Last year, the worldwide software market grew 3.6 per cent year on year, reaching a total market size of $342 billion, which was in line with International Data Corporation’s previous forecast of 3.4 per cent and less than half the growth rate experienced in 2010 and 2011.

In that sense, 2012 confirms the beginning of a more conservative growth period. There are faster growing market segments, such as data access, analysis and delivery, collaborative applications, CRM applications, security software, and system and network management software. Every one of these markets grew in the six to seven per cent range, about double the rate for enterprise software as a whole.

“The global software market, comprised of a multi-layered collection of technologies and solutions, is growing more slowly in this period of economic uncertainty. Yet there is strong growth in selective areas.

The management and leveraging of information for competitive advantage is driving growth in markets associated with Big Data and analytics, said Henry D. Morris, senior vice president for Worldwide Software, Services and Executive Advisory Research.

“Similarly, rapid growth in cloud deployments is fuelling growth in application areas associated with social business and customer experience. Both these initiatives require a reliable and secure infrastructure, driving investments in security and system/network management. The combination of these forces is advancing the growth to what IDC has termed the third platform.”