Software
Turning code into tools that customers rely on.
Business software helps people process orders, manage documents and keep production schedules accurate. The value sits in the workflow, its data and its connection to other systems. A polished interface helps; a missing invoice still needs to be found.
The theme includes specialist applications for particular industries, systems that run whole businesses and tools for developing or managing software. Suppliers may charge per user, per transaction, by usage or through a licence and support contract. Implementation and consulting can bring revenue too, but they require a different amount of staff time from selling another software subscription.
Market size & opportunity
Gartner’s July 2026 forecast estimates worldwide software spending at US$1.468 trillion in 2026. A small specialist addresses only a slice of that total. Its practical market depends on the number of suitable customers, the work it supports and what those customers will pay.
Growth is more convincing when existing customers keep using the product and buy more of it. Recurring revenue needs to be read alongside cancellations, price increases and acquisitions. An AI feature may attract users while increasing hosting and model costs. The useful number is what remains after delivering and supporting the service, not subscriptions alone.
Market outlook
Worldwide software spending
Worldwide · US$ billion per year
- 2025Study baseline1,271
- 2026Forecast1,468
A near-term spending forecast, not a long-range TAM. A supplier’s opportunity depends on the applications, customers and countries it can serve.
GartnerForecast published
Recent progress
AI is moving from answering questions to performing defined tasks inside business systems. SAP’s July 2026 release notes list its S/4HANA custom-code migration agent as generally available. SAP says it checks older code, proposes or applies changes and records them for traceability. This is a released workflow tool, not proof that a business can run without supervision.
For smaller software companies, the question is where their expertise sits. Industry data, integrations and knowledge of a difficult process may remain valuable even when a user talks to an agent instead of clicking through screens. Pricing may have to follow completed work or usage. Products still need permissions, reliable records and a clear way for people to correct mistakes.
Sources
Updated
Research & reports
No ETE reports have been published on this theme yet.