With an eye on the larger but more challenging mainland market, United States-based business automation specialist NetSuite will launch its 'software as a service' (SaaS) operations in Hong Kong in the third quarter of this year.
The move will follow the company's introduction last week of OneWorld, an integrated suite of low-cost, on-demand business automation software which enables multinational companies and growing enterprises with multiple subsidiaries to manage their global operations in real time.
NetSuite president and chief executive Zach Nelson acknowledged that its latest release was designed to meet the needs of fast-growing, medium-sized companies on the mainland.
'But all our research says it remains difficult for SaaS providers to be economically viable in China,' Mr Nelson said. 'There is currently limited demand since companies can easily put more labour to work on their front and back-office operations, while using basic software applications.'
Sometimes known as 'software on demand', SaaS is a business model in which business management software - including customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning, supply chain management, Web analytics and e-commerce systems - are sold, delivered and maintained over the internet.
Singapore-based information technology market analyst firm Springboard Research has forecast the overall SaaS applications market in Greater China would grow about 72 per cent annually to be worth US$175 million by 2010, up from US$20 million in 2006.
Mainland SaaS players include Xtools CRM and 800App.com, while top global rivals for NetSuite include Salesforce.com.