Market Overview: IT Financial Management Software

As IT continues to morph into business technology, it increasingly gets the same treatment and is subject to the same expectations as any other business operation. Some of the most pressing needs in this respect are clearly measured, continuous process improvements as well as better documentation and analytics about all resources used to manage those processes. IT financial management will be the new mantra where standard business practices like budgeting and activity-based costing (ABC) will become the norm for IT organizations. Forrester therefore recognizes IT financial management as an emerging segment in the IT management software market and has reviewed the current and planned offerings from more than a dozen vendors. The market is still nascent, but it will grow significantly in the next few years. The engineering of a suitable IT financial management solution will challenge existing IT management software vendors, suppliers of project and portfolio management (PPM), and existing business application vendors alike. The marketing and sales challenges for these vendors are also significant. There is currently no clear leader, and the playing field is level.