Q: What were the most important ERP market trends in 2009?
A: Obviously, it was the economic situation. Spending on ERP — both buying new systems and deploying existing ones — dropped dramatically starting in the fourth quarter of 2008 and going through 2009. It became almost impossible to get a new project approved. Some ongoing projects continued to get funded, but they got scaled back.
We’re seeing accelerated interest in software-as-a-service. That’s the other big trend. The idea of SaaS-based ERP is becoming much more interesting to buyers and, as a result, the vendors are starting to move on this. ... Buyers are asking, “What are my options around SaaS?” And, in some cases, they’re saying, “I only want to look at SaaS.”
Q: What surprised you the most in 2009?