Global supply chain management software market grew 12.3 percent in 2011 , says Gartner

The worldwide supply chain management (SCM) software market totaled $7.7 billion in 2011, a 12.3 percent increase from 2010, according to Gartner, Inc.

It was the second year of double-digit growth for the SCM software market as supply chain investments kept their priority status and moved forward, despite caution from IT budget decision makers.

“Despite ongoing economic uncertainty, the market for supply chain applications showed itself to be pretty resilient in 2011 with most SCM providers continuing to expand their footprints,” said Chad Eschinger, research vice president at Gartner, in a statement. “North America and Western Europe continued to be the prime consumers of SCM software in terms of dollars spent, with nearly 79 percent of market revenue. However, European growth slowed in 2011 while Asia/Pacific continued to experience robust growth that significantly outpaced the market average.”

Last year, Gartner reported that 2010 was also a solid year for supply chain management software.

SAP continued to lead the SCM software market, accounting for 19.9 percent of the worldwide market.

Oracle was the No. 2 vendor with 16.9 percent market share. Ariba experienced the strongest growth among the top five vendors with SCM software revenue increasing 46.5 percent in 2011.

“The SCM software market is fragmented, with a plethora of small and midsize vendors (with revenue of less than $50 million) across regions and its four primary market segments,” said Eschinger. “Nevertheless, the top five vendors — SAP, Oracle, JDA Software, Ariba and Manhattan Associates — collectively held 48.3 percent of the worldwide SCM software market based on 2011 total software revenue.”

Eschinger added that SCM offerings delivered as software as a service (SaaS) subscriptions continued to bolster above-market growth in 2011 at 21 percent for both long-standing incumbents and many premium point product vendors, with focused capabilities for specific niche markets, while perpetual licenses also grew significantly at 15 percent.