ABSTRACT
The Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software market is one of the fastest growing markets in the software industry. It has seen a rocky start with several project failures and a huge shortage of skilled and experienced workers. The ERP market is predicted to grow from a current $15 billion to a gigantic $50 billion in the next five years. The estimated long-term growth rates for ERP solutions are a stratospheric 36 to 40 percent. Some estimates put the eventual size of this market at $1 trillion. Recently major ERP vendors such as SAP AG, Baan, and Oracle have reported significant financial results. Contributing to this phenomenal growth is the estimation that 70 percent of the Fortune 1000 firms have or will soon install ERP systems and the initiatives by ERP vendors to move into medium to small tier industries with gross revenues less than $250 million. ERP vendors are aggressively cutting deals with these industries to make their products more affordable. For example, SAP, one of the leading ERP vendors, recently started selling its products to customers in the $150 million to $400 million revenue range.
