The market for business-to-business integration services, which totaled about $1.5 billion in 2007, is expected to grow substantially over the next five years, according to a recent report by Gartner Inc.
Mid-sized and large enterprises will increase spending on business-to-business integration projects by 50% over the next five years, the report predicts. At the same time, the number of multi-enterprise business-to-business integration projects will more than double over the same period, Gartner says.
The acceleration in business-to-business integration spending represents a reversal of recent trends. The report notes that, in recent years, many larger business-to-business integration services providers have seen declining revenues.
A couple of factors will drive the increased spending, Gartner says. One is that many manufacturers are moving to consolidate systems that manage business-to-business interactions. At the same time, manufacturers in Europe are increasing their business-to-business integration activities.