Computer software has gone through several stages of evolution throughout history. It has evolved in terms of its development process, maintenance, and usage. Earlier, software was only a medium for delivering an end product. Today, the software has evolved into a product itself.
The evolution of the software industry has attracted a lot of investment opportunities. According to Gartner, Inc.’s latest prediction, worldwide software industry investment is projected to reach $4.2 trillion in 2021. In 2022, the same is projected to grow to $4.4 trillion. It would be an 8.6% growth in 2021 from 2020 and a 5.3% growth in 2022 from 2021.
In this article, we will discuss software evolution in detail. So, buckle down and let’s begin.
Why Does the Software Industry Evolve So Fast?
It is practically a race in the software industry right now. Every tech giant is a part of that race. One innovative piece of software can revolutionize most of the population and change how they interact with technology. The company behind that innovation makes great money out of it, of course.
Moreover, to stay in the software industry, you need to be abreast with the latest technology. If your company cannot provide a service that the other company can, you’re lost in the crowd.
The complexity of the software requirement increases every second. The software has a very adaptable nature. Because of this, the software finds its way into every field of service. It may have started as a business tool, but now it has expanded to every walk of life.
What Does This Evolution Depend On?
The evolution of the software industry depends on two major factors – market requirements and the available workforce. These two factors are independent of each other. Yet, they affect each other.
The market as we know keeps on expanding every day. New opportunities open and engulf some of the existing jobs on the way. There is a rising demand for automated services and AI modules. Every software service, or SaaS (Software as a Service) as we know it, evolves based on the requirements.
The workforce, however, cannot expand with the demand. It leads to a greater problem for every individual developer. Evolution takes place in many places at once to tackle the shortage of skilled developers.
Educational institutions evolve by adapting newer and smarter ways of teaching these skills to more and more people. The market evolves to provide better connectivity between developers and companies willing to hire them.
The developers, of course, evolve and learn faster and better ways of collaborating and working on a product. It is a notable instance where so many developers at so many levels work together and contribute to the same shared GitHub repository. We, humans, have evolved to work better as a team, rather than as an individual.
What Are the Different Sectors of This Industry?
The software industry was once confined to a limited number of sectors. The functioning and development were simple and well understood. With time, this has changed. The sectors of the software industry have evolved accordingly.
Here is an effort at classifying these sectors as broadly as possible:
Business services
It is the largest sector in the software industry – mainly because it has more money and recognition than other sectors. It includes services like account management, employee management, resource management, file management, and other financial services.
These services have evolved to be more powerful than ever. You now have software that can do one specific task and also software that can do multiple tasks.
Health care services
This sector of the software industry is evolving rapidly. More and more medical equipment is becoming software-dependent day by day. This software has evolved to be faster and more precise. Most of this equipment requires a real-time response.
Defence systems
This software is not required in abundance. Nevertheless, this sector has observed continuous expansion. The development of this software is highly critical. Because of this, it requires a lot of investment. The result of years of evolution is an accurate and reliable real-time defence system.
Information systems
With the increasing population of internet and telecommunication customers, the need to develop powerful software arises. This sector demands robust software that can handle a huge customer base. The speed or user experience is not given much attention.
Industrial systems
This sector deals with software requirements for handling all types of industries. Every industry has a lineup of heavy machinery. Monitoring and controlling these machines is a tedious task. The software should be user-friendly and heavy-duty. Often, but not always, real-time response is also required.
Mobile applications
This sector has been booming since the inception of iOS and Android operating systems. Mobile applications have taken a massive jump towards making everything user-friendly.
This category does not serve any specific purpose. You can find different apps for different purposes.
Web services
Different operating systems in the market multiply the effort of every organization. They need software designed for every operating system. It means higher investment and multiplied risk. To tackle this problem, many companies are switching over to web services.
Web services are platform-independent because they run on browsers. It has become much easier with the evolution of web technologies and languages.
Future Of Software Evolution
Change is inevitable, and man is ambitious. The software industry will adapt to the market requirements as they change. One unique concept has the potential to redesign the entire industry. Predicting the future is too difficult with new technologies like the Internet of Things, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, etc.; predicting the future is too difficult.
We can, however, see that software demands keep on increasing in every sector of every industry. Software surrounds us both directly and indirectly.
Conclusion
The global software industry always follows a cycle of adaptation. As the demands and requirements change, the industry adapts to them by developing new technology.
Even when the world faces a global pandemic, the software industry accelerates its pipeline to serve its purpose.
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