Spending on supply management applications and services will increase 14.5% in 2008 according to a report recently released by Maura McGreevy at AMR Research.
"We found that many organizations are looking to fill functionality gaps by investing in the tools that will ensure reliable supply in 2008," said Mickey North Rizza, a research director at AMR Research. "We were not surprised to see this overall increase in spending, especially considering the importance of supply management to a companys P&L and balance sheet. Even in a time of economic uncertainty, companies understand that supply management applications can bring more to the bottom line. Tightening up spending equates to spending on applications and services that bring added value, such as supply management."
The study, which surveyed supply management and IT executives from 12 industries across Europe and the U.S., found that increased productivity (ranked first by 29% of respondents) and profitability (27%) are the top two business priorities for supply management executives in 2008.
Additional highlights of this report include:
- U.S. budget allocations will fall mainly in hardware or application infrastructure (24%), software licensees (22%) and maintenance (22%).
- In Europe, allocations will go toward internal head count (22%), infrastructure (22%) and software licenses (21%)
