Enterprise Software Sales Stagnate
Worldwide enterprise software revenue will grow at a miniscule 0.3 percent, according to research firm Gartner in a report issued on March 30. While this seems like bad news, there might be many in the industry who would be happy to see that although small, there’s at least some growth happening.
In dollar amounts, Gartner forecasts that enterprise software revenue will hit $222.6 billion, compared to 2008 revenues of $221.9 billion. The research firm suggests that the numbers are indicative of the major recession currently gripping the global economy.
This is at least the third time Gartner has lowered its forecast for world-wide enterprise software sales in 2009. Gartner now expects revenue to total $222.6bn in 2009, an increase of only 0.3 compared to 2008.In September, the firm was predicting a 9.5 per cent increase from last year, which sunk to expecting a 6.6 per cent increase in December. (In other words, brace for June).
Analysts said that despite an unsettled outlook, the enterprise software market has the potential to weather the current economic downturn better than in 2001 and 2002 because market conditions are dramatically different in terms of maturity, penetration, confidence in IT, and the geographical and vertical mix.
