Growth in ANZ business software market could lead to better software

The market for business software in Australia and New Zealand will grow to a value of US$7.3 billion in 2015, according to a new report from analyst firm Ovum. The resultant interest from software vendors could lead to better software for buyers.

The report, ANZ Market Trends 2010: Business Software Analysis, suggests this growth will be across all software categories.

In particular, Ovum attributes this growth to an increase in demand for business intelligence (BI), business process management (BPM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP).

“Against a backdrop of slowdown in economic growth, enterprises are following a cautiously optimistic approach to investment in business software,” said Ovum technology analyst Sandeep Mishra.

“With increasing data complexity and rising security concerns brought about by the growing number of IT platforms, enterprises across ANZ are expected to invest more in information management and security solutions,” Mishra said.

Ovum therefore advises software vendors have an opportunity to increase revenues by targeting the small to medium-sized enterprise segment, through channel partners and online sales.

For business software users, this could ultimately mean better software that drives greater efficiencies within their organisations.

“The focus [for vendors] would be to come out with products that optimise business value and reduce total cost of ownership for the buyers,” Mishra told Voice+Data.

Furthermore, Mishra predicts that cloud-based software solutions are expected to be more popular than on-premise solutions.

“On-demand could very well become the primary and preferred mode of delivery to the ANZ mid-market and small enterprises, as software buying behaviour moves towards pay-per-use models,” Mishra said.

“On-demand solutions are expected to prove cost-effective for businesses to manage their entire operations. ANZ is one of the largest markets for SaaS-based solutions in Asia-Pacific, and expected to grow faster than the market for on-premise solutions,” Mishra said.