75% of Companies Face Delays in SaaS Implementations Resulting in Huge Losses: Zoho-IDC Report As per the study, 92.5 per cent of Indian enterprises recognize that timely implementation is critical, while the remaining consider it somewhat important.
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As businesses continue to invest in software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions, the speed of implementation has become critical. Implementation delays remain a significant barrier, preventing businesses from realizing the full value of their digital investments.
A new IDC study titled 'IDC State of SaaS Adoption in India Survey 2024', commissioned by Zoho, reveals that 75 per cent of Indian enterprises that have adopted SaaS solutions since 2020 have encountered implementation delays, resulting in an average loss of INR 5.6 crore in missed business opportunities, in addition to impacting employee productivity, customer experience, and competitive positioning.
"The ability to deploy SaaS solutions efficiently is no longer just an IT priority—it is a business necessity," said Sharath Srinivasamurthy, Associate Vice President, IDC India. "Long deployment cycles escalate costs, slow down innovation, and reduce market responsiveness. Enterprises need a strategic approach—one that integrates automation, contextual intelligence, and development tools—to accelerate implementation and unlock SaaS value faster."
Delayed SaaS implementations create cascading effects, affecting both ongoing and future digital transformation initiatives. As per the study, 92.5 per cent of Indian enterprises recognize that timely implementation is critical, while the remaining consider it somewhat important. The study found that 67 per cent of enterprises reported increased costs due to extended deployment timelines, making implementation overruns a direct financial burden. 53 per cent of the respondents indicated that delays hindered digital transformation progress, slowing down innovation and business growth. Additionally, 48 per cent of enterprises experienced customer dissatisfaction, while 46 per cent faced missed business revenue and opportunities, impacting overall business performance.
"At Zoho, we recognise that enterprises need technology that delivers immediate impact without prolonged deployment cycles," said Mani Vembu, CEO, Zoho. "Our platform-first approach eliminates common implementation bottlenecks by offering deeply integrated applications, low-code extensibility, and AI-powered automation. This enables businesses to deploy solutions and go live faster, reduce implementation risks, and accelerate their digital transformation efforts."
The study revealed that the cost overrun was highest for financial and accounting (F&A) solutions (60 per cent). Overruns in F&A can cause delays in key processes like invoicing and payment processing and can result in significant penalties and non-compliance risks, driving up costs, as per the study.
Across industries, customer experience solutions were the most implemented post-pandemic (87 per cent), with an average 51 per cent timeline overrun. However, email and collaboration solutions saw the highest time overrun at 68 per cent, followed by legal solutions at 61 per cent. These delays were primarily due to a lack of dedicated resources, as enterprises assumed these solutions required minimal customization, leading to misallocated implementation efforts.
The primary causes for implementation delays include project management inefficiencies (47 per cent), followed by unexpected integration or security challenges (38 per cent), talent shortage (38 per cent), and technical complexities in the new solution (38 per cent). These obstacles slow down digital transformation efforts, escalate costs, and disrupt business processes, ultimately delaying the expected return on SaaS investments, as per the study.
A Platform-First Approach
To mitigate these challenges, enterprises are shifting toward a platform-driven approach to SaaS implementation. The report suggests that this model enables faster deployments by leveraging automation, reducing customization efforts, and ensuring seamless interoperability. The IDC study highlights that 59 per cent of enterprises recognize automation and DevOps practices as key factors in shortening deployment timelines. By leveraging advanced automation, organizations can minimize manual dependencies, reduce errors, and improve implementation speed.
Additionally, 53 per cent of enterprises consider integrated developer platforms—including low-code, no-code, and pro-code capabilities—essential for overcoming customization bottlenecks.
Zoho believes its platform approach enables enterprises to implement SaaS solutions faster without compromising flexibility, security, or scalability. "Businesses cannot afford to be slowed down by complex and fragmented implementations. Zoho's platform architecture ensures enterprises have the flexibility to implement solutions at scale with speed and minimal disruption," said Vembu. "By offering pre-configured industry workflows, AI-driven analytics, and seamless interoperability, we enable organizations to accelerate their SaaS deployments—whether launching, extending, or scaling—while minimizing costs and maximizing business impact."
