Enterprise application integration (EAI) services may represent the single-most important and fastest-growing IT service opportunity over the next three to five years. According to IDC, worldwide revenues in this market will jump from $5 billion in 2000 to nearly $21 billion in 2005. This increase represents a strong compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 30%. By comparison, the corresponding opportunity of the overall IT services industry will increase at a CAGR of 11% during the same period.
"As the enterprise IT environment becomes increasingly complex, there is a fundamental need for varied enterprise information solutions to be properly enabled, integrated, and optimized," said Shams Mahmud, analyst with IDC`s Enterprise Resource Management Services program. "There is also a growing realization regarding the importance of state-of-the-art ebusiness processes, which are cohesively supported by a comprehensive underlying IT infrastructure. Together, these motivations are driving companies to reconsider how their disparate applications communicate and interact with each other, which in turn is driving the need for enterprise application integration services."
According to IDC, North American and Western European markets will command the majority of worldwide EAI services revenue through 2005, with a combined market share of over 90%. Japanese and Latin American markets will drive EAI services demand in the rest of world region.
Despite EAI`s positive outlook, it does face challenges. Cost of services, human issues regarding EAI engagements, and business-to-business integration challenges could inhibit growth. "To combat the integration issues, innovativeEAI tools companies and service providers have emerged to ensure rapid and efficient application integration in this area," Mahmud said.
IDC`s recently published report Enterprise Application Integration Services: Strategic Enabler of eBusiness (IDC #B23738) provides aggressive, forward-thinking IT service providers with the information they need to understand the EAI services market and the competitive landscape within this fast-growing field. It also provides recommendations meant to assist IT service providers in positioning themselves to capitalize on the EAI services opportunity and achieve enhanced service revenue and profitability.
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International Data Corporation (IDC)
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