As companies sustain their digital transformation, the demand for cloud software will contribute to the growth of enterprise applications. According to the International Data Corp. (IDC) forecast, worldwide revenue for enterprise applications will grow from $279.6 billion in 2022 to $385.2 billion in 2026 with a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.0%. 

IDC said investments in public cloud software are expected to represent nearly two-thirds of all enterprise applications revenue in 2026. 

“In the digital world, enterprise software needs to constantly innovate to keep up with demand for speed, scale, and a resilient business,” said Heather Hershey, research director, Worldwide Digital Commerce at IDC. “Organizations must invest in new tools to keep their application portfolio up to date as they move into the digital era, automating all processes while also leveraging innovation and a wealth of data to become a more creative and resilient company in the digital realm.”

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IDC also warns companies that they need to keep up with these technological advancements or else they may lag behind their competitors.

“Companies that do not pursue this technology will sustain losses due to profound opportunity costs as their competitors adopt cloud technologies and the use of application programming interfaces (APIs), moving beyond the reach of technological holdouts with on-premises or homemade solutions,” IDC said.

Growth drivers

In addition to the ongoing cloud migration, IDC has identified a number of other significant market developments that are driving growth in the enterprise applications market.

SaaS and cloud-based, modular, and intelligent applications are no longer “nice to have” but are instead essential for business. Organizations that want to stay in business need AI-driven software that is cloud enabled, modular, and intelligent.

Application programmable interface technology will continue to be the backbone of the enterprise applications market. APIs will always resonate as a sound investment to companies that understand the pivotal role they play in connecting all the disparate code bases that make up the modern world.

Phasic migration to cloud with TaskApps augmentation will continue, particularly in B2B enterprises. TaskApps and low-code/no-code development tools are being used to close gaps, extend processes, or change up the business at a faster pace throughout the transition to digital first.

APIs

New global regulations around data privacy and ethics have changed the way organizations collect and use data, pushing governance to the forefront of the conversation. Compliance has become a differentiating factor for enterprises that prioritize trustworthiness.

“The digital world is completely altering the way software is utilized and incorporated into the organization from modularity to APIs to low code/no code to business process automation to TaskApps and even with innovation,” said Mickey North Rizza, group vice president, Enterprise Software at IDC. “Organizations are stretching their visions from filling technology gaps to optimizing processes globally to going the last mile with complete differentiators for their clients. The business world is finally starting to leverage the opportunity technology brings to it.”