The global industry that develops, maintains and publishes software, operating mainly on license and maintenance based on premises models or cloud based models such as software, platform and infrastructure as a service, alongside complementary services such as training, documentation, consulting and data recovery. The industry invests heavily in innovation, spending more than 11 percent of net sales on research and development, a share second only to pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, and global IT spending was projected at roughly 3.73 trillion dollars in 2024, rising to about 5.26 trillion dollars when telecommunications services are included, with Microsoft, HP, Oracle, Dell and IBM among the dominant players. Between 1995 and 2018 the industry saw about 37,039 merger and acquisition deals worth a combined 1.166 trillion dollars, reflecting continuing consolidation.
Facts
Connections
Associated With
Premji transformed Wipro from a vegetable oil company into a major global information technology and software services provider.
Source Azim Premji (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia, Bill Gates
Larry Ellison co-founded Oracle Corporation and served as its chief executive officer from 1977 to 2014, building it into a leading enterprise database software company.
Allen co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates, helping build the personal computer software industry.
Source Wikipedia, Paul Allen
Kipyatkov co-founded JetBrains, a developer of software development tools.
Source Wikipedia, Valentin Kipyatkov
Companies In Industry
Source Wikipedia: Amadeus IT Group
Source Wikipedia: Atlassian
Source Wikidata: Automatic Data Processing, Inc.
Source Wikidata: Citymapper
Source Wikidata: Dassault Systemes
Source Wikipedia: Databricks
Source Wikipedia: ENEA AB
Source Wikidata: FactSet Research Systems Inc.
Source Wikidata: Garmin Ltd.
Source Wikidata: Gen Digital Inc.
Source Wikipedia: Graphisoft
Source Wikipedia: Gusto, Inc.
Source Wikipedia: Logitech
Source Wikidata: Logitech International S.A.
Source Wikidata: Netscape Communications Corporation
Source Wikipedia: OpenText
Source Wikidata: Sage Group plc
Source Wikipedia: Thales Group
Source Wikidata: TOTVS
Source Wikipedia: Twilio
Source Wikipedia: Xero
Sources
1. Wikipedia, Software Industry
Wikipedialead sectionQuote, lead section
The software and computer services industry spends more than 11% of its net sales for Research & Development which is in comparison with other industries the second highest share after pharmaceuticals & biotechnology.
Azim Premji (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia, Paul Allen
Wikipedia, Valentin Kipyatkov
Wikipedia, Bill Gates
Wikidata: Citymapper
WikidataCompanies In Industry: Citymapper, Wikidata statement: industry (P452)Quote, Companies In Industry: Citymapper, Wikidata statement: industry (P452)
industry (P452) target Q880371, matched to the live industry entity "Software Industry" by qid (enwiki-sitelink resolved)
Wikipedia: Logitech
WikipediaCompanies In Industry: Logitech, Wikidata statement: industry (P452)Quote, Companies In Industry: Logitech, Wikidata statement: industry (P452)
industry (P452) target Q880371, matched to the live industry entity "Software Industry" by qid (enwiki-sitelink resolved)
Wikipedia: Atlassian
WikipediaCompanies In Industry: Atlassian Corporation, Wikidata statement: industry (P452)Quote, Companies In Industry: Atlassian Corporation, Wikidata statement: industry (P452)
industry (P452) target Q880371, matched to the live industry entity "Software Industry" by qid (enwiki-sitelink resolved)
Wikipedia: Thales Group
WikipediaCompanies In Industry: Thales S.A., Wikidata statement: industry (P452)Quote, Companies In Industry: Thales S.A., Wikidata statement: industry (P452)
industry (P452) target Q880371, matched to the live industry entity "Software Industry" by qid (enwiki-sitelink resolved)
Wikipedia: Twilio
WikipediaCompanies In Industry: Twilio Inc., Wikidata statement: industry (P452)Quote, Companies In Industry: Twilio Inc., Wikidata statement: industry (P452)
industry (P452) target Q880371, matched to the live industry entity "Software Industry" by qid (enwiki-sitelink resolved)
Wikipedia: Amadeus IT Group
WikipediaCompanies In Industry: Amadeus IT Group, S.A., Wikidata statement: industry (P452)Quote, Companies In Industry: Amadeus IT Group, S.A., Wikidata statement: industry (P452)
industry (P452) target Q880371, matched to the live industry entity "Software Industry" by qid (enwiki-sitelink resolved)
Wikipedia: OpenText
WikipediaCompanies In Industry: Open Text Corporation, Wikidata statement: industry (P452)Quote, Companies In Industry: Open Text Corporation, Wikidata statement: industry (P452)
industry (P452) target Q880371, matched to the live industry entity "Software Industry" by qid (enwiki-sitelink resolved)
Wikipedia: Xero
WikipediaCompanies In Industry: Xero Limited, Wikidata statement: industry (P452)Quote, Companies In Industry: Xero Limited, Wikidata statement: industry (P452)
industry (P452) target Q880371, matched to the live industry entity "Software Industry" by qid (enwiki-sitelink resolved)
Wikipedia: Graphisoft
WikipediaCompanies In Industry: Graphisoft, Wikidata statement: industry (P452)Quote, Companies In Industry: Graphisoft, Wikidata statement: industry (P452)
industry (P452) target Q880371, matched to the live industry entity "Software Industry" by qid (enwiki-sitelink resolved)
Wikipedia: ENEA AB
WikipediaCompanies In Industry: ENEA AB, Wikidata statement: industry (P452)Quote, Companies In Industry: ENEA AB, Wikidata statement: industry (P452)
industry (P452) target Q880371, matched to the live industry entity "Software Industry" by qid (enwiki-sitelink resolved)
Wikipedia: Databricks
WikipediaCompanies In Industry: Databricks, Wikidata statement: industry (P452)Quote, Companies In Industry: Databricks, Wikidata statement: industry (P452)
industry (P452) target Q880371, matched to the live industry entity "Software Industry" by qid (enwiki-sitelink resolved)
Wikipedia: Gusto, Inc.
WikipediaCompanies In Industry: Gusto, Inc., Wikidata statement: industry (P452)Quote, Companies In Industry: Gusto, Inc., Wikidata statement: industry (P452)
industry (P452) target Q880371, matched to the live industry entity "Software Industry" by qid (enwiki-sitelink resolved)
Wikidata: Logitech International S.A.
WikidataCompanies In Industry: Logitech International S.A., Wikidata statement: industry (P452)Quote, Companies In Industry: Logitech International S.A., Wikidata statement: industry (P452)
industry (P452) target Q880371, matched to the live industry entity by qid (enwiki-sitelink resolved)
Wikidata: Garmin Ltd.
WikidataCompanies In Industry: Garmin Ltd., Wikidata statement: industry (P452)Quote, Companies In Industry: Garmin Ltd., Wikidata statement: industry (P452)
industry (P452) target Q880371, matched to the live industry entity by qid (enwiki-sitelink resolved)
Wikidata: Sage Group plc
WikidataCompanies In Industry: Sage Group plc, Wikidata statement: industry (P452)Quote, Companies In Industry: Sage Group plc, Wikidata statement: industry (P452)
industry (P452) target Q880371, matched to the live industry entity by qid (enwiki-sitelink resolved)
Wikidata: Automatic Data Processing, Inc.
WikidataCompanies In Industry: Automatic Data Processing, Inc., Wikidata statement: industry (P452)Quote, Companies In Industry: Automatic Data Processing, Inc., Wikidata statement: industry (P452)
industry (P452) target Q880371, matched to the live industry entity by qid (enwiki-sitelink resolved)
Wikidata: Gen Digital Inc.
WikidataCompanies In Industry: Gen Digital Inc., Wikidata statement: industry (P452)Quote, Companies In Industry: Gen Digital Inc., Wikidata statement: industry (P452)
industry (P452) target Q880371, matched to the live industry entity by qid (enwiki-sitelink resolved)
Wikidata: Dassault Systemes
WikidataCompanies In Industry: Dassault Systemes, Wikidata statement: industry (P452)Quote, Companies In Industry: Dassault Systemes, Wikidata statement: industry (P452)
industry (P452) target Q880371, matched to the live industry entity by qid (enwiki-sitelink resolved)
Wikidata: FactSet Research Systems Inc.
WikidataCompanies In Industry: FactSet Research Systems Inc., Wikidata statement: industry (P452)Quote, Companies In Industry: FactSet Research Systems Inc., Wikidata statement: industry (P452)
industry (P452) target Q880371, matched to the live industry entity by qid (enwiki-sitelink resolved)
Wikidata: Netscape Communications Corporation
WikidataCompanies In Industry: Netscape Communications Corporation, Wikidata statement: industry (P452)Quote, Companies In Industry: Netscape Communications Corporation, Wikidata statement: industry (P452)
industry (P452) target Q880371, matched to the live industry entity by qid (enwiki-sitelink resolved)
Wikidata: TOTVS
WikidataCompanies In Industry: TOTVS, Wikidata statement: industry (P452)Quote, Companies In Industry: TOTVS, Wikidata statement: industry (P452)
industry (P452) target Q880371, matched to the live industry entity by qid (enwiki-sitelink resolved)
Frequently Asked Questions
How do software companies make money?
Mainly through licenses with maintenance or cloud subscriptions, plus services such as training and consulting.
Software businesses mainly follow one of two models. The license and maintenance model sells software installed on the customer's own premises, while the cloud model delivers it as a hosted service. The industry also earns from software services such as training, documentation, consulting and data recovery.
How much does the software industry spend on research and development?
More than 11 percent of net sales, second only to pharmaceuticals and biotechnology.
The software and computer services industry spends more than 11 percent of its net sales on research and development. Compared with other industries, that is the second highest share, after pharmaceuticals and biotechnology.
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