Because business processes are often similar in workflow, they are easy to offer as services
Services-based software has been around for a while. Back in 1999, during the Internet hype, several companies offered hosted applications for everything from enterprise procurement to sales force automation. After the Internet market crashed, several of these companies managed to survive, primarily because they filled a niche in the market that was economical and effective: enabling departments of large enterprises to utilize an electronic procurement solution, for example, while paying a monthly fee that did not require the IT sign-off or budget approvals that an in-house, enterprise-scale solution would.
