IDC: In 2007, there was stagnation in the business software market

According to the results of a study by the analytical company IDC Adriatics, the market for the most significant business applications, ERPs, grew by only 0.5 percent last year, or fell by 7.6 percent.

The study by IDC Adriatics shows that the value of the Croatian ERP application market remained unchanged in 2007, reaching a value of 35.75 million US dollars. IDC states that the market value increased by only 0.5 percent when expressed in US dollars, while when converted to kuna, the market value actually decreased by 7.6 percent. IDC attributes the stagnation, or decline in market value, to the high market value in the previous year, 2006, as well as the lack of projects for some of the major manufacturers.

Otherwise, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) or integrated business transaction systems are a very good indicator of the health of the business software market as they are used by all serious companies, and recently they are increasingly being used in small companies. IDC has announced that it expects an increase in spending on ERP applications in 2008 and a focus by manufacturers on small and medium-sized enterprises, a market segment that is still not saturated.
SAP retained its leading position in the Croatian ERP solutions market, followed by Microsoft and three local manufacturers: PIS, Point, and Laser Line.

The top five manufacturers account for nearly 47% of the market. Point and Laser Line advanced by one position each after pushing Oracle out of the top five manufacturers (to sixth place). Corporate resource management (ERM) was, as in previous years, the most popular area of ERP in 2007, with a market share of 65.8%. This is followed by supply chain management (SCM) with a 12.8% share, and operational and manufacturing modules (OMA) with 12.1%. Fourth place was taken by business analytics modules (BA), which increased their share from 4.2% in 2006 to 5.2% in 2007.

The fifth-ranked customer relationship management (CRM) modules sold 26% less compared to 2006, when they accounted for 5.6%, compared to 4.2% in 2007.
With a 26.1% market share, the retail sector was the largest consumer of ERP applications in Croatia last year. It is followed by the manufacturing industry with 12.5%, wholesale with 11.2%, and the manufacturing industry with 9.6%. The list of the five largest consumers is rounded out by the agriculture, mining, and construction sectors with a 5.5% market share in 2007. IDC expects that spending on ERP solutions in Croatia will grow by an average of 11% annually and reach 60.20 million USD in the next five years. (I. Š.)