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According to IDC research, the content management market in Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) could be worth US$362M by 2012, up from US$181.8M in 2007, with Australia & Korea the main contributors to this market, holding 32.2% and 23.1% market share respectively. In addition, due to increasing compliance  obligations and the intention to better optimize and automate paper-based business processes, strong growth and investment in this sector is predicted from India and China, with CAGR rates of 22.9% and 18.0% respectively. This growth is seen to be mainly driven by workflow-enabled content management and the automation of paper-based and document-based business processes, gaining widespread interest amongst organisations seeking to improve operational efficiencies.

 
Ridhi Sawhaney, market analyst for IDC’s Asia/Pacific Enterprise Applications Research, opines, “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 records management, web content management software solutions as well as e-forms to increase efficiency”

 
The study indicated that the content management software market is evolving into 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.
 

Whether to partner, buy or establish a greater local presence, will be an increasing consideration for multi-national suppliers in the ECM sector, seeking to grow their business in this region. There is an increasing array of innovative local software companies emerging – most notably, in Australia & NZ - with a blend of technology and customer base but who are facing a finite local market. Such smaller and medium size software companies are prime acquisition targets, while others are now looking to broaden their horizons in overseas markets themselves. Their principle challenges in this endeavour will continue to be one of limited sales resources, competitive market knowledge and brand awareness.  

 
While a channel sales strategy is appealing, establishing credibility first with one or two direct sales to customers in key markets - such as the UK or USA - may be a faster route to market expansion abroad. Picking the right geographies, partners, sectors and applications to pursue are critical factors for success and the window of opportunity will no doubt diminish over time, with the ever increasing influence of Microsoft Sharepoint, the growing adoption of SaaS and other discontinuities in the market.  Gaining a presence and recognition in overseas markets will enhance the value of such local ECM related technology companies who may be seeking an exit over the next 1-2 years.
 
Further reading on IDC's Asia/Pacific (Excluding Japan) Content Management Software Market, 2008-2012 click here