IT investments on the upswing
In the year under review, world-wide spending for information technology increased significantly for the first time in years. In the United States, 15 percent growth was recorded in the first half of the year; in the months that followed, however, growth rates receded. For Western Europe, the autumn prognosis of the European Information Technology Observatory (EITO) reckoned that IT spending grew by 2.3 percent in 2004. The development of the German IT market was considerably weaker; here, EITO reckoned growth of 1.9 percent. The federal association Bitkom reckoned 3.5 percent growth for the German software market.
The USA and Eastern Europe remained the key regions in the global IT market. The American market accounts for about 43 percent of the global IT and Communications sales, and the Western European market for roughly one quarter. In the growth markets of India, China and Eastern Europe, the demand for information technology increased sharply. Asia already accounts for 10 percent of international spending for information and telecommunications.

Software market development
Compared to 2003, spending on software licenses and maintenance decreased by 0.5 percent world-wide to $147 billion. Software investments were made primarily under the aspect of rationalization.

Expenses for system infrastructure rose by 0.3 percent to $76 billion, and those for information management by 2.5 percent to $17 billion. $23 billion was spent on business applications, 3.5 percent less than in the previous year. Expenses for other applications were reduced by 1.8 percent to $31 billion.

Real-time as a central criterion
Integration of existing applications and comprehensive access to relevant information in real time enhances the transparency of business activities. In 2004, this was a key objective in software investments. Four core segments address the real-time access to processes, business data, and information requested by customers:

• Extended Business Intelligence systems record all key data regarding ongoing business activities, evaluate them, and forward them as individually defined.
• Business Integration technologies use business process models and are able to integrate the processing of both long-term and short-term transactions. This capability is a key requirement for business-to-business integration.
• Supply Chain Event Management enables realtime access to all information along the supply chain.
• XML technology is used to an increasing degree; it allows the automation of processes, internally and between companies.