It's Official: Cloud Computing Is Cheaper, Maybe

The study, by Hurwitz & Associates, commissioned by Adaptive Planning, an on-demand financial planning and reporting vendor, also found that the TCO advantage for SaaS tails off as the number of users increases.

"Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) corporate performance management (CPM) solutions have a significantly lower total cost of ownership (TCO) compared with on-premise solutions according to a research study released Monday by analyst firm Hurwitz & Associates. The research, commissioned by Adaptive Planning, the on-demand financial planning and reporting provider, indicates that the TCO for SaaS CPM solutions is as much as 77% lower. As the number of users increases, the cost of advantage of SaaS does taper: the 77% savings for 10 users slides down to 64% for 100 users.

The research focused specifically on CPM solutions from midmarket vendors, including Longview Solutions, Prophix, and Clarity Systems. In addition to the TCO analysis, other findings include..."