Market Momentum: Business Application Software, H2 2008

Various prominent mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in early 2008 significantly changed the face of the business application software market, leading to the rise of the software supermajors. In the second half of 2008, vendor activities focused on product launches and go-to-market initiatives. In order to assist vendor strategy professionals in staying current with software market evolution, Forrester tracked and analyzed 1,131 activities of 36 leading vendors of business application software for the second half of 2008 across four categories: M&A, partnerships, new products and services, as well as go-to-market and strategy changes. It's no surprise that M&A activity was very quiet, compared with previous months, with economic crises causing vendors to invest with caution. Also, the consolidation of the market and the changing spending behavior of customers require vendors to quickly put into play go-to-market strategies, strengthen their ecosystems, and launch the fruits of their investments.