Analyst group Gartner has reported an 18% growth in sales of software-as-a-service (SaaS) in the last year, and predicts that the growth will continue thanks to cloud SaaS.

Gartner’s $12.3bn in sales has climbed in twelve months by no less than 18% to hit $14.5bn in 2012 and could reach as much as $22.1bn by 2015.

The growth is most prevalent in vertical-specific software, but the most widespread use is still characterised by horizontal applications with common processes, among distributed virtual workforces and within web 2.0 activities.