The computer software industry is an ever-changing environment. Businesses and individuals demand that their software do more, and of course they expect more from the vendors they use to deliver the software they need. This is no longer evident when consumers see companies buying small businesses to grow their business and, of course, their bottom line.
Recent information shows that companies like SAP are trying to find their way among the big ones. Aaron Ricadela or Business Week Online recently stated that “SAP has decided to acquire Business Objects as part of its growth plan.” According to Ricadela, “The deal would enable SAP, the world’s third largest software maker, to become one of the most active sectors in the US software industry.” Currently, Business Objects is competing in a fast growing market for software that helps businesses plan their budgets and close their accounts. “The proposed acquisition of Business Objects comes as competitors Oracle, IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft have accelerated the pace of business buybacks in the enterprise software sector,” says Ricadela.
Acquisitions are not the only hot topic in computer software these days. What about websites and what some of them have to offer? We’ve all heard about the success story of companies like Google, Link Exchange, etc., where creators had a wonderful idea of the Web. A few years later, the company was bought by the millions or went public in the case of Google. and are worth billions now. Nothing is more true than the popular Facebook website. Since Facebook has allowed external software developers to create tools for the site, the New York Times reports that “developers are hoping to create and take advantage of Facebook’s increased use.” Brad Stone, of the New York Times, says that “the book value of the company (Facebook) has skyrocketed.A report that Microsoft was considering buying a share of $ 500 million Facebook would put its value to nearly 15 billions of dollars”. Stone does not know if the new tools can generate profits.
Business Week recently interviewed Steve Mills, Executive Vice President and Group Leader at IBM. When asked about the growth of IBM’s software market, he said, “The percentage of the company’s software from parts of the fastest-growing portfolio continues to grow.” According to Mills, “every acquisition made by the company fits into one of the main categories of middleware in its portfolio”. IBM has decided to create a free version of their Lotus Symphony collaboration software. A trend that other companies seem to follow, like Sun, which recently announced that it would make Solaris and Java free, to get back to the basics of what created them, who they are.
The software industry is constantly evolving, very competitive, but very necessary. If you run a small business or distribute software, you may want to turn to the big boys for inspiration and knowledge of the next destination for this product or service.
