This IDC study provides the latest forecast for the enterprise applications market, which is doing much better than expected because of a combination of economic and technology factors.

"The enterprise applications market is going through a revival of some sort as an increasing number of companies are either upgrading or replacing their legacy systems to bolster their competitiveness and better withstand globalization effects,'' said Albert Pang, research director of enterprise applications at IDC. "Web-based functionality, intuitive usability, and lower software pricing brought about by on-demand delivery are giving these products greater appeal.''