Gartner Forecasts Worldwide Revenue From Smart Enterprise Suites Will Reach $1.5 Billion by 2005
STAMFORD, CONN., August 6, 2002 -- The need of knowledge workers to better collaborate, control and manage business content internally as well as with business partners has sparked the emergence of smart enterprise suites. The market is beginning to emerge, and by 2005, Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT and ITB) forecasts that worldwide smart enterprise suites revenue will reach $1.5 billion.

Gartner defines smart enterprise suites as the convergence of portal, collaboration and basic content management functionality. Other knowledge management capabilities, such as expertise location and e-learning, may also be included. By 2005, smart enterprise suites will replace portals and team-collaboration support products as the focus of investment within a majority of businesses.

"The explosion of unstructured data types is overwhelming the management infrastructure of many businesses," said French Caldwell, vice president and research director for Gartner. "That problem is negatively affecting the productivity of individuals as well as the overall competitiveness of businesses. Smart enterprise suites will provide a way to organize and make sense of all the information and knowledge scattered throughout the enterprise."

By 2004, smart enterprise suites will emerge as a combination of the functionality currently offered by portals, team collaboration support, and content management, and will cause major disruption in those markets, according to Gartner.

During the next three years, the delivery of smart enterprise suites will occur as vendors continue to service customers' short-term demands while at the same time incrementally building toward longer-term strategic differentiation.

"We expect vendors to make conservative investments designed to round out their product functionality during the next few years," said Caldwell. "In some cases, those investments will be driven by a particular customer requirement, and once the functionality has been built, it is then ready for market."

Gartner predicts that heavy demand for smart enterprise suites will occur once IT infrastructure and e-workplace application investments take on a greater strategic role. User needs for richer targeted content will also influence the evolution and demand.

About Gartner
Gartner, Inc. is a research and advisory firm that helps more than 10,500 clients understand technology and drive business growth. Gartner's businesses consist of Gartner Research, Gartner Consulting, Gartner Measurement and Gartner Events. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, and has 4,000 associates, including 1,200 research analysts and consultants, in more than 90 locations worldwide. Fiscal 2001 revenue totaled $963 million For more information, visit www.gartner.com.
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