ZohoPress ReleaseStudy Reveals Delays in SaaS Implementations are Costing Indian Enterprises in Crores

Study Reveals Delays in SaaS Implementations are Costing Indian Enterprises in Crores

75% of Organisations Face Implementation Delays, Hindering Digital Transformation and Competitive Edge

Chennai—March 5, 2025– As businesses continue investing in SaaS solutions to drive digital transformation, modernise operations, and enhance agility, the speed of implementation has become critical. Implementation delays remain a significant barrier, preventing businesses from realising the full value of their digital investments. A new IDC study titled 'IDC State of SaaS Adoption in India Survey 2024', commissioned by Zoho, a global technology company headquartered in Chennai, reveals that 75% of Indian enterprises that have adopted SaaS solutions since 2020 have encountered implementation delays, resulting in an average timeline overrun of 57% and cost overrun of 43%. These setbacks have led to an average loss of ₹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.”

“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 Business Impact of SaaS Implementation Delays

Delayed SaaS implementations create cascading effects, affecting both ongoing and future digital transformation initiatives. As per the study, 92.5% of Indian enterprises recognise that timely implementation is critical, while the remaining consider it somewhat important. The study found that 67% of enterprises reported increased costs due to extended deployment timelines, making implementation overruns a direct financial burden. 53% of the respondents indicated that delays hindered digital transformation progress, slowing down innovation and business growth. Additionally, 48% of enterprises experienced customer dissatisfaction, while 46% faced missed business revenue and opportunities, impacting overall business performance.

The cost overrun was highest for financial and accounting (F&A) solutions (60%), as per the study. F&A solutions were adopted by 66% of the respondents. 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.

Reasons for Delays and Industry-Specific Challenges

Across industries, customer experience solutions were the most implemented post-pandemic (87%), with an average 51% timeline overrun. However, email and collaboration solutions saw the highest time overrun at 68% , followed by legal solutions at 61%. These delays were primarily due to a lack of dedicated resources, as enterprises assumed these solutions required minimal customisation, leading to misallocated implementation efforts.

The primary causes for implementation delays include project management inefficiencies (47%), followed by unexpected integration or security challenges (38%), talent shortage (38%), and technical complexities in the new solution (38%). 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.

Industry-Specific Impact

  • Healthcare saw 90% of enterprises implementing CRM, 83% adopting BI and analytics, and 70% deploying F&A solutions. 63% of healthcare enterprises reported increased costs, while 58% faced reduced productivity and 58% reported customer dissatisfaction, often requiring manual interventions to maintain critical services.
  • Financial Services invested heavily in CRM (85%), F&A (83%), and email and collaboration (63%). 75% of enterprises reported increased costs, 60% faced disruptions in digital transformation initiatives, and 55% experienced customer dissatisfaction due to prolonged implementation timelines.
  • Manufacturing, driven by Make in India and Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes, saw CRM (92%), BI and analytics (79%), and HRMS (62%) as top implementations. 72% of enterprises reported increased costs, 60% saw delays impacting digital transformation progress, and 41% experienced revenue losses.
  • Retail, accelerated by ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce), saw CRM (80%), F&A (67%), and email and collaboration (63%) as the most implemented solutions. 61% of enterprises faced revenue losses, 58% reported higher costs, and 51% suffered productivity declines, directly impacting profitability.

A Platform-First Approach to Accelerating SaaS Deployments

To mitigate these challenges, enterprises are shifting toward a platform-driven approach to SaaS implementation. This model enables faster deployments by leveraging automation, reducing customisation efforts, and ensuring seamless interoperability. The IDC study highlights that 59% of enterprises recognise automation and DevOps practices as key factors in shortening deployment timelines. By leveraging advanced automation, organisations can minimise manual dependencies, reduce errors, and improve implementation speed.

Additionally, 53% of enterprises consider integrated developer platforms—including low-code, no-code, and pro-code capabilities—essential for overcoming customisation bottlenecks. By enabling business users and IT teams to build and modify applications quickly, these platforms eliminate delays caused by excessive coding and complex configurations. Furthermore, 48% of enterprises emphasise the importance of plug-and-play solutions, which simplify integrations and reduce the complexity of connecting multiple systems.

"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 Mani Vembu, CEO, Zoho. "By offering pre-configured industry workflows, AI-driven analytics, and seamless interoperability, we enable organisations to accelerate their SaaS deployments—whether launching, extending, or scaling—while minimising costs and maximising business impact."

Zoho's Platform Approach

Zoho’s platform approach enables enterprises to implement SaaS solutions faster without compromising flexibility, security, or scalability. Depending on the complexity of their needs, enterprises can choose to use and integrate point products, customise and extend domain-specific app platforms, or build hyper-customised vertical solutions using an array of no-code, low-code, and pro-code tools from Zoho’s developer platform.

With pre-configured workflows, built-in AI, business intelligence (BI), and automation, Zoho’s platform enhances operational efficiency, delivering predictive insights and streamlined workflows. Its composable architecture with plug-and-play integrations simplifies implementation, reducing complexity and ensuring agility. By offering no-code and low-code capabilities even within point products and domain-specific app platforms, Zoho lowers the maintenance cost of its solutions. Additionally, its marketplace ecosystem enables businesses to adopt validated, industry-specific solutions seamlessly, accelerating digital transformation while optimising performance.

Study Methodology

The IDC State of SaaS Adoption in India Survey 2024 surveyed 240 enterprises in India (with over 1,000 employees) from across healthcare, retail, manufacturing and financial services industries that had implemented SaaS solutions after 2020. Key results of the study are highlighted in the IDC Spotlight, commissioned by Zoho, A Platform-Driven Approach for Faster and More Efficient SaaS Implementation, Doc #AP7877X, February 2025. Click here to know more

About Zoho

With over 55 apps across nearly every major business category, Zoho Corporation is one of the world’s most prolific technology companies. Headquartered in Chennai, India, Zoho is privately held and profitable, employing more than 18,000 people worldwide. Zoho is committed to user privacy and does not rely on an ad-revenue business model. The company owns and operates its data centres, providing full oversight of customer data privacy and security. Over 100 million users globally—across hundreds of thousands of companies—trust Zoho to run their businesses, including Zoho itself. For more information, visit www.zoho.com.

Media Contacts

Aditi Gupta
aditi.gupta@zohocorp.com

Nanya Srivastava
nanya.s@zohocorp.com