In the dynamic world of marketing, technology plays an increasingly crucial role in success and innovation. Let’s take a look at the numbers: Contrary to popular belief, marketing does not possess the largest technology stack. According to recent studies, the average number of software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications used in marketing is approximately 75. Among these are dedicated marketing and sales tools, CRM applications, content management systems, collaboration tools, storage, design tools, and more.
Although this number may seem significant, it falls below the enterprise-wide average of 83. In fact, engineering and operations teams surpass marketing with an average of over 100 applications, highlighting the technological complexity in these areas. A closer analysis of the data reveals interesting insights. Surprisingly, IT and security teams use more applications than marketing, sales, or customer success teams. The area of security and compliance stands out prominently, with nearly twice as many distinct applications compared to any other category.
The disproportionately high number of applications used by IT and security teams underscores the importance of their roles in companies, as well as the significance of data privacy.
In conclusion, it is expected that due to the explosion of AI applications (several hundred per week!), the number of tools in the revenue operations (marketing/sales/service) domain will continue to increase.
Author: Prof. Dr. Andreas Fuchs
