Project and portfolio management (PPM) is now a separate market from the application development tools sector. PPM applications address three core functions: time, resource, and cost management.

The EMEA PPM market resisted a turbulent 2007, growing at 12.9 per cent to reach €309m (£274m). This was due to an awareness of the benefits of PPM, a sizable mid-market and stronger vendor marketing.
Western Europe remains the largest, fastest-growing EMEA market, albeit fragmented. Only two vendors have more than 10 per cent market share. Alternative delivery models, such as software-as-a-service (SaaS), are encouraging adoption. Vendors without a SaaS strategy must develop one to counter competition.

Gartner recommends global providers localise their PPM products, extending beyond simple translation. Partnering with local implementation and service providers will be vital to vendor success. The worldwide PPM growth rate was about 24 per cent, partly due to organisationsrecognising the merits of project control.

Weak economic conditions have driven demand for PPM systems in portfolio, financial and resource management.
The UK is the largest EMEA market, with a 26.3 per cent share, followed by Germany with 14.3 per cent, France with 10.9 per cent, and the Netherlands with 10.5 per cent

More mature economies are showing double-digit growth. On average, Eastern Europe grew 17.2 per cent, the Middle East and Africa 9.7 per cent.

Mid-market demand is rising across EMEA because the region abounds with mid-size organisations. Prospects are increasingly considering SaaS or on-demand PPM technologies, which will lead to market consolidation.

Seasoned practitioners are investing more in PPM implementations. Despite technology limitations, users are continuing to adopt PPM processes as they assess the cost of their IT services.

With PPM software used in UK projects, some growth is due to construction projects for the....Click here to read the full article