Russian enterprise application software sales up 53.4% in 2004

The Russian market for enterprise application software (EAS) expanded by 53.4% to reach $195.19 mln in license and maintenance (L&M) revenue in 2004. According to IDC, this was the third year that growth of the EAS market exceeded that of the IT market as a whole. EAS uptake has picked up substantially among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which represented the largest number of new implementations. Nevertheless, large and very large organizations accounted for the bulk of revenue. Though growth will not be as dramatic as in 2004, IDC expects the EAS market in Russia to stay robust, with L&M revenue rising by more than 26% in 2005. SAP dominated the Russian EAS market in 2004, outpacing its nearest competitor Oracle by almost two to one in revenue and third-ranked MBS by nearly four to one. Together, these vendors accounted for 74.3% of L&M revenue in Russia in 2004.