India's enterprise software market to reach $ 3.96 bn in 2013: Gartner

NEW DELHI: Fierce competition and a volatile economic scenario is fuelling the enterprise software market in India, which is expected to grow by 14.5 per cent to $ 3.96 billion this year, research firm Gartner said today.

Also drivers like the requirement of greater customer services, focus on cost savings and incorporation of emerging technologies into solutions is also aiding the growth in this market.

Despite challenging economic conditions, the enterprise software market in India is projected to reach $ 3.96 billion (in constant currency) in 2013, a 14.5 per cent growth over 2012 revenue of $ 3.46 billion, Gartner said.

"As enterprise users in India increasingly compete in the business environment that is constantly changing, the need to stay competitive and profitable in such a fast paced, dynamic and sometimes volatile economic scenario is driving the demand for overall IT consumption," Gartner Principal Research Analyst Asheesh Raina said.

Changes in business priorities are also creating new opportunity areas for a variety of software products and services, he added.

Emerging technologies like mobility, social, cloud and information management as well as demand for agility if further fuelling the demand for IT investments, Raina said.

Garter said: "In 2013, India will be the fourth largest enterprise software market in Asia/Pacific, excluding Japan."

The country is expected to account for 12.2 per cent of the region's total revenue of $ 32.58 billion in 2013, which is equivalent to 1.3 per cent of the global software market of $ 304 billion, it added.

In comparison to other countries, the software market in India is still relatively small and evolving.

Top 5 business priorities for Indian users include increasing enterprise growth, delivering operational results, improving profitability and margins; among others, Raina said.

"IT spending is expected to remain high with India and China user organisations being most optimistic, closely followed by Malaysia and Singapore," he added.