Global spending on SaaS (software as a service) will rise 17.9 percent this year to US$14.5 billion, according to figures released Tuesday by analyst firm Gartner. SaaS market growth will remain strong through 2015, when spending on the software is expected to hit $22.1 billion, according to Gartner. The spending rise is attributable to greater familiarity with how SaaS works, growth in related PaaS (platform as a service) offerings, and IT budgeting considerations, Gartner research director Sha