London, 17 June, 2010 - Despite the difficult economic climate the Western European SNMS market grew 4.0% in constant U.S. dollars to reach over $4 billion in 2009. International Data Corporation's (IDC's) latest forecast estimates that the market will experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.0% to reach over $5.7 billion in 2014.

"While the global economic crisis clearly did have an impact on the European SNMS market in 2009, the sector proved more resilient than many other IT and software markets, and the overall SNMS market trends and developments are mostly positive," said Patrik Bihammar, research manager, Infrastructure Software, IDC Europe. "In today's challenging economic climate, IT budgets continue to be under pressure and organizations are looking to reduce costs and improve efficiencies in managing IT. Systems management solutions are well aligned to help address these operational cost and efficiency challenges. IDC expects that organizations will invest in IT management and automation to help manage growing complexity, reduce operational costs, and improve the quality and level of service that IT delivers to the business. Market drivers will include the strong focus on IT process improvement and automation, as well as the need for virtualization and cloud management."

IDC's study, Western European Systems and Network Management Software Forecast, 2010–2014" (IDC #HI03S, June 2010), provides a detailed analysis of the Western European systems and network management software market. This study provides historical market size data and a five-year forecast for 2010–2014. The forecasts, trends, and developments aim to help better understand the market dynamics and growth opportunities in the Western Europe SNMS market.