A Profile of the Software Industry: Emergence, Ascendance, Risks, and Rewards

Software plays a critical role in today’s global information

economy. It runs the computers, networks, and devices

that enable countless products and services. Software

varies in size from vast enterprise and communications

systems like the enormous enterprise resource planning

system from SAP to the tiny app Angry Birds.

This book offers a profile of the software industry and the

companies in the industry. It describes the primary products

and services produced; reviews its history; explains

how the industry is structured; discusses its economics and

competitive environment; and examines important trends

and issues including globalization, workforce,

regulation, and the emergence of new software business

models.

Software runs the computers and networks that support

the flow of information in the global economy, and this

book provides a real look at the intricacies of this industry.