Three-quarters of organisations believe that server virtualisation will drive adoption of software-as-a-service (SaaS), according to new research released today by web hosting firm Hostway.

Over 60 per cent of respondents said that they plan to adopt SaaS in some form over the next five years, and 45 per cent believe that the technology had not taken off until recently because of the lack of available virtualisation technologies.

Prior to server virtualisation, SaaS providers found it difficult reliably to offer software on demand, according to Hostway.

"Without virtualisation the business model for SaaS would not be viable," said Hostway director Neil Barton.

"The business model for SaaS means you need to get a high level of utilisation from the servers that the applications in the cloud sit on. Virtualisation enables this.

"The message to application vendors is that you need to either SaaS-enable your applications yourself, or partner with people who can allow your applications to be offered as a service."