In conjunction with its Supply Chain Executive Conference held this week, industry analyst firm Gartner reaffirmed a rather robust year of nearly 11 percent growth for supply chain and procurement software during 2014. Gartner estimated total revenues for SCM and procurement software to be $9.9 billion last year, outpacing other software market segments. The 2014 sizing of $9.9 billion reflects a nearly $1 billion increase from the Gartner $8.9 billion number reported for 2013 performance. The current 10.8 percent growth rate compares to the 7.3 percent growth reported for 2013. The fact that the pace increased by 3.5 percentage points is by our Supply Chain Matters lens, a reflection of a stepped-up emphasis in supply chain business and procurement process support needs.

Gartner again confirmed the overall fragmentation of this market segment which has continued by this author’s perspective, for the past 15 years. The top 10 vendors currently account for 55 percent of total market share, while the remaining 57 vendors tracked by Gartner account for the remaining share of the overall market. Gartner further reports that the average growth rate for remaining 57 vendors averaged nearly 10 percent, which is again, a very healthy growth performance.

As in the past, SAP and Oracle are again reported as the overall leaders of this market segment, followed by JDA Software (current Supply Chain Matters sponsor), Manhattan Associates and Epicor rounding out the top five revenue listing. We caution our readers to not be totally enamored by the SCM and procurement revenue numbers reported by both SAP and oracle since they are often internal estimates that are generated by each of these ERP providers vying for number one bragging rights. Neither reports such breakouts in their official financial reports to the investment community.

Double digit growth for this particular software segment is not at all unusual and reflects the continued importance that industry firms place on investing in supply chain capabilities. The most recent peak was in 2011 with a 12.2 percent growth rate. In its announcement, Gartner stated that: “The SCM and procurement software market experienced solid growth through sustained application demand, as supply chain remains a key source of competitive advantage in driving business growth objectives, such as improved customer satisfaction, greater business agility and operational improvements.” That statement seems understated.

From our discussions, client interactions and travels, we believe that the overwhelming complexity that is now impacting multiple manufacturing, retail and service focused industry supply chains has prompted needs for added technology support.

Bob Ferrari

Disclosure: JDA Software is one of other sponsors of the Supply Chain Matters blog.