With Gartner (News - Alert) predicting that worldwide software as a service revenue will reach $7.5 billion in 2009, a 17.7 percent increase from 2008 revenue of $6.4 billion, it’s evident that hosted and cloud-based solutions are catching on even amidst a worldwide recession.

 

In an interview with Margaret Norton, general manager of IntelePeer’s AppworX Business Unit, she said the company sees a growing movement not only for SaaS (News - Alert) and communications as a service, but other on-demand services as well.

 

“We see continued growth for SaaS and other cloud-based services. Most hosted services reduce operational costs and minimize risk, while eliminating most up-front costs,” Norton said. “Whether it be SaaS applications or hosted infrastructures and networks like IntelePeer (News - Alert), these on-demand services deliver immediate business benefits and a compelling value proposition, particularly during the global recession that dominated the past year.”

 

IntelePeer’s AppworX open communications platform delivers what the San Mateo, Calif.-based company terms “a complete solution” – a voice peering network connecting leading carriers to transport calls anytime and to anywhere, a comprehensive repository of end-user communications data to personalize the communications experience for every user, and a services layer to allow any Web, collaboration or enterprise application and workflow to directly integrate telephony features.

 

Over the next 12 months, IntelePeer officials predict that demand will continue for high-quality SIP trunking and voice peering connections, which reduce operational costs while preserving call quality and reliability. 

 

“We also see growing demand for advanced and integrated voice capabilities that will create new revenue opportunities,” Norton said. “We see continued growth in global voice peering. In many ways, we are still in the early stages of this market.”

 

With the economy seemingly making strides toward stabilizing, the cost and performance benefits of IntelePeer’s SIP trunking and global voice peering grid will continue to drive demand and growth on IntelePeer’s network, Norton said.

 

“As the economy improves, we also are seeing solution providers leveraging our on-demand, cloud-based capabilities to introduce new value-added communications services,” she explained. “Our IntelePeer AppworX platform makes it easy to deploy these innovative new business and communications applications through our components-as-service delivery model, and we expect significant growth in this sector as businesses and service providers shift from focusing on survival to growth.”

Last month, IntelePeer appointed Norton to head up its AppworX business segment. According to company officials, Norton is focusing on building a “dedicated channel development organization” to leverage the AppworX Open Communications Platform across new markets.

Before joining IntelePeer, Norton served as the president and CEO of Mobilitec, a software and services company offering an integrated platform to provide content service delivery for mobile operators worldwide. She has also served as the general manager and senior vice president of Octel Communications. Additionally, she has held positions as a chief marketing officer and executive roles in product management, business development and sales.

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