In 2020, the top 10 Cloud software vendors accounted for nearly 52% of the global Cloud applications market which grew 7.7% to approach nearly $133.6 billion in Cloud subscription revenues.
Last year Microsoft led the pack with nearly 13% market share riding on a 19.5% jump in Cloud subscription revenues. Salesforce was #2, followed by Oracle, SAP, and Adobe.
This was the third year in a row as Microsoft surpassed Salesforce to become the No. 1 Cloud applications vendor as the Windows developer benefited from its successes in migrating its army of Office users to the Cloud with Office 365, which now tops 200 million monthly active users. You can read more our analysis here on Microsoft’s expansive Cloud applications strategy.
We ask the simple question: Who’s buying Cloud applications from whom and why? And we provide the answers – supported by decades of research – to our clients around the world. (Sample from our Apps Database)
Through our forecast period, the Cloud applications market size is expected to reach $168.6 billion by 2025, compared with $133.6 billion in 2020 at a compound annual growth rate of 4.8%.
The future of the Cloud applications market is fraught with uncertainty as leading vendors are engaged in a delicate dance that could turn any cordiality into an ugly spat. Collectively the top 10 Cloud applications vendors, as shown in Exhibit 1, hold only 45% of the market, while the rest is splintered into hundreds of vertical and functional segments.
| Exhibit 2: Worldwide Cloud Software Market 2020-2025 Forecast, $M | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 2020 | 2025 | 2020-2025 CAGR, % |
| Total | 133648 | 168606 | 4.8% |
Source: Apps Run The World, April 2021
Top 10 Cloud Software Vendors
Software As A Service covers a range of enterprise applications delivered via the Cloud for business functions and processes such as Order to Cash, Hire to Retire as well as industry-specific capabilities like Jail Management Software, Electronic Health Records as well as other apps for 21 verticals in our taxonomy.
The implication is that Salesforce finds itself a formidable competitor in Microsoft that now has the moving parts of its extensive Cloud applications portfolio firing on all cylinders.
Here are the rankings of the top 10 Cloud software vendors in 2020 and their market shares.
| Rank | Vendor | 2018 Cloud Apps Revenues, $M | 2019 Cloud Apps Revenues, $M | 2020 Cloud Apps Revenues, $M | Growth, % | 2020 Market Share, % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Microsoft | Subscribe | Subscribe | Subscribe | 19.5% | Subscribe |
| 2 | Salesforce | Subscribe | Subscribe | Subscribe | 15.0% | Subscribe |
| 3 | Oracle | Subscribe | Subscribe | Subscribe | 32.5% | Subscribe |
| 4 | SAP | Subscribe | Subscribe | Subscribe | 14.7% | Subscribe |
| 5 | Adobe | Subscribe | Subscribe | Subscribe | 27.5% | Subscribe |
| 6 | ServiceNow | Subscribe | Subscribe | Subscribe | 31.7% | Subscribe |
| 7 | Workday | Subscribe | Subscribe | Subscribe | 22.7% | Subscribe |
| 8 | Intuit | Subscribe | Subscribe | Subscribe | 18.5% | Subscribe |
| 9 | Zoom | Subscribe | Subscribe | Subscribe | 306.7% | Subscribe |
| 10 | UKG | Subscribe | Subscribe | Subscribe | 21.3% | Subscribe |
| Subtotal | Subscribe | Subscribe | Subscribe | 23.7% | Subscribe | |
| Other | Subscribe | Subscribe | Subscribe | -5.3% | Subscribe | |
| Total | Subscribe | Subscribe | Subscribe | 7.7% | Subscribe |
Source: Apps Run The World, April 2021
Other Cloud software providers included in the report are: 2U, INC., ACI Worldwide, Inc., ADP, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Applied Systems Inc., Atlassian, Aurea, Autodesk, Avalara, Bazaarvoice Inc., Benefitfocus, Blackbaud, BlackLine, Bottomline Technologies, Box Inc., CDK Global, Ceridian, Cisco Systems, Cision, Citrix, Cornerstone OnDemand, Coupa Software, Cvent, DocuSign, Inc., Edgeverve, an Infosys company, Ellie Mae, Eventbrite, FICO, FIS Global, Five9, Google, HubSpot, IBM, iCIMS, Infor, Informatica, Instructure, Inc., Intralinks Holdings, Inc., a SS&C Technologies Company, ION Trading, IQVIA, JDA Software Group, Inc., Khoros, Kronos Incorporated, LexisNexis, a RELX Company, LivePerson Inc., LogMeIn, Inc., Medallia, Medidata, a Dassault Company, Meltwater Group, Mitel, NCR Corporation, Nice Systems, Open Text Corporation, Paychex, Paycom, Paylocity, PTC, Q2ebanking, Qualtrics, RealPage, RingCentral, Roper Technologies, Inc., Saba Software, Sage, SAS Institute, Shopify, Slack, SolarWinds, SPS Commerce, Inc., SugarCRM, SumTotal Systems, a Skillsoft Company, SurveyMonkey, Trimble, TTEC, Twilio, Tyler Technologies, Ultimate Software, Unify Software and Solutions GmbH & Co. KG., Upwork, Veeva Systems Inc., Verizon Connect, Visma, Vonage, WEX Health, Workiva, Xero, Zendesk, Zoho Corp., Zoom Video Communications, Zuora, and many others.
Custom data cuts related to the Cloud Applications market are available:
- Top 200 Cloud Applications Vendors and Market Forecast 2020-2025
- 2020 Cloud Applications Market By Industry (21 Verticals)
- 2020 Cloud Applications Market By Functional Market (16 Markets)
- 2020 Cloud Applications Market By Country (USA + 45 countries)
- 2020 Cloud Applications Market By Region (Americas, EMEA, APAC)
- 2020 Cloud Applications Market By Revenue Type (License, Services, Hardware, Support and Maintenance, Cloud)
- 2020 Cloud Applications Market By Customer Size (revenue, employee count, asset)
- 2020 Cloud Applications Market By Channel (Direct vs Direct)
- 2020 Cloud Applications Market By Product
Exhibit 4 shows the enterprise applications market by functional area. The highest growth functional markets revolve around smaller segments like Analytics and BI, Collaboration, eCommerce, PPM and TRM, where first movers remain less established than those that for decades have been entrenched in functional areas like Content Management and CRM.
Cloud Win/Loss Analysis As Part Of Enterprise Applications Buyer Insight Customer Database
On the buyer side, customers are investing in Cloud systems based on new features and capabilities that are expected to replace their existing legacy systems. In many cases, competitive upgrades and replacements that could have a profound impact on future market-share changes will become more widespread.
Since 2010, our global team of researchers have been studying the patterns of the latest Cloud software purchases by customers around the world, aggregating massive amounts of data points that form the basis of our forecast assumptions and perhaps the rise and fall of certain vendors and their products on a quarterly basis.
Updated continuously, our database features extensive win/loss analysis. Each year our research team identifies tens of thousands of these customer wins and losses from public and proprietary sources.
The research results are being incorporated into regular updates in our Enterprise Applications Buyer Insight Customer Database. You can access the Quarterly Win/Loss Analysis Scoreboard and our Enterprise Applications Buyer Insight Customer Database by becoming a subscriber.
List of Cloud Software Customers
Source: Apps Run The World, April 2021
Further Readings
An expanded version of this report covers the top 500+ ERP Financial Management Software Vendors and ERP Services and Operations Management Software Vendors , offering in-depth analysis of the market dynamics, vendors’ Strengths, Customers, Opportunities, Risks and Ecosystems as well as their ability to gain Shares (SCORES) within their respective space.
We also offer win-loss analysis of the quarterly wins of these top vendors and whether incumbents and upstarts pose any real threat to their standing amid shifting market requirements and user preferences.
More Enterprise Applications Research Findings
Based on the latest annual survey of 3,000+ enterprise software vendors, Apps Run The World is releasing a number of dedicated reports, which profile the world’s 500 largest Enterprise Applications Vendors (Apps Top 500) and the world’s 500 largest Cloud Applications Vendors (Cloud Top 500) ranked by their 2015-2020 product revenues.
Their 2019xer results are being broken down, sorted and ranked across 16 functional areas(from Analytics to Treasury and Risk Management) and by 21 vertical industries(from Aerospace to Utility), as shown in our Taxonomy. Further breakdowns by subvertical, country, company size, etc. are available as custom data cuts per special request.
Research Methodology
Each year our global team of researchers conduct an annual survey of thousands of enterprise software vendors by contacting them directly on their latest quarterly and annual revenues by country, functional area, and vertical market.
We supplement their written responses with our own primary research to determine quarterly and yearly growth rates, In addition to customer wins to ascertain whether these are net new purchases or expansions of existing implementations.
Another dimension of our proactive research process is through continuous improvement of our customer database, which stores more than one million records on the enterprise software landscape of over 100,000 organizations around the world.
The database provides customer insight and contextual information on what types of enterprise software systems and other relevant technologies are they running and their propensity to invest further with their current or new suppliers as part of their overall IT transformation projects to stay competitive, fend off threats from disruptive forces, or comply with internal mandates to improve overall enterprise efficiency.
The result is a combination of supply-side data and demand-generation customer insight that allows our clients to better position themselves in anticipation of the next wave that will reshape the enterprise software marketplace for years to come.
