The 2018 Equiteq CPQ Industry Guide is a vital read for any organization considering CPQ or wondering how to improve their corporate sales with the latest technology. Equiteq is a strategic advisory firm who partnered with Simplus’ very own Gilles Muys, VP of Customer Solutions and the only CPQ blackbelt in the world, to provide this exclusive industry expertise.

We’ve compiled some of the key takeaways from the guide. If you want to find out more and discover the rest of the guide’s insights, download here.

1. The CPQ Market Landscape:

Over 110 companies around the world offer configure-price-quote (CPQ) solutions. 60% of those companies are based in the United States; 15% in the UK, Germany, or Netherlands; and the remaining 25% in other countries.

Over 83% of companies are using some form of CPQ in their business—and it’s only growing. The market revenue for CPQ software solutions was $878 million in 2016 and is projected to continue rising at a CAGR of 20% through 2020, even more so for the cloud-based CPQ solutions.

2. Review of Key CPQ Vendors

According to Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for CPQ Application Suites of 2018, the leading vendors of CPQ are Apttus, Oracle, and Salesforce, with CallidusCloud an emerging “visionary.”

While Apttus and Oracle are impressive CPQ solutions, Salesforce is growing more rapidly than many competitors, in part due to Salesforce’s “extensive sales function and range of complementary customer-focused solutions.”

3. Landmark M&A in the CPQ Space

As the CPQ market has been maturing, large and noteworthy M&A transactions have taken place. In September 2018, Thomas Bravo announced the acquisition of Apttus, and in April 2018 SAP acquired Callidus. Previously, Salesforce’s acquisition of SteelBrick (now known as Salesforce CPQ) was considered a landmark deal.

When it comes to the CPQ consulting market, there have been several M&A deals. Simplus, however, is the major acquirer, having completed five acquisitions in under two years. Simplus has completed an additional international acquisition since the release of this report, Sqware Peg.

4. Emerging Trends for CPQ

The CPQ world is continuously innovating and updating how it makes selling easier. Some of the most noteworthy trends from this report include increasing use of AI technology and developing more self-service options to meet the wishes of end users. Combined, these trends and more are reducing the cost of customer service for organizations and improving operational efficiency through CPQ.