Worldwide engineering IT market to show strong growth

The firm, which specialises in engineering and enterprise IT applications market research and analysis, says that users will continue to increase spending in 2008 through to 2010, albeit at a lower rate than that seen in 2007. As a result, by 2010, spending will rise to $19bn from nearly $15bn spent in 2007 – and that’s throughout mechanical; architectural and civil engineering. Says Cambashi director of research Mike Evans: “Competition between companies causes them to continue to invest in new design and engineering tools, despite the economic and geo-political uncertainties we have seen in 2007.” He indicates that the top four engineering applications software providers – Autodesk, Dassault Systèmes, PTC and now Siemens PLM Software (with UGS) together account for 60% of user spending, up from around 57% five years ago. Cambashi predicts continued revenue growth, with Autodesk Pervasive Technology performing well in its very large target market range, including architecture, engineering and construction (AEC). “Autodesk has been particularly successful in moving its large 2D customer base onto newer 3D applications. It helps the transition to occur at a pace and price that customers can accommodate,” comments Evans. Meanwhile, Dassault Systèmes will continue to do well – building on growh of 24% with SolidWorks and 13% with Catia. “Large acquisitions in the last few years have boosted revenues,” observes Evans. “The MatrixOne acquisition ensured that their Enovia business grew by about a third in 2007, whilst the Abaqus acquisition ensured that Simulia grew at about 15%.” As for PTC, he refers to the organisation as “the comeback kid”, noting that in 2007, PTC turned the corner and grew by about 10%, though new license revenues stalled towards the end of the year. “With Pro/Engineer WildFire, PTC is unique amongst the top developers to have the same product in both the mainstream 3D modelling market and the high-end,” he says. “PTC’s series of small acquisitions has broadened what was already a wide portfolio of applications. The inclusion of revenues from the CoCreate acquisition should ensure that, in revenue terms at least, similar growth should be seen in 2008,” adds Evans. Finally, Cambashi says that Siemens PLM Software grew at about 13% in 2007, driven in part by a pent-up demand from its user base. “NX, including analysis products, looks to have particularly benefited. Before now, ownership and product integration issues have prevented many customers from committing to the next product line. In 2007, synergies from the Siemens ownership helped produce Teamcenter PLM and Tecnomatix growth at just under 10%,” concludes Evans.