivot to distributed workforces caused interest in SaaS products to skyrocket as medium and large enterprises embraced digital and remote sales processes, significantly expanding their utility. More than ten years ago, SaaS made its debut in India, catering to a global customer. Indian businesses are just now starting to understand the benefits of SaaS for business operations. Large-team organisations immediately embraced the use of software installations for commercial processes. But over time, even company owners started to see the value of software in terms of automation and usability.

Rise of Indian SaaS Unicorn
SaaS is a worldwide phenomena, India in particular has the potential to speed up its SaaS growth. The country's SaaS industry is projected to generate revenues of $50 to $70 billion by 2030 and to hold 4% to 6% of the global SaaS market. Currently, India is home to over 1,000 SaaS companies, ten of which are unicorns, with annual sales of $2 to $3 billion and a workforce of close to 40,000. By 2030, they said, the population of unicorns might increase ten-fold. India is on course to host a $10 billion SaaS industry, with an expected increase in its global market share to 8%. The SaaS market is currently growing at a compounded rate of 18 percent, and in the next few years, it is anticipated that the SaaS market for small and medium-sized businesses would grow by 36 Percent.

The majority of the top research firms have forecast a rapid expansion of the cloud computing paradigm. This expansion is expected to be measured in terms of total investments, total users, deployments and service providers, innovative services, and reach. India is in for an exciting SaaS moment as more businesses go to the cloud. Given its current competitive edge, India is well-positioned to assume a leadership position in the global SaaS industry in the next years. By 2030, the SaaS industry in India might be valued $1 trillion.

India is in for an exciting SaaS moment as more businesses go to the cloud

India SaaS industry - Why now? Three macro forces that are driving innovation had prompted the India SaaS market are:
Digital rails- A variety of significant sectors, including financial services, have developed as a result of the creation of digital railways for huge industries. This indicates that more than 1 billion Indians have distinct digital identities, and that all banks and financial institutions are linked via a single transactional back end that is likewise related to the same identity. On top of these widely used rails and standards, software businesses are now developing products and solutions for banking and financial services. Other industries are going through a similar transition, including healthcare through the national digital health stack, retail through ONDC, logistics through eWayBill and FastTag, among others. Software companies may now develop goods and solutions for Indian enterprises on top of widely adopted rails and standards, resulting in rapid adoption and explosive growth.

Smartphones- The growth of mobile internet, over 700 million people in India now own smartphones, and like people in other countries, they utilise them for both personal and professional purposes. Compared to laptops or desktop computers, cellphones are now used by more individuals in India. Cloud software companies are emerging to create productivity and business enablement applications for mobile devices as smartphone usage for business becomes commonplace.

Digitization- It has accelerated quickly across all industries, which has boosted digital sales of goods, services, and software. A new standard for software sales has emerged since practically all cloud software sales throughout the epidemic have been virtual. As a result, Indian SaaS companies may now target international clients from within India without the requirement for a complex worldwide office infrastructure. Because of virtual selling, many Indian companies that are now leading the global SaaS industry, such as Zoho, Freshworks, Browserstack, and iCertis, have experienced substantial growth.

Path of the SaaS
The SaaS business model is spreading widely. In order to make a decisive decision in favour of SaaS and begin constructing a product right away, while your rivals are still debating, you can take into account the SaaS trends and statistics. The adoption of SaaS apps for 2023 and beyond can be quite advantageous for any kind of organisation. You will see good returns on the minor investments you make across the board for both internal and external activities.