As the Software as a Service (SaaS) sector continues to gain traction and fills the headlines of some of the largest digital business publications – such as Forbes, TechInAsia, Investors.com – investors find themselves more and more attracted to learn and place their capital in the trending tech sector.

SaaS technologies have been growing at a rapid rate over the last 10 years. The online e-commerce sector‘s rise, digital entrepreneurs selling products and services online in an unprecedented volume, and the ever-increasing amount of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) have fueled the sector‘s sustained development. Software to support these businesses has, just as well, experienced explosive growth. Platforms like WooCommerce, Shopify and Square, as well as CRMs like SalesForce and Hubspot have all been built to service these businesses. As a whole, the SaaS market is forecast to reach $76 billion by 2020.

The use of SaaS solutions is on the rise in 2018 - as businesses choose cloud-based solutions that allow them to focus on their own operations instead of extensive on-site setups that require both additional manpower and downtime costs, as well as periodical maintenance. SaaS characteristics allow to drastically lower those expenses, delegating such responsibilities to the provider. Cisco's Global Cloud Index for the 2013-2018 period highlights that 59% of all workflow will be SaaS-based by the end of 2018.

While larger companies are already experiencing early gains, a small innovative company worth some attention is  Subscribe Technologies (CSE:SAAS). SAAS has a wide-ranging portfolio of assets that it either develops, partners with, acquires, or invests in to support and empower small and medium-sized businesses, solopreneurs and e-commerce businesses looking to scale. With a strong portfolio of tools, apps and platforms already in place, and multiple revenue streams in place to benefit from, they are one to keep an eye on.

Companies like Subscribe - which offer solutions and services beyond solely access to their platforms such as installations, setup, hosting, bandwidth allocation, end-user training and, of course, subscriptions - are on the rise. While seemingly plenty, those are only some of the income streams that developers in this sector enjoy. Companies can present their clients with a menu of options and scale their operations up or down according to what is requested - therefore making any increase in operational costs almost surgically calculated to be offset by new income.

This new wave of innovation and its upsides have not gone unnoticed by the largest and most established tech stalwarts. At the end of October, IBM disclosed the acquisition of  open-source cloud-based software solutions developer Red Hat, in a bid to stay competitive with perennial contenders Microsoft and Amazon.

Promising forecasts, sustained growth over time and the incursion of tech‘s biggest players into the field, provide a solid foundation for institutional and individual investors to follow the trend. News of companies such as Syncron, a SaaS that helps companies move to a service model, raising $61 million in a single funding round, or Careem, a Dubai ride-hailing service, securing $200 million in funding from Saudi and Japanese investors, flood the headlines - and will continue to do so as the industry grows.

An emerging industry is within reach for investors of all sizes - and the largest ones are already placing their positions. With more promising results and forecasts pouring in by the day, savvy investors will surely begin to learn about, and make their own plays on, up and coming prospects in the newest hot tech sector.

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