eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.
Worldwide project and portfolio management (PPM) software revenue totaled $1.65 billion in 2012, up 11 percent from $1.48 billion in 2011, with Oracle maintaining its top spot, with revenue of $381 million, as the company moved to broaden its PPM position into the midmarket with the November 2012 acquisition of cloud-based Instantis.
Through 2011, PPM product development was generally focused more on integration, the report noted whereas now vendor movement has been characterized by partnering and acquisition, some new sales emphasis beyond North America, and improved packaging and delivery options such as software as a service (SaaS), as well as by new product releases.
Microsoft placed second in overall market share, posting revenues of $252.3 million and representing 15 percent of the market, with growth of 10 percent. Oracle also grew 10 percent between 2011 and 2012, and currently represents nearly a quarter (23 percent) of the PPM market. In third place, CA Technologies grew revenue by 7 percent to reach $157 billion, while Planview and Hewlett-Packard (HP) rounded out the top five with revenues of $90.4 million and $73.4 million.
“In 2012, the PPM software market had strong growth for the third consecutive year despite, or perhaps because of, slow economic growth, tight IT budgets, and merger and acquisition activity,” Laurie Wurster, research director at Gartner, said in a statement. “Turbulent or uncertain IT requirements perpetuated by a stagnant economy are driving changes in IT solutions and delivery models. Key vendors continue to expand product portfolios, buy companies where appropriate, and expand their reach into emerging markets. 2012 represented continued resiliency, where the total PPM market expanded in terms of both revenue dollars and worldwide markets.”
The report also noted that last year the market showed signs of resiliency and innovation as some vendors transformed themselves to support changing user requirements and expanded their reach into additional PPM domains (such as PPM for professional services), or into domains outside PPM, such as greater reach with SaaS offerings and into technologies such as application life cycle management (ALM).
The market for PPM software at the regional level remains, as in previous years, with North America and Western Europe the prime consumers, with nearly 90 percent of this revenue concentrated in developed markets. However, the areas with slowest growth were Western Europe and North America, with 6.3 percent and 10 percent growth, but with a significantly larger revenue base–the amount of gain in revenue was substantially higher than in the faster-growing regions.
“Without major acquisitions, the top three vendors will not easily change positions. With roughly between $100 million and $150 million spread among the top three, it would take six to 10 years to organically grow that much revenue,” Wurster said. “The vendors to watch in terms of dynamics will be those with revenue ranging from $30 million to $60 million. Strategies on business models, as well as partnering programs to obtain reach into regions outside North America and Western Europe, will be key to growth.”