Gitnux/Report 2026

Software It Industry Statistics

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Software It Industry Statistics
Samuel NorbergWritten by Samuel Norberg·Fact-checked by Maya Johansson
Published
How this report is researched
01Editorial Scope

An editor sets the topic, the inclusion criteria, and the evaluation framework before research starts.

02Source Research

AI search agents locate sources and extract each figure together with the document it came from.

Read our full methodology →

Search agents attach provenance to every extracted figure.

Next review: within 39 days

01 Industry overview

The software it industry at a glance

The software and IT industry is expanding rapidly as artificial intelligence drives spending: worldwide software expenditure is forecast to reach $1.43 trillion in 2026, up 14.7% year on year.

$1.43T[14]
Worldwide software spending, 2026
14.7%[14]
Software spending growth, 2026
1.7M[105]
U.S. software developer jobs, 2025
$420B[106]
Software M&A value, 2025
Market size
Gartner forecasts worldwide software spending of $1.43 trillion in 2026, compared with $1.25 trillion in 2025. Total worldwide IT spending is forecast at $6.16 trillion in 2026.[14]
Forecast & CAGR
Worldwide IT spending is forecast to reach $7.6 trillion by 2029, implying a 7.9% constant-currency CAGR from 2025 to 2029. Software spending is forecast to grow 14.7% in 2026, with generative-AI model spending projected to increase 80.8%.[14]
Segmentation
Gartner divides worldwide IT spending into data-center systems, devices, software, IT services and communications services. In its 2026 forecast, software represents $1.43 trillion, IT services $1.87 trillion, communications services $1.37 trillion, devices $836.4 billion and data-center systems $653.4 billion.[14]
Pricing
The U.S. producer price index for application software publishing increased 2.0% year on year in December 2025. The monthly index declined 0.1%, indicating limited near-term pricing momentum despite positive annual growth.[105]
Trends, drivers & challenges
Artificial intelligence is the principal growth driver: worldwide AI spending is forecast to reach $2.7 trillion in 2026, up 49.5% year on year. Gartner also projects 31.7% growth in data-center spending and 36.9% growth in server spending in 2026, while higher infrastructure requirements and concerns about an AI investment bubble remain challenges.[14]
M&A
Software transaction value increased 66% to $420 billion in 2025, while transaction volume rose 8% to 2,152 deals. Niche software generated the largest segment value at $130 billion, and financially sponsored transactions accounted for $191 billion, or 45% of total value.[106]
Regulation
The EU AI Act’s majority of rules began applying on August 2, 2026, including transparency requirements and enforcement for applicable rules. Further rules for certain high-risk AI systems are scheduled for December 2, 2027, while the main implementation timeline is expected to be complete by August 2, 2028.[107]
Latest news
Gartner’s September 2026 forecast put worldwide AI spending at $2.7 trillion for 2026, with AI infrastructure investment and the embedding of AI into software and services identified as the main growth forces. The forecast represents 49.5% year-on-year growth.[14]

02 Ranking

Top 10 Companies in the Software It Industry

The leading companies in the software it industry, ranked on market impact, performance, momentum, innovation and brand popularity.

Updated November 10, 2026 · Next review December 10, 2026

Verdict

Microsoft leads Gitnux's 2026 software it ranking with an Overall score of 9.7, with fiscal 2026 Cloud revenue of $214.4 billion. Oracle is the highest-ranked enterprise applications and database provider at 9.6, backed by enterprise applications, databases and cloud infrastructure worldwide.

Ranked by Overall score · How we score ↓

Editor's top 3 picks

Where to start, by need.

  1. #1 Overall · Leader in cloud enterprise platforms

    Microsoft

    US

    Ranked #1 · 9.7 · Cloud enterprise platforms

    Why we picked it: Its Cloud segment reaches $214.4B in fiscal 2026, with R&D at 12% of revenue.

    See in ranking ↓Visit microsoft.com ↗

  2. Leader in enterprise apps and databases

    Oracle

    US

    Ranked #2 · 9.6 · Enterprise apps and databases

    Why we picked it: Its enterprise software, database, and cloud infrastructure scope aligns with broad enterprise deployments.

    See in ranking ↓Visit oracle.com ↗

  3. Leader in workflow and IT ops

    ServiceNow

    US

    Ranked #3 · 9.4 · Workflow and IT ops

    Why we picked it: Its enterprise workflow and IT operations portfolio reports $12.883B subscription revenue in 2025.

    See in ranking ↓Visit servicenow.com ↗

Pick 1 is the #1 company overall. Picks 2 and 3 are the highest-ranked companies in the top 5 that add a new segment.

Full ranking

Sort by
Top 10 companies in the software it industry, 2026 – Gitnux ranking
#CompanyOverall ↓Company snapshot
1

Microsoft

Cloud enterprise platforms · US

9.7
2

Oracle

Enterprise apps and databases · US

9.6
3

ServiceNow

Workflow and IT ops · US

9.4
4

Adobe

Creative and digital experience · US

9.3
5

Salesforce

CRM and marketing clouds · US

9.3
6

Infosys

IT consulting, software engineering and digital services · IN

9.2
7

SAP

Enterprise applications, ERP and business cloud software · DE

9.2
8

IBM

Hybrid cloud, enterprise software and IT services · US

9.1
9

Capgemini

IT consulting, applications and engineering services · FR

8.9
10

HCLTech

IT services, engineering and software platforms · IN

8.8

How we score

  • Impact (30%): scale and weight in the market (revenue, market share, employees, market position).
  • Performance (20%): recent revenue growth and operating margin; an analyst assessment where a company does not publish them.
  • Momentum (20%): growth trajectory and future potential.
  • Innovation (15%): R&D intensity and how technologically advanced the company is.

Popularity (brand search demand, 15%) counts toward Overall but is not published as a column. Overall leaves out what is not known.

Scale Scores are shown on a 7–10 scale with one decimal; bars start at 7.0.

Cadence Recalculated when new figures are published; next review December 10, 2026.

Independence. Rankings are editorially independent. Scores, ranks, picks and the verdict follow the method above; no company can pay to change them.

Cite this ranking

APA

Samuel Norberg. (2026, November 10). Top 10 companies in the software it industry. In Software It Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/software-it-industry-statistics/#top-companies

report visual · Projection

Sectoral output of software publishers (NAICS 511210) (United States)

Sectoral output of software publishers (NAICS 511210) grew from $398.9B in 2021 to $672.7B in 2025.

$398.9B
Start
+13.96%
CAGR · 4y
$672.8B
Projected
20212025
source-verifiedalfred.stlouisfed.org2025

04 Statistics

Technology & Innovation

AI adoption shows broad movement, with 88% of surveyed organizations using AI in 2025 and 44% reporting enterprise-wide scaling in 2026.

AI in the software it industry

  • 88% of surveyed organizations used AI in 2025, according to Stanford’s global survey.[1]
  • 90% of software-development survey respondents reported using AI at work in 2025.[2]
  • 44% of surveyed organizations reported that AI was scaling across the enterprise in 2026.[3]
  • 47% of software and technology companies reported using AI in 2025.[4]
  • 41% of the U.S. workforce reported work-related generative-AI adoption in November 2025.[5]
  • 70% of surveyed developers worried that junior developers were becoming too reliant on AI.[6]

Automation in the software it industry

  • 51% of surveyed organizations used robotic-process-automation platforms in 2024.[7]
  • 92% of firms in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia invested in AI-related technology during the year reported in 2026.[6]
  • 22% of surveyed organizations reported using AI- or machine-learning-based process-automation platforms at the highest adoption level in 2024.[7]
  • 49% of surveyed organizations used invoice automation in 2024.[7]
  • 45% of surveyed organizations used chatbots as part of process automation in 2024.[7]
  • 45% of surveyed organizations used workflow automation in 2024.[7]

Digital Transformation in the software and IT services sector (sector benchmark)

  • 45% of North American technology and business decision-makers planned to adopt AI and machine learning to improve business within 12 to 24 months.[8]
  • 72% of digital leaders globally expected to increase technology spending in 2024, compared with 50% of digital laggards, according to a survey of 855 technology and business decision-makers.[8]
  • 34% of surveyed organizations globally identified replacing or upgrading legacy technology as a top digital-transformation goal in 2024.[8]
  • 75% of digital leaders globally planned to increase AI-related business expenditure in 2024.[8]
  • 54.8% of surveyed organizations reported having a chief digital officer or another executive responsible for digital transformation.[9]

Technology Adoption in the software and IT services sector (sector benchmark)

  • 67.6% of IT services were delivered through cloud infrastructure among surveyed organizations in 2024.[9]
  • 51.8% of surveyed organizations reported that AI solutions were somewhat or extremely rare in 2024.[9]
  • 57.7% of surveyed organizations reported having a chief information security officer or equivalent in 2024.[9]
  • More than 50% of surveyed global IT decision-makers were exploring AI use cases or piloting AI technologies in 2024.[8]

Cloud Computing in the software and IT services sector (sector benchmark)

  • 65.5% of EU enterprises using paid cloud services used them for security software applications in 2025.[10]
  • 52.7% of EU enterprises with at least 10 employees used paid cloud-computing services in 2025.[10]
  • 26.1% of EU enterprises using paid cloud services used computing platforms for application development, testing or deployment in 2025.[10]
  • 71.7% of EU enterprises using paid cloud services used them for office software in 2025.[10]
  • 71.5% of EU enterprises using paid cloud services used them for file storage in 2025.[10]
  • 85.2% of EU enterprises using paid cloud services used them for email in 2025.[10]

Big Data in the software and IT services sector (sector benchmark)

  • 40% was the highest reported enterprise adoption rate for big-data analytics across OECD countries in the latest available data through 2023.[11]
  • Big-data analytics adoption averaged 14% among OECD enterprises with at least 10 employees, compared with 49% for cloud computing in the latest comparable data.[11]
  • 14% of enterprises with at least 10 employees across the OECD used big-data analytics on average, based on 2022 data or the latest available year.[11]

05 Statistics

Data & Analytics

Data quality and governance remain active constraints; in 2025, 35% of organizations rated data excellent for consistency and standardization.

Business intelligence in the software it industry

  • 35.88% of Dutch enterprises used business-intelligence software in 2025.[10]
  • 37% was the current average business-intelligence penetration among information-technology functions in 2024.[12]
  • 41.7% of Danish enterprises used business-intelligence software in 2025.[10]
  • 41.08% of information and communication enterprises in the EU used business-intelligence software in 2025.[10]
  • 9.54% of Greek enterprises used business-intelligence software in 2025.[10]
  • 9.28% of Hungarian enterprises used business-intelligence software in 2025.[10]

Data analytics in the software it industry

  • 65% of software developers surveyed in 2025 said they heavily relied on artificial-intelligence tools.[13]
  • 22.7% was the 2024 growth rate of nonrelational database-management software worldwide.[14]
  • 11% of S&P 500 companies had deeply integrated artificial intelligence into business processes in 2025.[15]
  • $175.17 billion was the worldwide data-and-analytics software market in 2024, after 13.9% growth.[14]
  • 38.6% was the 2024 growth rate of data-science and artificial-intelligence platforms worldwide.[14]
  • 32% of surveyed data-and-analytics leaders worked in technology companies in the 2025 Data Village Survey.[16]

Data Quality in the software and IT services sector (sector benchmark)

  • In 2025, 35% of organizations globally rated their data excellent for consistency and standardization, across surveyed technology and business organizations.[17]
  • In 2025, 46% of organizations globally said they were fully confident in their data quality, across surveyed technology and business organizations.[17]
  • In 2025, 34% of organizations globally rated their data excellent for relevance and suitability, across surveyed technology and business organizations.[17]
  • In 2024, 95% of enterprise data leaders and practitioners reported a data-quality issue with a direct impact on business outcomes, across companies with at least $1 billion in revenue.[18]
  • In 2025, 46% of organizations globally rated their data excellent for accuracy and integrity, across surveyed technology and business organizations.[17]
  • In 2025, 43% of organizations globally rated their data excellent for quality and completeness, across surveyed technology and business organizations.[17]

Data Governance in the software and IT services sector (sector benchmark)

  • In 2024, 35% of U.S. technology executives prioritized data governance among their data-management areas for the next 12 months.[19]
  • In 2024, 32% of global technology leaders prioritized data governance among their data-management areas for the next 12 months.[19]
  • In 2024, 61% of supply-management organizations reported having a dedicated data-governance function, based on an Institute for Supply Management survey.[20]
  • In 2024, 18.3% of organizations reported having a data-governance or catalog solution as part of their governance program, according to a global governance study.[21]
  • In 2026, 76% of global data leaders said their company’s AI governance did not completely keep pace with employee use of AI technology.[21]
  • In 2024, 81.7% of organizations reported having no data-governance or catalog solution as part of their governance program, according to a global governance study.[21]

KPIs in the software it industry

  • 100% was the median net-revenue-retention rate for SaaS companies below $1 million ARR in 2025.[22]
  • 103% was the median net-revenue-retention rate for bootstrapped B2B SaaS companies with $3 million to $20 million ARR in 2026.[23]
  • 108% was the upper-quartile net-revenue-retention rate for SaaS companies above $50 million ARR in 2025.[22]
  • 116% was the upper-quartile net-revenue-retention rate for SaaS companies below $1 million ARR in 2025.[22]
  • 115% was the upper-quartile net-revenue-retention rate for SaaS companies with $5 million to $20 million ARR in 2025.[22]
  • 104% was the median net-revenue-retention rate for SaaS companies with $1 million to $5 million ARR in 2025.[22]

06 Statistics

Strategy & Growth

Spending acceleration shows up in forecasts: worldwide software expenditure is forecast to grow 14.7% in 2026, with generative-AI model spending up 80.8%.

Growth in the software it industry

  • 5.1% was the projected compound annual growth rate for the global software industry from 2025 through 2028.[24]
  • $861 billion was the projected global software-industry revenue in 2028.[24]
  • $911 billion was the estimated global software-market size in 2024.[25]
  • 33% year-on-year growth was recorded in worldwide software expenditure in 2021.[26]
  • $675 billion was the estimated value of global software spending in 2024.[26]
  • 10.5% growth was forecast for worldwide software spending in 2025, exceeding the overall IT-spending growth rate.[13]

Differentiation in the software it industry

  • 72% of surveyed software companies had started gathering and acting on customer feedback to fuel product innovation.[27]
  • 11% of S&P 500 enterprises had deeply integrated AI into business processes in 2025, according to an analysis based on company filings.[15]
  • 320.4% growth made generative-AI models the fastest-growing segment of the worldwide enterprise-software market in 2024.[14]
  • 77% of surveyed executives said cloud scalability and performance were critical to business growth and differentiation.[28]
  • 72% of surveyed software companies used AI for predictive analytics.[27]
  • 66% of surveyed software companies identified personalized interactions informed by customer data as a customer-experience enhancement.[27]

Mergers and acquisitions in the software it industry

  • $5.7 billion was the value of Renesas Electronics’ acquisition of Altium in 2024.[29]
  • $32.5 billion was the value of Synopsys’ proposed acquisition of Ansys announced in the first half of 2024.[30]
  • $32 billion was the value of Google’s announced acquisition of cybersecurity company Wiz in 2025.[31]
  • 193 IT-security software acquisitions were recorded in 2025, compared with 156 in 2024.[32]
  • $10.1 billion was the value of Siemens’ acquisition of Altair Engineering in 2024.[29]
  • $73 billion was the aggregate value of IT-security software acquisitions recorded in 2025.[32]

Strategic partnerships in the software it industry

  • 73.2% of information-technology spending was driven by partners in 2024, according to the TD SYNNEX ecosystem report.[33]
  • 79% of technology marketers said they oversaw cloud-service-provider partnerships in 2024.[34]
  • 47% of survey respondents were exploring alliances beyond traditional resellers or distributors.[19]
  • 12,600 customers were expected to gain access to Anthropic models through the Snowflake partnership announced in 2025.[6]
  • 83% of surveyed organizations planned to expand their partner ecosystems to accelerate growth in 2024.[19]
  • 48% of surveyed organizations said generative AI had influenced their ecosystem strategy and planning in 2024.[19]

07 Statistics

People & Workforce

Developer work patterns continue shifting toward hybrid; 34.8% of global software and IT services respondents worked remotely in 2026.

Hiring in the software it industry

  • 61% of computer-science graduates from top U.S. programs obtained software-engineer jobs in 2024.[35]
  • 5.8 million people were employed in U.S. tech roles in 2023, according to CompTIA’s technology workforce estimate.[35]
  • 23% of technology organizations planned to increase technical headcount because of generative AI in 2024.[36]
  • 69.1% of recent U.S. computer-science and information-technology bachelor’s graduates were employed six months after graduation in 2023.[35]
  • 41% of professional-developer survey respondents worked in the software-development industry in 2024.[37]

Employee retention in the software it industry

  • 40% of developers surveyed in 2025 planned to leave their current company within one year.[38]
  • 14% of professional developers worked solely in on-premises environments in 2024.[37]
  • Nearly two-thirds of developers would consider leaving an organization because of dissatisfaction with developer experience in 2024.[39]
  • 68% of developers in 2024 believed AI was not a threat to their current job.[37]
  • 86% of professional developers worked in cloud-hosted or hybrid environments in 2024.[37]

Remote Work in the software and IT services sector (sector benchmark)

  • 48% of U.S. software and IT professionals surveyed worked remotely in 2026, compared with 21% in France.[37]
  • 10% of technology-services respondents worked under fully flexible arrangements in 2025, allowing employees substantial control over remote work.[40]
  • 84% of technology-services employers agreed in 2025 that the ability to work remotely is important for employee retention.[40]
  • 34.8% of global software and IT services respondents worked remotely in 2026, according to the Stack Overflow Developer Survey.[37]
  • 6% of global respondents worked fully remotely in 2025, defined as spending less than one day per week in the office.[40]

Hybrid Work in the software and IT services sector (sector benchmark)

  • 52% of U.S. employees with remote-capable jobs worked in hybrid arrangements in May 2026, according to Gallup.[41]
  • 61% of U.S. employees with remote-capable jobs preferred hybrid work in November 2025, compared with 33% preferring fully remote work.[41]
  • 55% of technology-services respondents worked in a hybrid arrangement in 2025, the highest share among industries measured by Cisco.[40]
  • 47% of global respondents worked in hybrid arrangements in 2025, down from 63% in Cisco’s 2022 study.[40]
  • 56% of IT employees worked in hybrid arrangements in 2025, while 31% were fully remote and 13% attended the office daily.[42]

Upskilling in the software it industry

  • 68% of developers used technical documentation to learn coding during the year before the 2025 survey.[37]
  • 15.4% of developers learned AI programming or AI-enabled tooling at work in 2026.[37]
  • 84% of developers used technical documentation to learn to code in 2024.[37]
  • 56% of large-company IT and HR decision-makers identified upskilling and reskilling as the leading strategy for closing the IT skills gap in 2025.[43]
  • 77% of large organizations reported being affected by the IT skills gap in 2025.[43]

Employee Engagement in the software and IT services sector (sector benchmark)

  • 92% of employees ranked collaboration and community as very important aspects of office culture in Cisco’s 2025 global study.[40]
  • 54% of exclusively remote U.S. employees were thriving in May 2026, compared with 52% of hybrid employees and 49% of on-site employees with remote-capable jobs.[41]
  • 74% of respondents approved of fully flexible hybrid policies in 2025, the highest positive sentiment among the policy types Cisco measured.[40]
  • 22.2% of global software and IT respondents were happy with their current professional role in 2026, while 32.6% were unhappy.[37]
  • 37% of exclusively remote U.S. employees were engaged in May 2026, compared with 34% of hybrid employees and 29% of on-site employees with remote-capable jobs.[41]

08 Statistics

Customer & Sales

Buying and evaluation cycles show reliance on analysis and consulting; 38.4% of software buyers used consultants during their 2026 evaluation.

Customer experience in the software it industry

  • 68% of organizations reported that their customer-experience measurement practices improved in 2024.[44]
  • 70% of customer-experience leaders used advanced analytics in 2024, according to a software and digital-experience industry report.[45]
  • 4.3 hours per month was the average time customers waited for support from SaaS companies in 2024.[45]
  • 38% of software and technology marketers used CRM or account-based marketing tools to target accounts in 2024.[46]
  • 45% of software and technology marketers used social-media analytics to target accounts in 2024.[46]

Customer retention in the software it industry

  • 86% was the median new-customer retention rate for horizontal software companies in the BCG 2023 cohort.[47]
  • 90% was the median new-customer retention rate for vertical software companies in the BCG 2023 cohort.[47]
  • 103% was the median net-revenue retention rate for bootstrapped B2B SaaS companies with $3 million to $20 million in ARR in 2026.[23]
  • 88% was the median gross-revenue retention rate for SaaS companies in 2024, according to a SaaS performance benchmark study.[48]
  • 101% was the median net-revenue retention rate for SaaS companies in 2024.[48]

Customer acquisition in the software it industry

  • 86% of software buyers had either category or vendor experience before beginning a 2025 purchase journey.[49]
  • 85% of B2B software buyers had established purchase requirements before contacting sellers in 2024.[49]
  • 38.4% of software buyers who completed a purchase used consultants during their 2026 evaluation.[49]
  • 19% of software buyers had prior experience with the specific vendor or solution before beginning a 2025 purchase journey.[49]
  • 67% of software buyers had prior experience with the solution category before beginning a 2025 purchase journey.[49]

Customer loyalty in the software it industry

  • 90% was the gross-revenue retention rate for mid-market-focused SaaS companies in the 2024 High Alpha benchmark.[22]
  • 92% was the gross-revenue retention rate for enterprise-focused SaaS companies in the 2024 High Alpha benchmark.[22]
  • 85% was the gross-revenue retention rate for micro-business-focused SaaS companies in the 2024 High Alpha benchmark.[22]
  • 98% was the net-revenue retention rate for micro-business-focused SaaS companies in the 2024 High Alpha benchmark.[22]
  • 35% of software executives selected dedicated renewal teams as an effective lever for maximizing net-revenue retention in 2025.[50]

Lead generation in the software it industry

  • 35% was the reported MQL-to-SQL conversion rate for edtech companies in HubSpot’s 2025 benchmark compilation.[51]
  • 11% to 19% was the reported MQL-to-SQL conversion range for fintech companies in HubSpot’s 2025 benchmark compilation.[51]
  • 35% of software buyers who completed a purchase used an analyst during their 2026 evaluation.[49]
  • 40% was the reported MQL-to-SQL conversion rate for legal technology companies in HubSpot’s 2025 benchmark compilation.[51]
  • 42% was the reported MQL-to-SQL conversion rate for CRM and sales technology companies in HubSpot’s 2025 benchmark compilation.[51]

09 Statistics

Marketing & Brand

Brand and demand planning concentrate around SaaS spend levels; B2B technology companies reported a 9% of revenue median marketing budget in 2024.

Marketing in the software it industry

  • 51% of the marketing budget went to programs at SaaS scaleups in the earlier comparison period, before falling to 47%.[52]
  • 34.1% of revenue was the median sales-and-marketing spend for public software companies in 2022.[53]
  • 9% of revenue was the median marketing budget for B2B technology companies in 2024.[54]
  • 101% was the median net-revenue-retention rate for the B2B SaaS companies surveyed for 2024 performance benchmarks.[54]
  • 47% of revenue was the median sales-and-marketing spend for venture-capital-backed private SaaS companies in 2024.[54]

Digital marketing in the software it industry

  • 31% of developers who use social media selected Reddit as a preferred platform for learning about software development globally in 2025–2026.[55]
  • 45% of developers who use social media selected YouTube as a preferred platform for keeping up to date with software development in 2025–2026.[55]
  • 36% of developers who use social media selected Reddit as a preferred platform for researching software-development products or information in 2025–2026.[55]
  • 44% of developers who use social media selected LinkedIn as a preferred platform for engaging with software-development communities and peers in 2025–2026.[55]
  • 14% of revenue was the median marketing allocation for B2B technology companies below $5 million in revenue in 2025.[54]

Branding in the software it industry

  • $19.2 billion was Salesforce’s brand value in Interbrand’s 2025 global ranking.[56]
  • $41.3 billion was SAP’s brand value in Interbrand’s 2025 global ranking.[56]
  • $317.1 billion was Google’s brand value in Interbrand’s 2025 global ranking.[56]
  • $39.4 billion was IBM’s brand value in Interbrand’s 2025 global ranking.[56]
  • $48.7 billion was Cisco’s brand value in Interbrand’s 2025 global ranking.[56]

Social media in the software it industry

  • 42% of developers who use social media preferred WhatsApp for engaging with software-development communities and peers in 2025–2026.[55]
  • 46% of developers who use social media preferred YouTube for solving software-development problems in 2025–2026.[55]
  • 89% of SaaS startups had a LinkedIn company page in the study of 21,818 software-as-a-service startups.[57]
  • 32% of developers who use social media preferred Reddit for solving software-development problems in 2025–2026.[55]
  • 36% of developers who use social media preferred Reddit for researching software-development products or information in 2025–2026.[55]

Influencer Marketing in the software and IT services sector (sector benchmark)

  • Across B2B companies, 43% of marketers reported outstanding results from their influencer programs in the 2025 B2B Influencer Marketing Report.[58]
  • Across B2B companies, another 29% of marketing organizations planned to adopt influencer marketing within the next year in 2025, based on an Ipsos survey of 1,500 marketing leaders.[59]
  • Across B2B companies, 55% of marketing organizations were using influencers in 2025, based on an Ipsos survey of 1,500 marketing leaders.[59]
  • Across technology companies, 27% of marketers reported dedicated but flat budgets for creator or influencer marketing in 2026, according to Nielsen’s global marketing survey.[60]
  • Across technology companies, 64% of marketers reported dedicated and growing budgets for creator or influencer marketing in 2026, according to Nielsen’s global marketing survey.[60]

10 Statistics

Operations & Execution

Delivery and software supply-chain pressure is measurable, including 4% of organizations pinned all public GitHub Actions to a specific commit-hash.

Process optimization in the software it industry

  • 89% of respondents reported using an internal developer platform in the 2024 DORA research.[61]
  • 19% of respondents were classified as elite software-delivery performers in the 2024 DORA research.[61]
  • 2,293 times faster was failed-deployment recovery for elite teams than low-performing teams in the 2024 DORA analysis.[61]
  • 75% of developers who opened a pull request in August 2026 also pushed code in September 2026.[62]
  • 230 repositories were created per minute on GitHub in 2025, indicating the scale of software-production activity.[62]

Operational efficiency in the software it industry

  • 78% of developers surveyed by GitLab said developers were writing code faster with AI in 2026.[63]
  • 73% of developers surveyed by GitLab said AI was helping produce higher-quality code in 2026.[63]
  • 80% of enterprise application dependencies had not been upgraded within a year in Sonatype’s 2024 analysis.[64]
  • 4.5 trillion npm requests were recorded in 2024, a 70% year-over-year increase.[64]
  • 94% of the 50 highest-ranked open-source projects used or were independently scanned by OpenSSF Scorecard in 2025.[62]

Quality management in the software it industry

  • 278 days was the median age of a dependency behind the latest major version in Datadog’s 2026 analysis.[65]
  • 27 security flaws per package was the median found across 30 open-source packages examined in the 2025 Software Supply Chain Security Report.[66]
  • 47 of GitHub’s 50 highest-ranked open-source projects used OpenSSF Scorecard or independent scanning in 2025.[62]
  • 4% of organizations pinned all public GitHub Actions to a specific commit-hash version in Datadog’s 2026 analysis.[65]
  • 13% of Log4j downloads were still using a vulnerable version when Sonatype conducted its 2024 analysis.[64]

Supply chain in the software it industry

  • 77% of organizations experienced a software supply-chain incident during the 12 months covered by Docker’s 2026 report.[67]
  • 39% of organizations ranked third-party code among their leading software supply-chain risks in Docker’s 2026 report.[67]
  • 98% of organizations prioritized developer security enablement in Docker’s 2026 report.[67]
  • 57% of organizations expected more than half of their code to come from third-party sources within 12 months in Docker’s 2026 report.[67]
  • 40% of organizations ranked AI technology as the number-one software supply-chain risk in Docker’s 2026 report.[67]

Outsourcing / Offshoring in the software and IT services sector (sector benchmark)

  • Across German digital-experience service providers, 7.6% of services for customer projects were delivered offshore in 2024.[68]
  • Among German IT-service generalists, 19.5% of digital-experience services for customer projects were delivered nearshore in 2024.[68]
  • Among German IT-service generalists, 10.2% of digital-experience services for customer projects were delivered offshore in 2024.[68]
  • Across German digital-experience service providers, 13.2% of services for customer projects were delivered nearshore in 2024.[68]
  • Across European organizations, 35% planned to increase their use of nearshore outsourcing in the 2024/2025 sourcing study.[69]

11 Statistics

Finance & Pricing

Pricing pressure is mixed: the U.S. producer price index for application software publishing rose 2.0% year on year in December 2025.

Pricing strategy in the software it industry

  • 25% of surveyed B2B software companies used hybrid monetization combining subscription and usage elements in 2026.[70]
  • 58% of software vendors raised list prices in 2024, with reported increases reaching 25%.[71]
  • $64,000 was the 2024 median annual contract value for infrastructure and security software companies.[72]
  • Only about 25% of software companies reported having tools for descriptive pricing analytics.[3]
  • 25% was the median growth rate for SaaS companies using traditional subscription pricing in 2024.[73]

Cost reduction in the software it industry

  • 9% of IT-function respondents reported a significant cost reduction from generative AI in 2024.[3]
  • $111 million of restructuring costs were recorded by DXC Technology in fiscal 2024 as part of global cost-savings initiatives.[74]
  • $105 million lower restructuring costs were recorded by DXC Technology in fiscal 2024 than in the prior fiscal year.[74]
  • 42% of software-engineering respondents reported cost reductions from generative AI in the 2024 McKinsey survey.[3]
  • 1.65 years of useful hardware life was lost on average when enterprises replaced hardware to meet software-vendor support deadlines.[6]

Profitability in the software it industry

  • 71.7% was the gross-profit margin for 309 U.S. public software companies in January 2026.[75]
  • 5 months was the median CAC payback period for one 2024 High Alpha SaaS benchmark segment.[22]
  • 20 months was the median CAC payback period for one 2024 High Alpha SaaS benchmark segment.[22]
  • 33.0% was the operating-profit margin for 309 U.S. public software companies in January 2026.[75]
  • 40% of revenue was the median sales-and-marketing expense reported in the 2024 historical SaaS benchmarks.[76]

Financial planning in the software it industry

  • 13 of 31 Gartner Research Board members used a hybrid top-down and bottom-up approach to prepare technology budgets.[14]
  • 47% of surveyed CFOs planned technology-budget increases of 10% or more in 2025.[14]
  • 77% of surveyed CFOs and senior finance leaders planned to increase technology spending in 2025.[14]
  • 2.4% was the average budget growth reported for 2025 in Gartner’s 2026 CFO budget benchmarks.[14]
  • 47% of finance leaders allocated 1% to 5% of finance-technology spending to AI in the 2026 budget study.[14]

12 Statistics

Product & Service

Developer time savings and usage signals reflect AI integration in work; more than 70% of surveyed developers reported halving time on boilerplate and documentation in 2026.

Product development in the software it industry

  • 49% of developers regularly used ChatGPT for coding and other development activities in 2024.[77]
  • More than 70% of surveyed developers reported at least halving the time spent on boilerplate and documentation tasks using generative AI in 2026.[15]
  • 20% or more of global R&D spending came from software and ICT services in 2024, up from 14% in 2018.[26]
  • $33.9 billion was the 2023 R&D expenditure of U.S. companies in scientific research and development services, compared with $63.1 billion for software publishers in 2024.[78]
  • 22% was the median share of annual recurring revenue spent on R&D by private B2B SaaS companies in 2026.[79]

Product lifecycle in the software it industry

  • $41.53 billion was Salesforce total revenue in fiscal 2026, up from $37.90 billion in fiscal 2025.[80]
  • $17.65 billion was Adobe Digital Media revenue in fiscal 2025, up 11% from fiscal 2024.[81]
  • $19.20 billion was Adobe Digital Media’s annualized recurring revenue at the end of fiscal 2025, up 11.5% year over year.[81]
  • $900 million was Salesforce Data Cloud and AI annual recurring revenue in fiscal 2025, up 120% year over year.[80]
  • $39.39 billion was Salesforce subscription and support revenue in fiscal 2026, up 10% year over year.[80]

After-sales in the software it industry

  • 18% of surveyed B2B technology companies were top-quartile valuation-multiple performers in McKinsey’s analysis through the fourth quarter of 2024.[3]
  • 108% was Freshworks’ net dollar retention rate at December 31, 2025, up from 103% at December 31, 2024.[82]
  • 81% of organizations in a 2026 technology survey said service degradation or outages had ultimately cost them customers.[6]
  • 47% of organizations in a 2026 technology survey said customers were often the first to detect service degradation or outages.[6]
  • 85% was GoDaddy’s customer retention rate in 2025.[83]

Value proposition in the software it industry

  • 1,196 R&D and quality-solutions customers were served by Veeva as of January 31, 2026, up from 1,125 one year earlier.[84]
  • $5.86 billion was Adobe Digital Experience revenue in fiscal 2025 from products designed to manage, measure, optimize and monetize customer experiences.[81]
  • $19.20 billion was Adobe Digital Media ARR at the end of fiscal 2025, reflecting recurring customer value from creative and document products.[81]
  • 43% of professionals surveyed by Freshworks said software projects ran over budget.[13]
  • $900 million was Salesforce Data Cloud and AI ARR in fiscal 2025, indicating a rapidly expanding value proposition for data and artificial-intelligence products.[80]

13 Statistics

Sustainability & Ethics

Sustainability demand shows up in measured intent; 74% of GitHub users surveyed in spring 2026 were interested in measuring software’s environmental impact.

Sustainability in the software it industry

  • 19 GW of new renewable energy was contracted by Microsoft through power-purchase agreements across 16 countries in 2024.[85]
  • 97% of Microsoft’s potable-water use in Quincy, Washington, was reduced through a cooling-water reuse utility in FY2024.[86]
  • 80% of 1,039 GitHub users surveyed in spring 2026 were very or somewhat interested in tools for writing more energy-efficient code.[62]
  • 74% of 1,039 GitHub users surveyed in spring 2026 were interested in measuring software’s environmental impact.[62]
  • 70% of 1,039 GitHub users surveyed in spring 2026 were interested in contributing to sustainability-focused open-source projects.[62]

ESG in the software it industry

  • 44% of Salesforce’s applicable upstream Scope 3 emissions were calculated using a spend-based method in fiscal 2025.[87]
  • 9% of organizations in the 2024 CSRD Study came from industry sectors using or evaluating ESG software.[88]
  • 33% of Salesforce’s applicable upstream Scope 3 emissions came from suppliers with science-based targets in fiscal 2025.[87]
  • 13% of organizations in the 2024 CSRD Study were manufacturing companies using or evaluating ESG software.[88]
  • 7% of respondents in the 2024 CSRD Study were IT companies using ESG software solutions.[88]

Ethics in the software it industry

  • 46% of software developers did not trust the accuracy of AI-generated outputs in Stack Overflow’s 2025 Developer Survey.[6]
  • 30% of open-source survey respondents classified themselves as minorities in GitHub’s 2024 survey.[62]
  • 73% of open-source respondents reported using AI tools for coding or documentation in GitHub’s 2024 survey.[62]
  • 82% of open-source survey respondents considered secure-by-design practices important when adopting an open-source project in 2024.[62]
  • 31% of open-source survey respondents identified as immigrants in 2024, up from 27% in 2017.[62]

CSR in the software it industry

  • 2,500 learners were supported by GitHub and Major League Hacking grants for hands-on open-source experience in 2024.[62]
  • 1.0 percentage point was the increase in GitHub’s U.S. Asian employee population in 2024.[62]
  • 38% of GitHub’s U.S. intern cohort were women in 2024.[62]
  • 0.2 percentage points was the increase in GitHub’s U.S. Hispanic and Latinx employee populations in 2024.[62]
  • 15,849 acres were permanently protected by Microsoft as of FY2024, exceeding its land-protection target by more than 30%.[86]

Circular economy in the software it industry

  • 15,849 acres of land were permanently protected by Microsoft as of FY2024.[86]
  • Approximately 26,000 metric tons of Microsoft waste were diverted from landfill or incineration across owned data centres and campuses in FY2024.[86]
  • 90.9% of Microsoft servers and components were reused or recycled in FY2024.[86]
  • 80.7% of Microsoft operational waste was diverted in FY2021.[86]
  • 11,900 acres was Microsoft’s land-protection target for 2025.[86]

Carbon footprint in the software it industry

  • 24% was the increase in Salesforce absolute emissions compared with its base year in fiscal 2024.[87]
  • 68 million metric tons was Amazon’s reported carbon footprint in 2024, according to MTN Consulting’s webscale-sector analysis.[89]
  • 21,927,370 metric tons of carbon removals had been contracted by Microsoft in FY2024.[86]
  • 2,804,056 metric tons of Microsoft’s contracted carbon removals were allocated to its 2030 carbon-negative target.[86]
  • 17,432,374 metric tons of Microsoft’s contracted carbon removals were allocated to carbon negativity after 2031 and historic emissions.[86]

15 Statistics

Globalization & Expansion

The ecosystem scale is visible in listing volume and workforce counts; G2 listed 160,000 software products and services in its global marketplace dataset.

Globalization in the software it industry

  • 800+ SaaS executives and operators from across the globe participated in High Alpha’s 2025 benchmark survey.[99]
  • 160,000 software products and services were listed in G2’s global marketplace dataset.[100]
  • 495,000 workers were employed in U.S. data processing, hosting and related services in mid-2024.[101]
  • 22,100 workers were employed by foreign-owned U.S. data processing, hosting and related services businesses in 2022.[101]
  • 2.5 million employees worked in the U.S. computer systems design and related services industry in mid-2024.[101]

Cultural adaptation in the software it industry

  • 64% of surveyed creative and marketing teams wanted automatic layout adjustment from AI-assisted localization tools in 2025.[102]
  • 12% of localization professionals reported shrinking budgets in 2023.[103]
  • 60% of surveyed creative and marketing teams wanted tone and voice adaptation from AI-assisted localization tools in 2025.[102]
  • 57% of localization teams reported increased business focus year over year in the 2023 localization-quality survey.[103]
  • 98% of surveyed creative and marketing professionals believed AI could improve translation quality and time to market in 2025.[102]

Supplier management in the software it industry

  • 21% of organizations never reviewed the security of their commercial-software suppliers.[104]
  • 29% of organizations reviewed commercial-software suppliers once during initial contract discussions.[104]
  • 69% of organizations conducting commercial-software risk assessments relied on questionnaires completed by suppliers.[104]
  • 54% of organizations conducting commercial-software risk assessments used a third-party audit.[104]
  • 41% of organizations using commercial software were highly or very highly committed to evaluating its security.[104]

Stakeholder management in the software it industry

  • 6.80 was the G2 Momentum score for IT-management software markets in 2023.[100]
  • 44% of software reviewers reported seeing return on investment within six months in G2’s 2023 research.[100]
  • More than 50% of software buyers wanted to realize return on investment within six months in G2’s 2023 research.[100]
  • 6.20 was the G2 Momentum score for governance, risk and compliance software markets in 2023.[100]
  • 7.42 was the G2 Momentum score for security software markets in 2023.[100]

Distribution channels in the software it industry

  • 12% of SaaS companies used self-service as their primary go-to-market channel in 2025.[99]
  • 90% was the median gross revenue retention for SaaS companies using traditional direct sales in 2025.[99]
  • 20% of SaaS companies used channel partnerships as their primary go-to-market channel in 2025.[99]
  • 35% was the median year-over-year growth rate for SaaS companies using traditional direct sales in 2025.[99]
  • 35% was the median year-over-year growth rate for SaaS companies using channel partnerships in 2025.[99]

Key questions about the software it industry

What is the 2026 market size for worldwide software spending?
Worldwide software spending is forecast to reach $1.43 trillion in 2026.
How fast is software spending expected to grow in 2026?
Software spending growth in 2026 is forecast at 14.7% year on year.
Which companies lead the software it industry?
Microsoft leads Gitnux's 2026 software it ranking with an Overall score of 9.7, with fiscal 2026 Cloud revenue of $214.4 billion. Oracle is the highest-ranked enterprise applications and database provider at 9.6, backed by enterprise applications, databases and cloud infrastructure worldwide.
What technology shift is driving software spend in 2026?
Artificial intelligence drives software spend; worldwide AI spending is forecast to reach $2.7 trillion in 2026, up 49.5% year on year.
What regulation timeline affects AI implementations in 2026 and beyond?
EU AI Act majority rules began applying on August 2, 2026, with additional high-risk rules scheduled for December 2, 2027, and completion expected by August 2, 2028.
Reference

Cite This Report

This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.

APA
Samuel Norberg. (2026, November 10). Software It Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/software-it-industry-statistics
MLA
Samuel Norberg. "Software It Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 10 Nov 2026, https://gitnux.org/software-it-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Samuel Norberg. 2026. "Software It Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/software-it-industry-statistics.

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