Makers of business software are set to see growth this year despite concerns about a weaker economy and less spending by companies, according to a recent report from Stamford, Conn.-based market researcher Gartner Inc.
Sales of business software are expected to total $191 billion in 2008, up more than 8% from 2007’s $176 billion.
Still, 2008 will be a tougher market for companies that make business software, including Irvine’s Epicor Software Corp., Irvine’s Sage Software Inc., the U.S. headquarters for British parent Sage Group PLC, Aliso Viejo’s Quest Software Inc. and others.
Smaller technology budgets will make the industry more competitive and may spur buyouts, according to Joanne Correia, managing vice president for Gartner.
“Shrinking discretionary spending budgets will heighten competition for new maintenance and license revenue streams,” she said.
“Market consolidation and restructuring may accelerate as mergers and acquisitions among smaller and larger vendors increase,” she added.
Gartner expects the second quarter to show some revenue declines for software sellers.
“Companies will need some time to get control of IT operations budgets and slow down discretionary budgets,” the company said.
Show Your Spots
Irvine PC maker Gateway Inc., which was bought by Taiwan’s Acer Inc. last year, launched a marketing campaign geared toward video game enthusiasts.
Gateway is holding a contest called “Show Your Spots”,a play on the company’s black and white cow-print logo.
It’s geared toward tech savvy gamers willing to “perform and film a crazy stunt” to win Gateway’s high-end desktop PCs that are specially outfitted with features for creating, downloading and playing video games.
The catch,the three-minute video must incorporate “a genuine or fake” Holstein cow (those black and white dairy cows). The cow can be featured in the form of a photo.
The video entries are set to be judged by a panel of Gateway workers and will be scored according to humor, creativity, “level of daringness” and the number of views it gets on video sharing site YouTube.com.
Gateway’s gaming PCs have advanced graphics cards, video cards, fast connection speeds for online gaming and more memory.
One includes a 30-inch monitor and is made for viewing and editing high-definition video.
Gateway has done similar contests in the past. One lucky guy won a 24-inch, high-definition flat panel display monitor for shaving off one of his eyebrows on video.
So far, the “Show Your Spots” group on YouTube has just 18 members.
The contest ends March 31.
Technology Advocates
A handful of local entrepreneurs have formed a group to advocate for technology-related causes in local and state government.
The Technology Leadership Political Action Committee was formed recently with the goal of increasing the participation of tech companies in public policy issues.
It’s chaired by Oli Thordarson, chief executive of Alvaka Networks Inc., an Irvine-based technology services provider.
The company held its first event,a cocktail reception,on Feb. 22.
Telogis Recruits Chairman
Telogis Inc., an Irvine-based maker of GPS software for delivery fleets, recruited its second executive from Novell Inc., a publicly traded maker of operating and security software based in Waltham, Mass. It has an office in Irvine.
Jack Messman was recently named Telogis’ chairman of the board.
He took the post after serving as chairman and chief executive of Novell, which had a recent market value of about $2 billion.
Messman is friends with Telogis Chief Executive Dave Cozzens, who was brought on board in August after serving as vice president of the Americas at Novell.
