Futurewatch: Enterprise—Bucking the Trend

As spending on business online multimedia expands, distinct technology segments will become increasingly apparent. The single most important trend to watch will be the growth in software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions, which are beginning to emerge as an alternative to the long-favored "on-premise" tools that companies have traditionally used in the deployment of online multimedia capabilities. Last year, corporate spending on on-premise tools outstripped spending on SaaS by a nearly 2-to-1 margin. But significant future growth in the market will come from SaaS options, with annual spending on these alternatives topping $600 million a year by 2012, according to IMS estimates.

Along the way, expect the ongoing shift in the types of technology solutions that create the greatest value for corporate users and the most revenue for online multimedia technology vendors to continue. Products that enable enhanced content-management capabilities will draw the largest share of expanding corporate budgets for online multimedia. While the demand for tools and services that enable the creation of rich media content will continue to grow, content management is emerging as the cornerstone for market expansion. By 2012, revenues attributed to the content-management sector are forecasted by IMS to quadruple to more than $500 million while the content-creation side of the business sees cumulative revenue climb from $244 million in 2008 to $349 million by 2012.

Rather than being a victim of today’s unsettled climate, business video appears to be on the way to becoming one of the drivers that helps to pull us out of our economic doldrums.