National Software Industry Survey 2008: The Finnish Software Industry in 2007

摘要: This report presents the results of the eleventh annual Finnish software industry survey. The software industry is a challenging one for survey research due to the pervasive nature of software; Software is a key component of many modern technology products, and can be also used as an integrated element when producing services. Moreover, it is difficult to separate the software industry from other information product industries [101]. The recent boom in online services has further increased the challenges in defining the boundaries of the industry [72]. The main focus of this report is on the software product business, but non-product or service businesses are covered to some extent as well.Software industry is a subset of professional software development. We classify these activities into four categories as shown in Figure 1.1. Software business is traditionally divided into software products and custom made software [79]. This classification is reflected on the horizontal axis of our classification. Recently the boundaries between software industry and other industries have become increasingly blurred due to two trends. First, hardware producers are relying on software on functionality and differentiation. In some cases firms considered traditionally to be solely device or machinery vendors have expanded their business to include also complementary software products or services that have a significant software component. Second, the emergence of online services and e-business has resulted in firms operating in other industries, such as media, retailing, and various services, to expand into Internet based offerings. This “extension” of software …