PPM stays the sweet spot for Oracle

MUMBAI, INDIA: Worldwide project and portfolio management (PPM) software revenue totaled $1.65 billion in 2012, up 11 per cent from $1.48 billion in 2011, according to final results from Gartner, Inc.

"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," said Laurie Wurster, research director at Gartner. "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."

Vendor movement has been characterized by partnering and acquisition, some new sales emphasis beyond North America, and improved packaging and delivery options (most notably, software as a service ), as well as by new product releases, Gartner explained.

Through 2011, PPM product development was generally focused more on integration. However, in 2012, it 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 ).

The top five PPM vendors accounted for nearly 50 per cent of PPM software revenue in 2012, and there was no change in their ranking as Oracle maintained its No. 1 position, with revenue of $381 million, and the company moved to broaden its PPM "sweet spot" into the midmarket with the November 2012 acquisition of cloud-based Instantis. Second-placed Microsoft also grew revenue by 10 per cent to reach $252 million, while, in third place, CA Technologies grew revenue by seven per cent to reach $157 billion.