Gartner “Market Share Analysis: ERP Software, Worldwide, 2020” takes an in-depth look at the numbers behind the market. We’re pleased to say that after a turbulent year for industry, we’re mentioned in the report as one of the five Selected Notable Growth Vendors, ERP Market Share, Worldwide, 2020 on the basis of revenue. .

According to Gartner “The ERP software market grew 4% to a market size of $40 billion in total software revenue. New and expansion sales opportunities were naturally curtailed by budget freezes and reductions, but most major and established providers still finished flat or slightly positive in 2020.”

Key findings – a safe island in turbulent waters

According to the report, “Recurring revenue comprised nearly 90% of the market in 2020, helping the ERP market to stay positive and even grow slightly in a challenging year.” The report further mentions “Almost 90% of ERP revenue is recurring, which prevents large total revenue declines, even if new sales activities suffer.” This provided a solid foundation for a positive year and modest growth.

The Gartner report also mentions “Tactical Purchases Added to New Business Activity….. While organizations were under budget restrictions in 2020, a number of areas saw tactical and unplanned spend. For example, financial management systems grew 3% to become a market of nearly $15 billion with increased demand in cloud budgeting, planning and analytics solutions.”(Which makes sense – after all, with most of us working remote, we’ve needed more reliable systems to securely access up-to-the-minute data.)

According to Gartner “Tactical purchasing was most visible in HCM, which grew 6% to become nearly an $18 billion market.Gartner saw many organizations rapidly scaling up remote recruiting, learning, onboarding and engagement measurement tools, in addition to preparing for safe working environments in anticipation of the pandemic subsiding.”

2020: “a clear demonstration of the benefits of cloud ERP”

The other key market finding in the report was that “Some organizations accelerated projects to reduce legacy system costs and gain system agility.” The Gartner report mentioned “End-user spending and investment plans didn’t return to 100%, but prioritization and selective investments did take place. Indeed, some organizations actually accelerated their ERP modernization projects so they could be in a better position to deal with the situation and look ahead.”

We believe hoping that more modern, integrated systems can provide better real-time data visibility, facilitate remote working, and provide much needed flexibility and agility to deal with the situation now, and look ahead to the future.

“Significantly, 2020 was a clear demonstration of the benefits of the cloud ERP, with the pandemic creating more urgency for end-user adoption. (For years, vendors have spoken about benefits such as easier deployment, lower IT management overhead and constant innovation. While all true, these messages didn’t always have the impact that vendors were hoping in “normal” business conditions).”

A good year for Unit4 – with multiple significant milestones met

The report makes  mention of Unit4 as one of the Selected Notable Growth Vendors, ERP Market Share, Worldwide, 2020 on the basis of revenue. We attribute this success to both our decades of experience dealing with the challenges of these industries, and to our specific investments in cloud platforms and technology that’s specifically designed to help alleviate stresses and build resilience and agility for people-centric organizations. Our recent launch of ERPx only serves to further cement us as the obvious choice for mid-market businesses, organizations, and agencies in the four verticals we serve as they look to retire legacy systems and rearchitect their operational approaches for the age of digital transformation.

Discover how Unit4 can help your organization take the next step in its transformation journey

Get acquainted with our products and solutions, and discover how they represent the natural next step in the evolution of your organization’s digital operations as we enter the age of the cloud. Check out ERPx – our next-generation cloud ERP solution, or visit our products page now.

Gartner, Market Share Analysis: ERP Software, Worldwide, 2020, Chris Pang, John Kostoulas, April 22, 2021

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.