Business users are likely well aware of the presence Microsoft has in the market. Whether it’s managing our documents, supporting our email or integrating corporate communications, Microsoft has done well to establish its leadership in the business sector, appealing to companies of all sizes. In terms of application deployment, it means the right solutions are reaching the right players.
In fact, according to IDC (News - Alert), Microsoft has once again extended its lead in the global enterprise software space. Total market share jumped 5.5 percent to reach $369 billion for 2013. Microsoft dominates this market with revenues of $65.6 billion, a 12 percent jump from 2012. This growth means the software giant now claims 17.8 percent of the market.
IBM (News - Alert) is trying to nip at Microsoft’s heels, yet continues to maintain just 8 percent of the share. Revenue did rise for the company by 1.2 percent to reach $29.4 billion. The remaining leaders in this space to make up the top five positions include SAP, Oracle (News - Alert) and Symantec.
In its research, IDC focused on three primary segments of the software market: application development and deployment, applications, and systems infrastructure software. The fastest growing of the three is application development and application deployment. This segment makes up nearly 23 percent of total revenue, with the fastest year-over-year gain at 5.6 percent. Microsoft is at a strong third place in this segment, which is led by Oracle.
Microsoft does claim the lead in the applications software segment, which makes up 50 percent of the total software revenue. Growth in this segment hit 5.5 percent with Microsoft owning 14 percent of the share. SAP (News - Alert), Oracle and IBM are close behind, eying that coveted first place spot.
The infrastructure software segment is another area where Microsoft dominates with 29.3 percent of the total share. This segment claims 27 percent of total software revenue and returned 5.5 percent growth in 2013. IBM, Symantec (News - Alert) and EMC are among the top four in this segment, behind Microsoft, of course.
For all segments of the market, including application deployment, the strongest growth has been seen in North America and Latin America. All portions of the market have enjoyed the recovery in Europe and continued adoption in the U.S. to help drive demand. Those with the best approach to the market and able to demonstrate their value will likely hold onto or claim dominance in their segments.
As for Microsoft, the outlook is strong as the company has done well to develop solutions that meet the real-world needs of companies in dynamic markets.
Edited by Rory J. Thompson