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IDC: Change Management Software Capabilities, Market to Grow

June 20, 2006

Change management and version control remain one of the toughest compliance challenges for FDA-regulated life science companies, a fact not lost on industry vendors and customers demanding more flexible tools, says a new study from International Data Corp. (IDC).

Factors increasing industry demand for better change management tools include:

The emergence of a global economy and complex sourcing; Regulatory compliance demands. "The legal mandate for compliance is pushing organizations to provide funding for automated tools, as well as process and life cycle management initiatives," IDC says. That trend is expected to continue for the foreseeable future; and Technology and development shifts with the evolution of service-oriented architecture (SOA) and the need for a creation of governance across the life cycle.

"End-to-end life-cycle management, from initial requirements through to change and configuration management across platforms and across life-cycle phases, is a pressing need for adaptive businesses worldwide," says IDC analyst Melinda-Carol Ballou in the company's "Worldwide Software Configuration Management Tools 2005-2009 Forecast Update."

On the plus side, tools, processes and organizational strategies that "facilitate coordination between IT and operations can cut costs and increase efficiencies of scale when appropriately and effectively implemented," the report says.

While the market space for change management tools, dubbed software change and configuration management (SCM) by IDC in its report, will grow for years to come, industry expectations of vendors will also increase.

"Application modernization and integration across platforms and technologies is a critical driver to enable competitiveness," Ballou says. To improve coordination between business, IT and operations, IDC anticipates "requirements visualization" to increase.

"The drive to better coordinate requirements and change management -- including change management coordination across both distributed and mainframe platforms -- for closer IT coordination and business adaptability is key," IDC's report states. "Increasingly we see the emerging coordination of enterprise change management with graphical requirements simulation and visualization to enable better communication between business and IT."

Remember the People

But the best technology in the world will stumble in practical application if those advancing the technology fail to factor in human nature, IDC notes. "Human beings are more deeply wired for consistency than they are for change," IDC says.

That means it is vital to have strong management buy-in, incorporate effective marketing to focus on shifting existing processes towards greater rigor, and to help shift staff attachment away from political fiefdoms. For starters, that means making sure staff has accountability for progress milestones during a conversion.

Other incentives can help, but IDC stressed the value of launching and then trumpeting the demonstrated benefits of pilot projects. Those that "successfully incorporate stronger approaches that are in line with corporate objectives, such as lowering costs, provide mentoring examples that help adoption," the report says.

For more information on the complete report (#330603), go to www.idc.com (http://www.idc.com). -- Michael Causey