Software & Technology

IT management software (ITMS): Least affected by recession and reduced IT spend

Even as the overall IT sector witnessed a significant fall in IT expenditure and revenue drop during the last five to six quarters, the segment of IT management software, especially non-application software (storage management, middleware), experienced the smallest decrease in vendors’ revenue. This is because non-application software fundamentally addresses IT productivity and helps reduce operating costs, which are important considerations for all industry verticals struggling to survive the recession. While a company can put its long-term strategic investments on hold, it cannot possibly eliminate operational management and productivity-enhancing investments during the slowdown.

The global recession has curbed capital investments, and impacted the sale of new hardware and accelerated infrastructure consolidation. During recessionary trends, companies look for less investments in hardware and more investment in operational management and IT productivity improvement software. Enterprises tend to focus on solutions that increase IT operations' productivity, reduce the time needed to correct problems, and eliminate wasted time.

During the period from Q4 2008 to Q2 2009, IT vendors supplying operating systems witnessed a 16% drop in average quarterly revenue. The revenue decline was the biggest, about 24%, during Q2 2009. However, vendors for middleware software segments witnessed a revenue fall of just 2% during this quarter (Q2 2009). The vendors’ revenue for the middleware segment is expected to see a growth of 2% in Q3 2009.

Vendors for middleware software segments witnessed revenue fall of just 2% during Q2 2009. The vendors’ revenue for the middleware segment is expected to see growth of 2% in the Q3 2009.