The Hindu Business Line : IDC sees strong growth in content management software

Enormous potential
Gaining enormous traction in Asia-Pacific region
Key markets are Australia, Korea, India, and China
Level of awareness varies across economies

New Delhi , July 9

The nascent content management software market in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to witness a five-year compounded annual growth rate of 14 per cent to touch $245.3 million before the end of the decade, with India set to post the strongest growth numbers during the forecast period.

"The content management software market in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan, is still a nascent market that accounts for a very small slice of the total software market in the region. Nonetheless, the market grew strongly by 25.1 per cent to reach $127.6 million in 2005 on the back of rapidly increasing demand for digitised information, rising competitiveness, compliance issues, and favourable exchange rates," according to IDC.

All the country markets registered positive growth in 2005, but the key contributors were Australia, Korea, India, and China.

"Australia and Korea are projected to remain the largest markets for content management software throughout the forecast period, while the strongest growth is expected from India."

Enterprises that are early adopters include those that require meticulous record management procedures, or are more heavily regulated (banks and healthcare), as well as those industries that are more information-intensive in nature, such as legal practices. IDC research indicates that e-forms, workflows, records management, document imaging, e-mail management, and Web content management, are gaining enormous traction in terms of investment consideration in this region.

"The level of awareness and adoption of content management software varies across the collection of economies in the region. Much depends on the state of development, impacts of globalisation, corporate governance efforts, and enforcement of regulations in a country," said Ms Sharon Tan, Senior Market Analyst, Asia Pacific Application Tools Software Research, IDC Asia Pacific.

The top five vendors in the region's content management software market collectively accounted for 43.6 per cent of the market in 2005.

IDC expects most vendors to continue packaging content management software along with other product lines (collaboration, portals, and business process automation/business process management software are related markets) and presented as business solutions.