This IDC study, which is a translation of the Japanese report IDC #J8370109, analyzes the Japan collaborative application market in 2007 by function and by vendor, and presents the market forecast from 2008 to 2012.

"Collaborative applications are becoming more diverse and sophisticated in terms of functions from conventional support tools such as email and calendar to sharing/utilization of contents and knowledge, and real-time communications such as instant messaging and Web conferencing. On the other hand, many users give priority to investments on backbone applications such as accounting systems and are rather reluctant to invest on information-centered collaborative applications, which results in insufficient utilization of these applications. Vendors and system integrators will have to promote implementation of collaborative applications and take flexible approaches to users' various work styles," analyzes Mitsuhiro Iriya, research analyst, Software, IDC Japan.