HR and payroll apps strong in W Europe.

Six of the ten largest HR and payroll applications vendors in Westem Europe are so-called best of breed vendors, including Northgate Information Solutions, DATEV, ADP, TictoEnator, P & I, and 14R Access Fidelity. They focus on specialized applications rather than broad suites of applications. SAP dominates the $1.3 billion HR and the payroll application market with a market share of almost 25% at the Western European level, but best of breed vendors occupy strong positions at the country level. Examples include Northgate's dominance in the UK market and TietoEnator's 24% share of the Nordic market.

The future position of best of breed vendors is uncertain. An IDC Leadship Grid analysis shows that ERP vendors such as SAP, Peoplesoft, Oracle, Sage Group, Exact Software, and Microsoft, which can leverage their extensive partner networks, cross sell opportunities, and broad geographic coverage, are generally well positioned to gain future market share.

Comment:

The European HR and payroll application market is undergoing a profound transition. New customer requirements are forcing vendors to expand their product and geographic coverage via acquisitions and alliances and further consolidation is underway. Several best of breed vendors, including HR Access Fidelity, P & I, TietoEnator, and Meta4 are--backed by outside funds--executing aggressive expansion strategies.'

www.idc.com