Increased Focus on Transportaion Spend Management
The Transportation Management Systems (TMS) market once again exceeded ARC’s growth projections, growing almost 10% in 2007 to almost $1.2 billion.

Several factors are fueling the market’s growth, including ongoing demand for Global Trade Management capabilities, increased focus on Transportation Spend Management, and continued investment in TMS by Logistics Service Providers.

Although there are some changes in the market share rankings, the reality is that most vendors continue to grow their revenues and client bases. In short, there are plenty of TMS sales opportunities available in the market for all vendors to benefit.

ARC is forecasting the TMS market to exceed $1.6 billion by 2012, representing a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.4%. However, several factors exist that could limit the market’s growth potential next year and beyond.

The financial crisis, coupled with slowing economic growth, is the biggest threat facing the TMS market in the near term. It is unclear at the moment which path customers will take next year, whether they’ll continue to invest in TMS to reduce operating costs and improve their margins during this economic downturn or scale back investments until the economy improves.

Strategic Issues
The long-term prospects for the TMS market remain positive, but the downturn in the global economy will pose challenges in the near term. How vendors respond to these challenges will greatly determine their fate in the coming years. This study will help to answer questions, such as:

• How can vendors convince clients to invest during this economic downturn?
• What new functionality are users looking for in a TMS?
• Which geographic regions and vertical industries offer the greatest growth opportunities?
• How can vendors differentiate their Software-as-a-Service offerings?