Western European ERM Applications, Forecast and Analysis, 2008-2012

In this study, IDC provides ERM applications market forecast data for Western Europe. The Western European ERM applications market is segmented and forecast by functional market category (financial accounting, human capital management, procurement, payroll accounting, order management, financial performance and strategy management applications, project and portfolio management, and enterprise asset management), and country. IDC's coverage of the ERM applications market replaces the coverage of the enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications market. The forecast is based on final annual data for 2007 and projects the market out to 2012.

Bo Lykkegaard, research director, European Enterprise Applications, said: "Financial performance and strategy management applications and human capital management applications are expected to grow with the strongest CAGRs between 2008 and 2012. Procurement applications and project and portfolio management applications are also expected to grow with CAGRs higher than the ERM market average. The other functional segments - financial accounting, payroll accounting, order management, and enterprise asset management - will be less dynamic with CAGRs lower than the ERM market average. Financial accounting and payroll accounting are also the functional segments that are most mature and saturated.

"The market drivers of these back-office applications include factors such software as a service, or SaaS, corporate compliance, user experience innovation, and midmarket demand. However, the single most important driver for continued growth in the ERM space is the verticalization of ERM applications. Matching industry-specific needs is the key to making European organizations with costly, custom-built ERM solutions migrate to packaged software. With 1.7 custom-built solutions for every packaged product in Western Europe, this is an opportunity worth pursuing."