Microsoft tops India software revenue in 2014

BANGALORE, INDIA: India software revenue totaled $4 billion in 2014, an 8.3 percent increase from 2013 revenue of $3.7 billion, according to Gartner, Inc.

Microsoft maintained the No. 1 position in software revenue in India, accounting for 25 percent of overall sales in 2014. The top three vendors in the market (Microsoft, Oracle, and IBM), represent 50 percent of total software sales in India.

“The enterprise software marketplace is dynamic and ever-changing. Its growth and structure are being shaped by the factors and forces of decentralized purchasing, consumerization and mobility, influence of emerging markets, cloud-based implementations, and new consumption models. Improvement in global economic conditions has somewhat relaxed the strain on the Indian economy, thereby boosting corporate sentiments. Along with a new stable government at the center, this has helped in alleviating concerns about economic growth — to a certain extent — with early signs of spending in growth initiatives beginning to emerge,” said Bhavish Sood, research director at Gartner.

Several leading trends that are common across the India software market include:

* Software as a service (SaaS) adoption and development

* Open-source software (OSS) adoption and its broader market implications

* Changing buying behaviors and purchasing styles associated with the digital business

* Spending in key growth markets, such as India and China

Among the main drivers for increased IT adoption is the appreciation of IT as an enabler for business change.

Among the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), the India software market experienced the highest growth rate (see Table 2). Apart from mega vendors there’s a thriving ecosystem of product startups that are getting incubated in India, and as such, they are helping drive software adoption through their innovative, small foot print low cost products.

“Government plans around Digital India, smart cities, and increased focus on broadband internet infrastructure is expected to drive local consumption of IT software and associated services,” said Sood.