The Oracle Applications-related consulting and systems integration (C&SI) market is seeing strong growth as organizations in key markets like the US, UK, France and Germany invest in new generations of Oracle middleware and applications, and make moves into Cloud services. Public and private organizations are upgrading to Fusion middleware and are investing in social business, big data, mobility and shared services, which in turn will provide opportunities for Oracle Applications-related C&SI services suppliers.

In these difficult economic times, the market for IT services related to Oracle’s applications suite is one of the most attractive for IT suppliers to target, according to new research from the market research and strategic consulting company Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC). Oracle’s own recent financial results show strong growth and this will drive the associated services opportunity.

According to PAC, the Oracle Applications-related consulting and systems integration (C&SI) market is now worth €12 billion worldwide ($15 billion) and is out-growing the C&SI market as a whole by several percentage points.

Philip Carnelley, Research Director at PAC, and lead analyst for the research, comments: “Big opportunities are being created as a result of current industry trends and also by Oracle’s own initiatives – indeed the two things are often synergistic.”

External factors include technology trends such as Cloud and Big Data that businesses wish to exploit, and where Oracle continues to launch new products. Business-driven trends are equally important, particularly the move to link marketing functions with the rest of the IT landscape, to exploit online commerce, creating improved customer experiences to drive business.

But equally, there are opportunities being created by Oracle’s own initiatives. Carnelley says that these arise from both existing and new product initiatives: “A big area of work is around upgrades to Oracle’s key applications like PeopleSoft and Siebel. Plus, of course, the architectural convergence of its Fusion middleware platform with its Fusion line of applications.” Much more work follows from its many acquisitions of new products, such as RightNow and Taleo, which Oracle customers are looking to integrate into their current applications landscape.

A third key element in the Oracle-related SI landscape is enterprises’ desire to harmonize processes and sourcing arrangements around the globe, to reduce costs and improve agility. Carnelley adds: “This is a rich source of engagement for many of the service suppliers we talk to.”

Activity around analytics – data warehousing and business intelligence driven by ever increasing needs for improved operations, better customer engagement, and so on – continues to be the fastest growing area. This will be further fuelled by technology improvements by Oracle, in its tools (such as OBIEE – Oracle’s business intelligence toolset – and Hyperion, its enterprise performance management product) and in its engineered systems – such as Exalytics and the Big Data Appliance.