By Freya Purnell
The competition for customers is hotting up, with customer engagement systems expected to be the fastest-growing enterprise application between 2013 and 2018, according analyst firm Ovum.
According to Ovum’s Enterprise Application Software Market Forecasts, e-commerce and CRM solutions will see compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) of approximately 10 per cent for the 2013-2018 period, followed closely by enterprise applications that support innovation (at 8 per cent), such as product lifecycle management (PLM) and innovation management platforms.
The forecasts, which illustrate businesses’ interest in strengthening customer engagement capabilities while reducing costs, were also borne out by the findings of Ovum’s ICT Enterprise Insights. This showed growth is the top priority of enterprises, followed by greater customer focus, compliance, cost reduction and innovation.
Ovum’s forecasts show that manufacturing and healthcare verticals will be the biggest spenders by 2018, driven largely by the need to innovate. Healthcare investment will nearly double between 2012 and 2018 from US$12.2 billion to US$22.9 billion, while manufacturing investment will grow from US$14.6 billion to US$23.9 billion over the same period.
By region, the rapidly evolving economies of China, India, Brazil and the Middle-East & Africa show the highest compound annual growth rates of between 13 per cent and 16 per cent. Predictably, Europe and the US show the lowest (between 7 per cent and 8 per cent), albeit from a much higher base.
“Globalisation and disruptive technologies – particularly social networks, cloud computing, and mobile – have had a massive impact, raising customer, consumer, and citizen expectations and giving them greater power. This, plus a strong focus on cost reduction through IT modernisation and fierce competition for customers, is leading organisations to invest in their ability to adapt quickly enough to remain relevant to consumers,” says Jeremy Cox, principal analyst, customer engagement, Ovum.
