JEDDAH – As enterprise application software (EAS) markets in the Arab Middle East and North Africa (MENA) recover from a slowdown in spending, the countries affected by political turmoil over the past couple of years are expected to return to a state of normalcy and drive EAS spending, according to the latest insights from International Data Corporation (IDC), the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. In its new “Arab Middle East and North Africa Enterprise Application Software Market 2013-2017 Forecast and 2012 Vendor Shares” study, the research firm said that while large organizations continued to be the primary drivers of EAS spending, the small and medium-sized business (SMB) segment is emerging as a key area of focus for EAS vendors. "Spending on EAS solutions crossed the half-billion dollar milestone in 2012 on the back of rising demand in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Maghreb North Africa," said Dhiraj Daryani, research manager for software at IDC Middle East, Africa, and Turkey. "Going forward, EAS vendors can exploit enormous opportunities as large organizations focus on investments aimed at modernizing and consolidating their IT infrastructure. Vendors and their partners will also see rising demand from the SMB segment. Vendors offering tightly integrated, mobile-enabled, scalable solutions with an outstanding local support program stand to gain market share." All MENA markets expanded in 2012, with the exception of Egypt and the Other Gulf Cooperation Council (OGCC) countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar), where spending on EAS solutions contracted when compared to 2011. The UAE was the region's fastest growing market, followed by North Africa (Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia). Meanwhile, the rate of growth in Saudi Arabia and the Levant (Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria) was relatively slower. Saudi Arabia remained the largest market in the MENA region, followed in second place by the UAE. The OGCC countries ranked third, while North Africa placed fourth and Egypt took fifth spot. The Levant grouping was the smallest EAS market in the MENA region in 2012. Reflecting this near-universal growth, EAS license and maintenance (L&M) spending in the MENA region increased 4.1 percent year on year in 2012 to total $500.4 million. The biggest spenders were process manufacturing companies, which accounted for 15.9 percent of the market. The government sector was the second-largest vertical market, with 13.6 percent share, while combined finance ranked third, with 13.5 percent of the total market. The region's EAS market continues to be dominated by global giants SAP and Oracle. SAP remained the largest EAS vendor in MENA in 2012, with 37.4 percent share of the market, while Oracle placed second, with 33.9 percent share. Microsoft Dynamics held on to third spot with 9.8 percent share. The top ten vendors together captured 94.0 percent of total EAS spending in the MENA region during 2012. — SG
