This Forecast Update provides an overview of the packaged application software market by industry, across the five largest countries in Western Europe, based on a preliminary version of the new IDC software forecast as of the end of April 2008. Spending estimates and forecasts by vertical market over the 2007-2011 timeframe are provided for the top 5 countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the U.K.), and the rest of Western Europe.

The analysis in this study highlights the key changes in IDC's applications forecasts by vertical market over the last nine months; a more detailed analysis of key trends can be found in Western Europe Vertical Markets Applications Spending, Forecast 2006-2011 (IDC #SV03P, July 2007).

In this study, the packaged applications market is segmented into the following 12 vertical industries: discrete manufacturing, process manufacturing, retail/wholesale, transport, communications, utilities, financial services, business services, government, healthcare, education, other.