It’s that time of the year for industry pundits to issue predictions for 2008, and Booz Allen Hamilton is no exception. In a new report, the consultancy issued the following five predictions for the enterprise software sector.
- A slower economy and a weak dollar will intensify cost pressures and focus on non-U.S. markets.
- The adoption of common industry standards will be a powerful spur to innovation.
- The software sector’s consolidation will pick up speed again.
- Consumers’ taste for all-in-one technology devices will grow even stronger.
- The push is on for greener technology products.
I found points 1 and 3 as the most relevant for the business software sector. In particular, the weak dollar will compel American technologies companies to pay increasing attention to foreign markets. It’s certainly a trend we’re seeing here at Sugar, with some of our strongest growth currently coming from Europe and the Asia-Pacific.
In terms of specifics, certain areas of CRM will be hotter than others, such as virtual call centers and technologies that enable companies to touch real people as opposed to just Web-enabled interactions, according to Booz Allen. That should bode well for CRM vendors focused on human-to-human interactions.
