AMR Research, Boston, predicts that the supply chain technology market will continue to post substantial gains in 2008. Spending increases will be powered by the need for companies to acquire new capabilities and to replace 1990s-era legacy applications, according to The Supply Chain Management Spending Report, 2007-2008, published in December.
Among the report highlights are:

• A 12 percent growth in supply chain technology spending that will be aimed at controlling costs, raising productivity, and improving customer service. In the U.S., companies in the process industries are more likely to invest in bottom-line improvement, while those in discrete industries are more interested in improving revenue growth.
• Discrete manufacturers in general and companies with more than $1bn in revenue are more likely to increase supply chain technology spending, but midmarket companies won't be far behind. Well over one-half will be increasing investments next year.
• Supply chain technology spending is evenly divided between companies replacing legacy applications and those acquiring new technological capabilities.
• Collaborative technologies for vendor-managed inventory (VMI), sales and operations planning (S&OP), and forecasting will see the greatest growth in rate of adoption.
• Domination of the market by large ERP vendors is over. End users still show a desire to invest in best-of-breed and custom-developed applications.
http://www.amrresearch.com