Which cloud applications and SaaS offerings are most popular with business users? The annual Business @Work report (from Okta) identifies the 15 most widely used SaaS and cloud applications. The report is based on real-world monitoring and analytics data rather than customer surveys.
Here’s a look at this year’s Okta list, along with ChannelE2E’s channel-partner-centric observations about each SaaS and cloud offering. Apps are ranked in popularity by the most number of unique users:
1. Microsoft 365: The cloud giant continues to expand its SaaS lead over all SaaS rivals, capturing its massive installed base and somehow generating 36% year-over-year growth in 2021 vs. 2020, Oka said. However, some channel partners have been angry with Microsoft about new cloud subscription terms that could push more financial risk to partners – and more profit opportunities with the SaaS giant. More: Microsoft Partner Program Details.
2. Working Days: A far number two-far behind Microsoft-but its user base is still growing by an impressive 38% in 2021 compared to 2020. More than just an HR software platform, Workday now supports finance and other business application functions to compete against Oracle and so on. More: Labor Day Partners.
3. Service Today: Always in expansion mode, the IT service management (ITSM) software platform continues to reach HR, financial, SecOps and other workflow automation use cases. Amid strong end-customer demand and lack of ServiceNow partners, M&A activity with serviceNow IT consulting firms remains stable to strong. More: ServiceNow Partner Program.
4. Google Workspace: Formerly G Suite, the alternative to some parts of Microsoft 365 Gmail, Drive, Meet and more. Some partners say they will give Google Workspace a step in the middle of Microsoft’s emerging partner program terms. But we’re not sure how many of those partners will actually take the step. More: Google Partner Program.
5. Salesforce: The company continues to drive new applications and cloud categories, but CRM remains its bread-and-butter. Meanwhile, M&A activity with Salesforce cloud consulting partners also remains strong. More: Salesforce Partner Community.
6. Zoom: The poster child for remote work during the pandemic, Zoom is still growing (users grew 42% in 2021) – though not nearly as fast as the 195% growth in 2020. The partner program of Zoom is also expanding to include various third-party systems. More: Zoom Partner Program.
7. Zscaler: Zscaler Internet Access and Zscaler Private Access services make secure connections between users and applications. More: Zscaler Partner Program.
8. Slack: Now owned by Salesforce, the alternative Microsoft Teams remains in growth mode. More: Slack Partners.
9. Atlassian Product Suite: Another maker of ITSM and collaboration tools, Atlassian’s growth remains strong. Total revenue was $ 740.5 million for the third quarter of fiscal year 2022, up 30% from $ 568.7 million for the third quarter of fiscal year 2021, Atlassian said in April 2022. More: Atlassian Partners.
10. Box: Cloud-based file sync and sharing services are a major player-but looking for new ways to grow. Revenue for the first quarter of fiscal year 2023 was $ 238.4 million, an 18% increase from revenue for the first quarter of fiscal year 2022 of $ 202.4 million. More: Box Partners.
11. Cornerstone OnDemand: The HR software provider is backed by private equity firm Clearlake Capital Group. Key steps include the acquisition of SumTotal (a provider of learning and human capital management software-as-a-service (“SaaS”) for customers in regulated industries) and Edcast. More: Cornerstone Partners.
12. SAP SuccessFactors: Another HR software provider – dedicated to human capital management, talent management, payroll and more. More: SAP SuccessFactors Partners.
13. SAP Competition: SAP Concur is designed to simplify travel, expense and invoice management. More: SAP Concur Partner Ecosystem.
14. Ultimate Software (now UKG): The HR, payroll, and workforce management technology is now known as UKG – a merger of Ultimate and Kronos Group. More: UKG Partner Network.
15. Cisco Webex: Amidst Zoom’s market popularity, it’s sometimes easy to forget Webex’s massive installed base. More: Webex Partner Certification.