Over the next five years more companies worldwide will spend money on supply chain planning software, resulting in a 44-percent increase in the overall market for those applications during that period, according to Supply Chain Planning Worldwide Outlook, a new study by ARC Advisory Group. ARC predicted that the market would grow from its present estimated size of US $1.2–$1.6 billion in 2011 to more than $2.3 billion in 2016.

Increased spending on planning applications reflects a worldwide trend of companies boosting their investments in information technology since the global economic downturn has weakened. ARC also said that companies' desire to integrate business planning across all functions is driving sales for this software category.

As for which type of planning solutions are the most in demand, ARC said that more companies have been acquiring sales and operations planning (S&OP) solutions as a way to gain a more comprehensive view of their operations. Another application in this category, demand management software, also is seeing greater interest from buyers because it enables companies to more accurately align product availability with demand.