The trend towards consolidation of the enterprise system
management software market is continuing with new mergers and
acquisitions, industry analysts say.
In a report on the Western European enterprise system management
software market, analyst firm IDC found consolidation activity
continuing from 2005 into 2006 and predicted the trend would be
sustained for “some years to come”.
IDC highlighted recent activity, such as IBM’s February
acquisition of network management software firm Micromuse. Tonny
Rasmussen, programme manager with IDC's European software group,
said: “IBM clearly stands out as the leading IT vendor in the
market during 2005, and also made significant acquisitions, most
notably of Micromuse.
"However, all solution suite vendors made significant
acquisitions, consolidating their positions in this rather mature
market.
“All the signs in 2006 so far indicate a continuation in the
surge of consolidation activities, although this is no guarantee of
market domination as solution standards potentially change the
system management environment."
The IDC analysis places IBM, Hewlett-Packard, CA, and BMC as the
market leaders in the enterprise system management software
market.
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