Library Systems Report 2019

Last week, American Libraries published the most recent version of the annual Library Systems Report by Marshall Breeding, a well-known library automation expert.The report is an annual overview of the state of the library automation marketplace:

"The library technology field continues to see modest growth overall, though that growth is unevenly distributed among companies. Large companies with expanding portfolios of products and services are giving new shape to the landscape. Despite the dominance of a few globally diverse and large companies, midsized and small companies continue to hold their own and in some cases thrive. Massive companies such as Follett, ProQuest/Ex Libris, and EBSCO represent formidable competition for any challenger in their markets. SirsiDynix and Innovative Interfaces continue to retain and attract diverse libraries to their evolving integrated library system (ILS)–centric product portfolios."

"It’s a complex industry, with different business and technology trends running simultaneously, often along divergent paths. Economic prospects are low risk, with adequate room for new business opportunities. It is an industry of established companies and few start-ups. It resists new entrants or even the advancement of local or regional companies to the global sphere. The global market for library companies must be seen in the context of client saturation. Almost all libraries that fall within the ranks of eligible customers have at least some level of automation infrastructure in place. In such a zero-sum economy, the success of one company comes at the direct expense of another."

"The cost and difficulty of changing systems lead libraries to keep existing systems unless they have strong vendor or product dissatisfaction, or they think certain technologies better align with their goals. Ex Libris and OCLC have capitalized on the latter, fueling a decade-long migration cycle of academic libraries away from legacy, print-centered ILS products to a library services platform (LSP) designed to manage complex multiformat collections."

For a quick overview of trends, the report contains charts.