Top 15 Most Popular SaaS, Cloud Apps for Business 2022

Which cloud applications and SaaS offerings are most popular with business users? The annual Business @Work report (from Okta) pinpoints the 15 most widely used SaaS and cloud applications. The report is based on real-world monitoring and analytics data rather than customer surveys.

Here’s a look at this year’s Okta list, along with ChannelE2E’s channel-partner-centric observations about each SaaS and cloud offering. The apps are ranked in popularity by the most number of unique users:

1. Microsoft 365: The cloud giant continues to extend it's SaaS lead over all SaaS rivals, taking its massive installed base and somehow generating 36% year-over-year growth in 2021 vs. 2020, Oka indicated. Still, some channel partners have been upset with Microsoft about new cloud subscription terms that may push more financial risk to partners -- and more profit opportunity to the SaaS giant. More: Microsoft Partner Program Details.

2. Workday: A distant number two -- far behind Microsoft -- but still growing its user base an impressive 38% in 2021 vs. 2020. More than an HR software platform, Workday now supports finance and other business application functions to compete against Oracle and others. More: Workday Partners.

3. ServiceNow: Always in expansion mode, the IT service management (ITSM) software platform continues to extend into HR, financial, SecOps and other workflow automation use cases. Amid strong end-customer demand and a shortage of ServiceNow partners, M&A activity among ServiceNow IT consulting firms remains steady to strong. More: ServiceNow Partner Program.

4. Google Workspace: Formerly G Suite, the alternative on some fronts to Microsoft 365 Gmail, Drive, Meet and more. Some partners say they'll give Google Workspace a move amid Microsoft's evolving partner program terms. But we're not sure how many of those partners will actually make the move. More: Google Partner Program.

5. Salesforce: The company continues to push into new application and cloud categories, but CRM remains its bread-and-butter. Meanwhile, M&A activity among Salesforce cloud consulting partners also remains strong. More: Salesforce Partner Community.

6. Zoom: The poster child for remote work during the pandemic, Zoom is still growing (users grew 42% in 2021) -- though not nearly as fast as the 195% growth in 2020. Zoom's partner program has also been extending to include various third-party systems. More: Zoom Partner Program.

7. Zscaler: The Zscaler Internet Access and Zscaler Private Access services create secure connections between users and applications. More: Zscaler Partner Program.

8. Slack: Now owned by Salesforce, the Microsoft Teams alternative remains in growth mode. More: Slack Partners.

9. Atlassian Product Suite: Another maker of ITSM and collaboration tools, Atlassian's growth remains strong. Total revenue was $740.5 million for the third quarter of fiscal year 2022, up 30% from $568.7 million for the third quarter of fiscal year 2021, Atlassian said in April 2022. More: Atlassian Partners.

10. Box: The cloud-based file sync and sharing service is a major player -- but seeking new ways to grow. Revenue for the first quarter of fiscal year 2023 was $238.4 million, an 18% increase from revenue for the first quarter of fiscal year 2022 of $202.4 million. More: Box Partners.

11. Cornerstone OnDemand: The HR software provider is backed by private equity firm Clearlake Capital Group. Key moves include acquiring SumTotal (a provider of learning and human capital management software-as-a-service (“SaaS”) for customers in regulated  industries) and Edcast. More: Cornerstone Partners.

12. SAP SuccessFactors: Another HR software provider -- focused on human capital management, talent management, payroll and more. More: SAP SuccessFactors Partners.

13. SAP Concur: SAP Concur is designed to simplify travel, expense and invoice management. More: SAP Concur Partner Ecosystem.

14. Ultimate Software (now UKG): The HR, payroll, and workforce management technology combine is now known as UKG -- a merger of Ultimate and Kronos Group. More: UKG Partner Network.

15. Webex by Cisco: Amid Zoom's market popularity, it's sometimes easy to forget the massive Webex installed base. More: Webex Partner Certification.