2012 Predictions: Enterprise Software

Advice Will Garside 2011-12-23 16:43

Enterprise software is the last item on our predictions and round-up special

Judging by the column inches across all technology titles, cloud and virtualisation were clearly the drivers for 2011 and the next 12 months looks likely to be the same.

In terms of acquisitions in the enterprise software space, HP was definitely king. It $11bn offer for Cambridge-based enterprise software company Autonomy was the largest deal of 2011 and served to highlight that it wanted to be more like IBM and less like Dell in its future. This point was further highlighted when it did the hookie-pookie around its PC business which saw it lose channel confidence and market share after its former CEO’s plans to exit that $4bn business were shelved. As was he.

Enterprise software heavyweight Oracle was a relative spend thrift in 2011. The $1.5bn purchase of RightNow was just chump change for Ellison. It’s pricing strategy which enabled it to offer its enterprise software on its own Sun hardware at less than its rivals was another example of the firm’s (evil) genius.

However, it was IBM which quietly hoovered up a load of start-ups including analytics firms DemandTec, Emptoris and algorithmics. Big Blue also picked up Q1 Labs as well as a number of complementary security vendors as part of its new IBM Security Group.

Microsoft had a relatively quiet year on the enterprise software front. Its well-received Windows 7 desktop operating system grew in footprint and was joined by a capable Mobile OS and new trinkets for XBox gaming fans. Much of Microsoft's energies were consumed with promotion of Hyper-V and its cloud strategy. The firm has been trying to convince the world that it has a ‘cheaper than VMware’ story for enterprise and the SMB.

However, VMware had a better year in terms of product with innovation and a focus on management helping to grow its channel and customer base. The virtualisation company also re-jigged its pricing to more of a pay-for-use model, which although unpopular in some quarters, was at least an honest approach to a pricing inequality between different types of users.

SAP closed the year strongly with an outline of its new HANA in-memory database and a $3.4bn agreement to acquire SuccessFactors Inc as the firm strengthened its SaaS credentials.

The dominant factor in 2011 was the cloud and virtualisation, and 2012 promises much of the same.