Enterprise Business Integration Market to Reach $3.9 Billion by End of 2003.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 23, 2003

New Aberdeen report provides clear understanding of opportunities

and forces influencing the growth of the EBI market through 2006

Enterprise Business Integration (EBI) market revenues will moderately increase 8% to $3.9 billion in 2003, according to a recent report by Aberdeen Group, a leading market analysis and positioning services firm.

"The EBI market suffered its first revenue decline since its inception, with 2002 revenues decreasing by 12.9% over 2001," says Tom Dwyer, Aberdeen Vice President and Managing Director and author of the report, "Worldwide Enterprise Business Integration Spending." "However, even under strict spending restrictions there is pent up demand for technologies that extend existing systems, enable the rapid deployment of new applications, and improve the distribution of mission-critical information among the extended enterprise. The IT buyer is still interested in technologies that lower the overall cost, complexity and time to deployment for new applications that make their company's operations more dynamic and responsive across the extended value chain."

The report provides a clear understanding of the real opportunities and forces influencing the growth of the EBI market and how it will evolve through 2006. In particular, it presents research on EBI spending by integration technology; insight into the regional EBI market trends driving adoption; a projected breakdown of worldwide EBI spending by region for 2003 to 2006; and U.S. EBI spending by vertical industry.

Key findings include:

-- EBI spending will grow faster than overall IT spending. Aberdeen expects worldwide EBI spending to increase to $5.6 billion in 2006, yielding a four-year Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 11.4%, compared to the 4-5% predicted for overall IT spending.

-- Third-party EBI services remain the largest source of spending. EBI services by third-party professional services suppliers accounted for $2.1 billion of the $3.6 billion spent on EBI in 2002. By 2006 it will account for $2.9 billion of the $5.6 billion spent, which is a decline in revenue contribution from 59% to 53%.

-- North America remains the largest geographic market, but Europe will be a primary target in 2003. Total North American EBI spending will grow from $1.95 billion in 2002 at a CAGR of 9.6% to $2.81 billion by 2006. Twenty-five of the thirty suppliers are targeting Europe, reporting revenue contributions ranging from 10% to 49%.

Suppliers covered in the report include: Actional Corporation, Attunity Ltd., BEA Systems, DARC Corporation, Dharma Systems, Global eXchange Services, Inc., IBM, IGS, IONA, Insevo, iWay Software, Junot Systems, Level 8 Systems, Mercator Software, Microsoft, Neon Systems, Objective Edge, Scribe Software, SeeBeyond, Software AG, SunGard Business Integration, Sun Microsystems, Sybase, Taviz Technology, TIBCO, Transoft, Valaran, Vitria Technology, webMethods, and WRQ.

For more information about "Worldwide Enterprise Business Integration Spending" visit www.aberdeen.com or call [phone]. For more information about Aberdeen's Enterprise Integration practice, contact Tom Dwyer at [e-mail].

Information on the report is also available at this link: http://www.aberdeen.com/ab_company/hottopics/ebi/default.htm.

About Aberdeen

Founded in 1988, Aberdeen Group is a leading IT market analysis and positioning services firm that helps Information Technology vendors establish leadership in emerging markets. The firm provides IT market intelligence, positioning, and market acceleration services to established and start-up technology companies.

Aberdeen's consultants provide up-to-the-minute global IT market insights in more than 25 IT market segments. Research practices focus on emerging market opportunities, market growth rates, important industry trends, and customer buying patterns. The firm also helps clients to identify new market opportunities, enter those markets successfully, and accelerate the adoption of new technologies.

Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Aberdeen has research and consulting divisions in Palo Alto, California, and Fort Collins, Colorado. Aberdeen is accessible via the Web at www.aberdeen.com.