More than 95% of organisations expect to maintain or grow their use of software-as-a-service ( SaaS) applications, according to a survey by analyst Gartner.

Survey respondents cited significant software integration requirements and a change in sourcing strategy as the top two reasons for SaaS adoption, followed by high total cost of ownership (TCO) for traditional software.

However, Gartner found that most companies still do not have policies governing the evaluation and use of SaaS, with only 39% of respondents indicating that such a policy or process exists, up just 1% from the 38% measured in 2008.

The survey involved 270 IT and business management professionals from a variety of industries in North America, Europe and the Asia/Pacific region, who were personally involved in the implementation support, implementation, planning and/or budget decisions related to the purchase of enterprise application software.

"SaaS applications clearly are no longer seen as a new deployment model by our survey base, with almost half of those surveyed affirming use of SaaS applications in their business for more than three years," said Gartner analyst Sharon Mertz.

"The varying levels of maturity within the user base suggest growing opportunities for service providers along the adoption curve, as organisations seek assistance with initiatives ranging from process redesign to implementation to integration services."

The scope of functionality in SaaS applications has broadened significantly in recent years. In terms of popularity for SaaS usage, the survey showed that email, financial management (accounting), salesforce automation and customer service, and expense management are the most popular in terms of curren