Agents as Apps Will Dramatically Expand the Addressable Market for Enterprise Applications

This IDC Market Perspective discusses how agents as apps will dramatically expand the addressable market for enterprise applications. As vendors' software portfolios increasingly morph into AI agents, or agents as apps, software vendors will have a growing opportunity to also sell those agents to their on-premises legacy base, which for many vendors will dramatically expand their total addressable market versus where it stands today. This newfound ability to sell into on-premises accounts should help vendors reinvigorate these customers around a new set of agentic offerings, create fresh revenue opportunities from legacy customers, and potentially set the stage for new expansion in many older dormant customer relationships."GenAI itself is not a competitive differentiator, although how you choose to price, package, and deliver your GenAI capabilities to your customers can quickly ruin your competitive advantage if not done properly," said Eric Newmark, group vice president and general manager, SaaS, Enterprise Software, and Worldwide Services Division at IDC. "Vendors that focus on short-term profit from GenAI will end up being penny wise and pound foolish, while those vendors that price for trust, not just for margin, and provide a simple and intuitive pricing model will end up winning additional market share and customer loyalty."