Worldwide enterprise software revenue to grow 9.5% in 2011

The enterprise software market's growth is projected to grow continuously in 2012, with revenue forecast to reach USD 288 billion, Gartner said.

"The market for enterprise software continues to recover well following the 2009 downturn, with signs of ongoing growth on the horizon," said Joanne Correia, Managing Vice President at Gartner.

"Economic recovery is evident across all regions, although concerns have arisen in some countries in Europe and Asia. The earthquake and tsunami in Japan has created additional marketplace uncertainty with a multiplicity of effects that are beginning to be determined.

"GDP results and other research have pointed to a 2Q11 slowdown in demand with some recovery later in the year", she said. Enterprise infrastructure software spending is on pace to a USD 153.3 billion total in 2011, a nine per cent increase from the 2010 revenue of USD 140.6 billion. The market is led by operating systems segment in which revenue is projected to reach USD 32.6 billion in 2011, followed by database management systems revenue at USD 25.5 billion.

Worldwide enterprise application software spending is forecast to total USD 114.4 billion in 2011, a 10.2 per cent increase from 2010 spending of USD 103.8 billion. Enterprise resource planning is the largest segment within the enterprise application software market. ERP revenue is expected to reach USD 23.3 billion, followed by office suites with USD 15.7 billion.

Emerging countries such as Poland, India, China and Brazil, which were less affected by the latest economic downturn than the US and Europe, are expected to continue to invest heavily in enterprise software initiatives in the next few years as they build IT infrastructure necessary to do business on a global basis.

Enterprise software spending in North America is forecast to reach USD 121.2 billion in 2011, up from 2010 revenue of USD 112.9 billion. The market will experience consistent growth through 2015 when spending in North America will surpass USD 158.1 billion.

Enterprise software spending in Western Europe is forecast to reach USD 78.3 billion in 2011, up from 2010 revenue of USD 70.3 billion. The market would experience growth on a par with North America through 2015, Gartner said.

Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) will witness fastest growth after Latin America. Spending is forecast to reach USD 26.4 billion in 2011, up from 2010 revenue of USD 23.6 billion. The market would experience strong growth through 2015, when spending in Asia/Pacific will surpass USD 40 billion.

"Overall, emerging markets' growth will slow over the forecast period, but will continue to be faster than those of the developed world. However, economic growth in almost all the emerging countries is also likely to be affected by the slowing trends in Europe and Japan," said Yanna Dharmasthira, research director at Gartner.

"Among the largest emerging markets, China and Brazil will see the most pronounced slowing trends, while growth rates in India and Russia will be less affected, Dharmasthira said.