Planview Launches SaaS Version Of Portfolio Management Suite

Planview on Tuesday introduced a software-as-a-service version of its portfolio management suite, becoming the latest vendor to offer companies the option of a quicker return on investment than on on-premise software.

In building the infrastructure for Planview Enterprise On Demand, the vendor partnered with IT services company SunGuard, which is hosting the SaaS offering. SunGuard, which has annual revenue of $5 billion, has more than 25,000 customers worldwide, including the 25 largest financial services companies, according toSunGuard.

The latest offering expands Planview's product line to "pay-as-you-go SaaS." The company also offers on-premise applications and will also provide hosting. Planview did not disclose pricing for its latest product.

Despite the economic downturn, many analysts advise companies to deploy portfolio management software in order to identify projects that are most worth the effort and the expenditure. As a complement, analysts advise the use of project management applications to execute projects more efficiently.

Portfolio management enables IT managers to gather information on IT portfolios and determine what they can do, where they fall short and their worth to the company. Besides Planview, Hewlett-Packard has offered portfolio management software for years. While companies are turning to SaaS for cost savings and simplicity, particularly in removing the hassles of maintenance and upgrades, integration remains far from a drag-and-drop job. Companies looking toSaaS are advised not to take for granted the role a vendor will play in integration. Nevertheless, the SaaS market is growing, Gartner predicts revenue this year is on track to rise above $6.4 billion, compared with $5.1 billion last year. In four years, revenue is expected to reach $14.8 billion.