Gartner and Forbes surveyed 175 board directors and found that half of them thought IT would be their most important investment next year. This is despite the fact that over half of them expected to see a recession during that time.
Gartner's Vice Analyst Jorge Lopez said their was a general feeling among board directors that businesses had already cut as many losses as they could, and that this wasn't a strategy for growth. In contrast with behavior in 2008, most of them are thinking forward and looking for ways to invest in business growth.
Compared with the same quarter last year, ERP giant SAP announced 18% revenue growth, bringing revenue up to 4.9 billion US dollars. During the same time, their profit grew by 12%. NetSuite also reported encouraging growth, seeing a 29 percent boost in revenue over the previous year.
This sudden growth in the ERP industry reflects business's increased need for efficient planning and internal operations. These tools allow businesses to avoid unnecessary costs, such as warehouses filled with products that won't be bought for years on end, by making it easier to monitor and predict the flow of resources.
This efficiency is not limited to physical assets, but is increasingly tied together with CRM in a way that treats consumer and employee relationships as assets themselves. Businesses that don't invest in ERP may find themselves increasingly expensive relative to their competitors, and could get pushed out of the market.
Source: Wall Street Beat: ERP, Mobile Devices Shine in Mixed Earnings
By CAL Business Solutions, Connecticut Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner