GRADUAL EVOLUTION

摘要

The integrated library system (ILS) is changing-not dramatically but steadily. Forces at work include an improving economy, pressures to innovate, new products that manage electronic content (see "Trojan Horse," p. 46), and, most of all, mandatory migrations. Overall industry revenues, estimated at $525 million, grew by almost 5% relative to 2003. This figure represents total revenues of all companies that participate in the North American automation market. Most companies grew their gross earnings, and, in many cases, non-ILS products and sales to non-U.S. clients generated more income than ever before (see Table 3, p. 45). It was an especially fertile year for migration (see Table 4, p. 46ff.). In 2003 many libraries deferred moving from obsolete systems, creating a pent-up demand that began to break loose in 2004, when migrations increased by 12%. This is an important trend to follow, since to succeed, companies must both attract new accounts and retain current customers. Just signing legacy sites to your flagship product does not increase market share.