Digital Business Initiatives Will Drive 7 Per Cent Growth $27 Billion in 2017

Gartner Says Application and Infrastructure Middleware Software Market Revenue Will Reach $27 Billion in 2017

Digital Business Initiatives Will Drive 7 Per Cent Growth in 2017

Egham, UK, 16^th March, 2017 — The worldwide application integration and middleware (AIM) software market continues to grow faster than the overall infrastructure software market, with revenue on pace to surpass $27 billion in 2017, an increase of 7 per cent from 2016, according to Gartner, Inc (see Table 1).

“Established approaches to application infrastructure are too rigid, closed and cumbersome to support many digital business requirements,” said Fabrizio Biscotti, research vice president at Gartner.

“Growth in mobile, big data, analytics, in-memory computing, cloud and Internet of Things initiatives is associated with digital business and requires application and integration professionals to invest in new AIM technologies,” said Mr Biscotti. “This in turn drives fresh integration approaches with new AIM technologies at their core, such as application programmable interface management and integration platform as a service.”

Table 1. Worldwide Infrastructure Software Revenue Forecast, 2016-2020 (Millions of US Dollars)

Source: Gartner (March 2017)

Three main requirements are central to this shift. Firstly, digital organisations need an open, flexible and lightweight model that enables simpler and faster configuration, as well as deployment of both cloud and on-premises resources. In addition, they need platforms that support diverse combinations of resources, applications, data, processes and things from within and outside the organisation. Finally, they need self-service middleware that can increase and decrease in scale rapidly.

“Cloud application infrastructure offerings are still maturing, yet already meet market demands for greater agility, scalability, productivity and efficiency better than their on-premises alternatives,” said Mr Biscotti. “The older technology, however, often remains more suitable for the most demanding scenarios.”

Emerging Segments Boost AIM Software Revenue in 2017

The AIM software market is split into mature and emerging segments. Mature segments are large in size, and most of the market is consolidated in the hands of a few established players. A high proportion of revenue is generated from maintenance fees and growth is slow, typically single-digit. Examples of mature segments include application servers andbusiness process management suites.

The emerging segments include mobile app development platforms, in-memory data grids and platform as a service, to name a few. These segments are smaller in size, but exhibit double-digit growth rates as they grow rapidly in line with the growth of digital business and the market demand for increased agility and scalability. The segment shows a high level of fragmentation as new vendors fight for market share before the market consolidates.

“The emerging segments are bolstering the above-average revenue growth within the AIM software market,” said Mr Biscotti. “Organisations seeking competitive advantage through digital business need new approaches to application infrastructure and integration, a trend shown clearly in the fast-growing emerging segments.”
More in the research note ““Forecast Overview: Application Infrastructure and Middleware Software, Worldwide, 2016 Update.”

Application trends will be further discussed at the Gartner Application Architecture, Development & Integration Summits taking place 8-9 May 2017 in London and 24-25 July 2017 in Sydney. Follow news and updates from these events using #GartnerAADI.

Application, customer and employee trends will be further discussed at the Gartner Application Strategies & Solutions Summit, 4-6 December 2017 in Las Vegas. Follow news and updates from this event on Twitter using #GartnerAPPS.

Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company. Gartner delivers the technology-related insight necessary for its clients to make the right decisions, every day. From CIOs and senior information technology (IT) leaders in corporations and government agencies, to business leaders in high-tech and telecom enterprises and professional services firms, to supply chain professionals, digital marketing professionals and technology investors, Gartner is the valuable partner to clients in more than 10,000 distinct enterprises. Gartner works with clients to research, analyze and interpret the business of IT within the context of their individual roles. Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A., and has almost 9,000 associates, including 1,900 research analysts and consultants, operating in more than 90 countries. For more information, visit www.gartner.com.

Maria Fonseca

Maria Fonseca is the Editor and Infographic Artist for IntelligentHQ. She is also a thought leader writing about social innovation, sharing economy, social business, and the commons. Aside her work for IntelligentHQ, Maria Fonseca is a visual artist and filmmaker that has exhibited widely in international events such as Manifesta 5, Sao Paulo Biennial, Photo Espana, Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Joshibi University and many others. She concluded her PhD on essayistic filmmaking , taken at University of Westminster in London and is preparing her post doc that will explore the links between creativity and the sharing economy.