Mobile SaaS - the writing is on the wall

For most organizations, the writing is already on the wall - business applications are moving to the web as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), enabling companies to accommodate a distributed and mobile workforce. Typically mobile has meant laptops. But as users become accustomed to web-based business applications, companies will will increasing adapt their mission-critical SaaS applications for handheld devices such as the iPhone and Blackberry, or smartphones that use Microsoft, Symbian, Palm or Android mobile OSs.

In a previous post, I wrote about best practices for designing enterprise SaaS applications for a diverse set of devices with variable screen real-estate, input devices, processor speeds and server access speeds. Tracking on these principals ensures that a SaaS implementation delivers an optimized business solution no matter whether the user is at their desk, at home, in a hotel, or waiting in line at Starbucks.

Below I have catalogued some of the recent SaaS offerings on mobile devices. End users will be the ultimate judge of their utility.

This list is not intended as a comprehensive cataloging by any means. But it does make it clear that mobile SaaS has established a beachhead, across a range of horizontal and vertical markets. It is an area in which we are actively working as a company and something I find particularly engaging.