The content management software market in the Asia Pacific region could be worth US$362 million by 2012, according to a study from research firm IDC.

IDC says this market was worth US$181.8 million in 2007.

The report, Asia/Pacific (Excluding Japan) Content Management Software Market, 2008-2012 Forecast and 2007 Market Sizing, forecasts that the market would grow at a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.8 per cent.

This growth would be driven mainly by workflow-enabled content management and the automation of paper-based and document-based business processes gaining widespread interest in organizations that are focusing on improving operational efficiencies.

Australia and Korea would remain as the main contributors to the market with 32.2 per cent and 23.1 per cent market share respectively, and are expected to maintain their positions throughout the forecast period. Strong growth is expected from India and China with CAGRs of 22.9 per cent and 18.0 per cent respectively.

"The different economic factors, regulatory environment and IT maturity in each country have contributed to varying levels of adoption and knowledge surrounding content management software in the region," said Ridhi Sawhney, Market Analyst in IDC's Asia/Pacific Enterprise Applications Research.

Optimizing paper-based processes

An IDC end-user survey conducted in first half of 2008 in Australia, India, Korea and China, indicates that more companies in India and China have plans to invest in content management software in 2008, compared to the more mature countries like Australia and Korea, where content management solutions have already been adopted. These companies in India and China are now keen to invest in content management solutions due to increasing compliance requirements and the intention to better optimize and automate paper-based business processes.

Meanwhile, Ridhi noted that the many governments in the region have assigned top priority to various e-Government initiatives and are setting higher standards and requirements for record keeping, which is expected to drive content management adoption further.

"Governments across the region are actively adopting Internet-based technologies as part of their ongoing efforts to offer more services digitally. These include reaching out to the public with up-to-date information on government portals and deploying record management, web content management software solutions, as well as e-forms to increase efficiency," said Ridhi.

More industries

The study indicated that the content management software market is evolving to become a more complete end-to-end integrated market through vendors' acquisitions and internal product developments and enhancements. Strategic relationships built with partners and channels have helped vendors to increase their presence across the region.

While the financial service industries and the government sectors remain the largest adopters, vertical industries like oil & gas, manufacturing & construction, and infrastructure services have begun to explore and adopt content management. In addition, IDC has seen that software vendors are helping to increase market awareness of content management through road shows and partner and customer summits.