Worldwide Messaging Applications Forecast and Analysis, 2003-2007

Worldwide messaging applications license and maintenance revenue topped $1.14 billion in 2002. This slight decline from 2001 (-1%) belies a good news/bad news story: On the downside, were it not for an IDC revenue accounting change, messaging applications revenue would have declined 2.5% in 2002. The good news is that the decline was partly the result of broad economic forces outside the messaging applications market, and there are remedies close at hand to get the overall market back on track.

Looking forward, success in 2H03 and beyond will depend on whether vendors and customers can: Convince buyers - enterprises, carriers, and large service providers - to look beyond today's tactical spending environments to think strategically about the role messaging applications (especially unified messaging [UM], EIM, and the new breed of deskless worker email) will play in their future.

Find an increased role for real-time IP products like enterprise-based UM, unified communications (UC), and EIM alongside and atop real-time presence-based platforms like MicrosoftMicrosoft's Office Live Communications server; such real-time platforms deliver a version of converged networks to enterprise customers hungry for cost reductions and greater productivity, but also threaten to steal the thunder of communications applications and IP infrastructure vendors like Cisco, Avaya, and Nortel that have been marketing the "IP vision" for years. Alles zu Microsoft auf CIO.de

Capitalize on the strong market demand for new email-centric products and functionality such as antispam, content filtering, antivirus, disaster recovery, business continuity, regulatory compliance, analytics, remote monitoring, and mobility in order to extend revenue from maintenance and upgrades in this mature market.

Build and improve products with multilanguage support and interfaces and cultivate integrator and service provider channels in Western Europe, Asia/Pacific, and Latin America to break into new markets hungry for rich messaging applications.