APAC IM software market grows, despite economic woes

Peter Dinham
Sunday, 05 July 2009 09:45

IT Industry - Market

The infrastructure management software market in the Asia Pacific region has managed modest growth despite a blunting of previous double-digit growth by the global economic downturn.

The IM software market, worth around US$1.5 billion in the region last year, grew by 7.6 percent during 2008, and IDC expects the market to improve as the economic crisis bottoms out and confidence returns.

Daphne Chung, senior research manager at IDC Asia Pacific, says IDC’s latest semi-annual software tracker survey for 2008 showed that the global economic crisis had blunted the double-digit growth rates the IM software market experienced in the lead up to 2008, but despite the economic pressures, the market had continued to grow.

According to Chung, the economic crisis has created a much more cautious IT spending environment where “businesses have become more cautious about each dollar spent on IM projects,” and she adds, “budgets are being scrutinised to ensure the best value is being obtained from vendors and money is being spent only on the most necessary and critical projects.”

Chung says that, as organisations cut costs and expansion plans are put on hold, "the sales cycles for projects are also extending as companies seek to review the return on investments more carefully.”

IDC’s report reveals that, while all sectors have experienced a significant slowdown in growth, the FSI sector was, as it expected, one of the worst hit as the growth rate dropped from 18% to 11% compared to the previous year.
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