IDC predicts healthy adoption of CM software in APAC
ConvergenceAsia staff
26/08/2008

According to IDC's latest study, "Asia/Pacific (Excluding Japan) Content Management Software Market, 2008-2012 Forecast and 2007 Market Sizing", the Content Management (CM) market in the Asia/Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) region is expected to grow steadily at a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.8 per cent, reaching US$362 million by 2012. In comparison, the market value in 2007 was US$181.8 million.

This growth is driven mainly by workflow-enabled content management and the automation of paper-based and document-based business processes gaining widespread interest in organisations that are focusing on improving operational efficiencies.

"Australia and Korea continued to be the main contributors to the CM software market with 32.2 per cent and 23.1 per cent market share respectively, and are expected to maintain their positions throughout the forecast period. Meanwhile, India and the People's Republic of China (PRC) are expected to continue showing strong growth with CAGRs of 22.9 per cent and 18 per cent respectively,” says Ridhi Sawhney, Market Analyst in IDC's Asia/Pacific Enterprise Applications Research.

"The different economic factors, regulatory environment and IT maturity in each country have contributed to varying levels of adoption and knowledge surrounding CM software in the APEJ region."

An IDC end-user survey conducted in 1H 2008 in Australia, India, Korea and the PRC, indicates that more companies in India and the PRC have plans to invest in CM software in 2008, compared to the more mature countries like Australia and Korea, where CM solutions have already been adopted. These companies in India and the PRC are now keen to invest in CM solutions due to increasing compliance requirements and the intention to better optimise and automate paper-based business processes.

Ridhi added, “In our research, we found that many APEJ countries have assigned top priority to various e-Government initiatives and are setting higher standards and requirements for record keeping, which is expected to continue drive CM adoption. Governments across the region are actively adopting Internet-based technologies as part of their ongoing efforts to offer more services digitally. These include reaching out to the public with up-to-date information on government portals and deploying record management, web content management software solutions, as well as e-forms to increase efficiency.”

Overall in this region, the content management software market is evolving to become a more complete end-to-end integrated market through vendors' acquisitions and internal product developments and enhancements. Strategic relationships built with partners and channels have helped vendors to increase their presence across the region.

In addition, the mandates from governments for tracking and storing electronic documents and images have also fuelled the demand for CM solutions. While the financial service industries and the government sectors remain the largest adopters of CM solutions, vertical industries like oil and gas, manufacturing and construction, and infrastructure services have begun to explore and adopt CM solutions.

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