• by Ray Schultz , July 9, 2018

Custom data platforms, including those that drive email and other forms of engagement, will achieve combined revenue of $640 million this year, and should reach $1 billion in 2018, according to the Customer Data Platform Industry Update, a study by the Customer Data Platform Institute (CDP).

In addition, the number of vendors is growing. There were 11 new vendors, a 22% increase in the first half of this year, compared with the same period in 2017. In addition, the industry hired 1,336 new employees, a 31% increase.

But the focus is shifting. Firms offering customer engagement, data access and analytics accounted for 49% of industry employment in June, compared with 20% in January 2017.

In Europe, the number of vendors increased by 33%, and employment by 42%. But all new funding went to U.S. vendors during this period, CDP adds.

The largest vendors are Segment, Datorama, NGDATA, Optimove and Zaius, the report states. The largest employee growth rate--60%--was registered by Lytics.

The main threat to the market is that “major enterprise software companies will enter the market,” the study notes. However, it adds that “software buyers have already shown they are willing to purchase from independent CDP vendors.”