IBM tops SNMS market

IDC expects continued vendor consolidation

The five largest vendors, including IBM, accounted for more than half of the total European SNMS market revenue

IBM had the largest market share in the European systems and network management software (SNMS) market in 2009, according to research firm IDC.

The market remains crowded, but dominated by a few large vendors, with the five largest accounting for more than half of the total European SNMS market revenue.

"IDC expects to see continued vendor consolidation in the SNMS market as large vendors acquire smaller vendors to expand their portfolios and capabilities," said Patrik Bihammar, research manager, infrastructure software, Europe.

He added that there have also been many new vendors entering the market, with new solutions targeted at specific management challenges, such as virtualisation and cloud management.

Bihammar said that a number of non-traditional IT management vendors have also acquired their way into the SNMS market.

“The evolving market developments and requirements to manage new technologies and IT models will put growing pressure on SNMS vendors to continue to evolve their offerings, and IDC expects that competition will be fierce and intensify moving forward,” Bihammar added. “Ultimately, customers will benefit from the increasing competitive pressure and maturity of SNMS solutions."