This IDC study provides an initial top-down sizing of the system operations software market in 2005 and IDC's initial 2005?2009 forecast for this market. Specific vendor revenue and market shares are not included in this study but will appear in a competitive analysis study later in the year.

This IDC study provides 2004 market size and 2005?2009 forecasts and key assumptions for the total system operations software market and for each of its constituent submarkets: job scheduling software, output management software, and change and configuration management software. Revenue is shown for the total market and each submarket worldwide, for each of four geographic regions, and for principal operating environments including Unix, Linux, Windows, and mainframe.

According to Tim Grieser, program vice president, System Management Software, "2004 saw improved revenue growth in these markets. For the longer-term outlook, we expect continued positive growth for the 2005?2009 forecast period, at mid- to upper-single-digit growth rates."