IT industry: software and services

Use our industry guide to find key background information, market research, import and export guidelines, statistics, legislation, trade bodies and trade publications.

The Business & Industry Guides series is produced by the Library & Information Service for ICAEW members and ACA students.

We can compile tailored key players reports, mailing lists, market reports, benchmarking reports and industry news. Our enquiry team can also research other industry-specific information, such as taxation, for you. Call us on +44 (0)20 7920 8620 or email library@icaew.com.

Trends and forecasts

Online articles

The library provides full access to articles from leading business, finance and management journals.

Access to articles is provided subject to suppliers’ terms of use.

Croner-i Business Focus

Business Focus is a resource that provides Industry Snaphots for a range of sectors. These contain an overview of developments, trends and statistics for the industry together with an outlook for the future. Sectors covered include Digital and Tech.

To find out more about Business Focus, please contact our enquiry team on +44 (0)20 7920 8620 or at library@icaew.com.

Useful links

IT Industry Outlook 2023
Publication from technology association CompTIA providing insight into the trends shaping the IT industry, its workforce and its business models

McKinsey Technology Trends Outlook 2023
Report by the McKinsey Technology Council, published in July 2023, highlighting the most significant technology trends currently unfolding. Analysis includes data on the talent supply-and-demand dynamics for each. To download the full report free registration is required.

Post-Brexit migration and accessing foreign talent in the Creative Industries
Research paper published by the Creative Industries Policy and Education Centre in March 2023. Explores how the UK's Creative Industries have been impacted by Brexit, including IT Software and Computer Services, with a particular focus on migration and foreign workers.

OECD Digital Economy Outlook 2020
Detailed report with data and analysis published by the OECD in November 2020 covering trends in ICT and the digital economy. Chapters examine access and connectivity, ICT usage and skills, innovation, digital risk and trust. The technology outlook section discusses artificial intelligence and blockchain.

Market research

Market research reports focusing on this business sector are available from a number of market research specialists. In most cases these reports are available to fee-paying subscribers or on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Industry profiles and SWOT analyses

Industry profiles give an overview of market size in different countries or regions, the competitive landscape and provide a forecast of market performance. These profiles are available exclusively for ICAEW members and ACA students through the Library & Information Service.

Regional reports

Africa

South Africa

Asia

Europe

Latin America

North America

Oceania

Australia

If you’re looking for industry profiles for regions or countries not listed above, please contact the Library on +44 (0)20 7920 8620 or email library@icaew.com.

SWOT analyses examining the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for major companies operating in this sector are available.

View the latest SWOT analysis reports

If you experience any problems accessing these resources, please see our online resources troubleshooting FAQ.

Other market research specialists

Some free information is available from the following market research specialists, ranging from industry news to executive summaries of the reports.

IBISWorld
Business and industry research specialists offering reports on a wide range of sectors. Topics include app development, computer consultants, data processing and hosting services, internet service providers, search engines, software development and software publishing. Report snapshots, table of contents and a sample report are available. The company also produces global industry research reports.

Mintel
Reports covering the UK software market with the option to view the summary and a table of contents.

Industry news

Need to find the latest news on this industry sector? We can carry out industry news searches using a range of trade titles and general business sources through our databases. To discuss your requirements, please contact the enquiry team on +44 (0)20 7920 8620 or at library@icaew.com.

Statistics on the UK

Office for National Statistics

The Annual Business Survey (ABS) from the Office for National Statistics collects financial information covering UK production, construction, distribution and service industries. Statistics available include:

number of enterprises;
total turnover;
approximate gross value added at basic prices;
total purchases of goods, materials and services;
total employment costs;
total net capital expenditure;
total net capital expenditure – acquisitions;
total net capital expenditure – disposals;
total stocks and work in progress – value at end of year;
total stocks and work in progress – value at beginning of year;
total stocks and work in progress – increase during year.

The dataset Non-financial business economy, UK: Sections A to S includes statistics for:

Wholesale of computers, computer peripheral equipment and software (46.51)
See Division 46: Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles
Retail sale of computers, peripheral units and software in specialised stores (47.41)
See Division 47: Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles
Software publishing (58.2)
See Section J: Information and communication
Computer programming, consultancy and related activities (62)
See Section J: Information and communication
Information service activities (63)
See Section J: Information and communication

Statistics on Europe

Eurostat

Eurostat, the EU statistics hub, collates detailed Structural Business Statistics giving the latest figures for industry, construction, trade and services by sector and country. The indicators available include:

number of enterprises
turnover or gross premiums written
production value
value added at factor cost
gross operating surplus
wages and salaries
social security costs
gross investment in tangible goods
gross investment in land
gross investment in existing buildings and structures
gross investment in construction and alteration of buildings
gross investment in machinery and equipment
number of employees
number of persons employed per enterprise.

Statistics within the database are available for:

Wholesale of computers, computer peripheral equipment and software (G4651)
See database section ‘SBS – trade’
Retail sale of computers, peripheral units and software in specialised stores (G4741)
See database section ‘SBS – trade’
Software publishing (J582)
See database section ‘SBS – services’
Computer programming, consultancy and related activities (J62)
See database section ‘SBS – services’
Information service activities (J63)
See database section ‘SBS – services’

Statistics on the Americas

CompTIA

Technology association CompTIA published a Tech Trade Snapshot in May 2018. It provides data for 2017 on US tech exports including IT services.

Global statistics

Business Software Alliance (BSA)

The BSA produces an annual global software survey estimating the volume and value of unlicensed software on personal computers across more than 110 national and regional economies.

KPMG

From 1996 to 2016 KPMG produced the biennial report and database Competitive Alternatives comparing business costs and trends by location across mature and high growth markets around the world. Some documents are still available via MMK Consulting's Competitive Alternatives Study Archive which provide insight into cost components for the software development sector.

Employment

UK

The Office for National Statistics publication Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) includes average employment costs within this sector which can be found in Table 14. Average employment costs are provided for full-time employees, part-time employees and all employees.

The data includes average employment costs for:

IT specialist managers
IT project and programme managers
IT business analysts, architects and system designers
Programme and software development professionals
Web design and development professionals
IT engineers

The annual Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES), published by the Office for National Statistics, includes total employee and employment estimates for different industries for Great Britain and the UK. Figures are broken down to show full-time/part-time and public/private splits. The dataset Industry – Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES): Table 2 includes statistics for:

Wholesale of computers, computer peripheral equipment and software (46510)
Retail sale of computers, peripheral units and software in specialised stores (47410)
Software publishing (582)
Computer programming, consultancy and related activities (62)
Information service activities (63)

Other regions

Please see individual country profile pages for links to sources of national statistics.

UK business guides

Croner-i Business Focus

Business Focus is a resource that provides practical information on many small business trades and sectors. Its Business Opportunity Profiles offer detailed insights into market conditions, legal issues and the trading environment for a range of businesses. They include:

IT consultant
IT trainer
Web designer

Mini Business Opportunity Profiles are also available and provide a general introduction to more niche business areas, including:

Freelance app developer

To find out more about Business Focus, please contact our enquiry team on +44 (0)20 7920 8620 or at library@icaew.com.

Atom Content Marketing guides

The Start Up Donut from Atom Content Marketing provides practical information on starting up and running a number of small business types. Guides cover a range of areas including market research, current trends, regulations, products and services, promotion and pricing. They include:

Web developer

Legislation and regulation

2018 BSA Global Cloud Computing Scorecard
Report by the Business Software Alliance examining the legal and regulatory framework of 24 countries and ranking their preparedness for the adoption and growth of cloud computing services.

UK key players, ratios and trends

We can produce reports on this sector using selected information from the FAME company database. Reports are available for:

Wholesale of computers, computer peripheral equipment and software
UK SIC (2007) Code 46.51
Retail sale of computers, peripheral units and software in specialised stores
UK SIC (2007) Code 47.41
Software publishing
UK SIC (2007) Code 58.20
Computer programming activities
UK SIC (2007) Code 62.01
Computer consultancy activities
UK SIC (2007) Code 62.02
Computer facilities management activities
UK SIC (2007) Code 62.03
Other information technology and computer service activities
UK SIC (2007) Code 62.09
Data processing, hosting and related activities
UK SIC (2007) Code 63.11

Summaries of the three types of report we can produce are given below. You can find further information, a sample report, pricing details and an online order form on our industry sector reports page.

We also operate a bespoke reports service with results tailored to your specifications. Please contact our enquiry team on +44 (0)20 7920 8620 or at library@icaew.com to discuss your requirements.

Key players report

Our key players report looks at the top companies (by turnover) in any one of the segments within this sector. Reports usually include the top 100 companies but in more specialised sectors with fewer than 100 companies we show all companies with disclosed figures. The reports provide data on 11 comparative fields for the last available year, including:

turnover;
profit margins;
returns on shareholder funds;
solvency ratios
number of employees.

Our reports enable easy comparison of the top companies in this sector against each other and against the sector median, average and standard deviation in each of the 11 fields.

Mailing list

A separate mailing list report is also available with address and contact details for the top companies in any of the segments within this sector.

Market reports

Our market reports look at the aggregated data for the top companies (by turnover) for any of the segments within this sector across all the fields usually found in a company report. The reports include data for the last 10 years* and enables easy comparison of trends for the whole sector. Reports usually include the top 100 companies but in more specialised sectors with fewer than 100 companies we show all companies with disclosed figures.

*Please note the number of companies for which data is aggregated will vary for any given year.

The market reports include sections on:

key financials and employees;
profit and loss account;
balance sheet;
cash flow statement;
financial ratios;
financial trends and changes;
profitability trends and changes.

Valuation

BVB Insights
Annual report providing the latest transaction multiples broken down by industry. Each section includes a summary of recent deals with EBITDA, average transaction size and expert analysis of current trends within each industry.
The IT sector includes:

Cloud computing
Internet information services
IT consulting and other services
Software - application

ICAEW members, ACA students and Forensic/Valuation Group subscribers can download an overview of the report with headline industry multiples. Information on individual deals can be supplied by the Library on request.

UK benchmarking

We offer benchmarking reports that can be used to inform your own business strategy or help you identify value-added services to offer to your clients.

Contact the enquiry team directly on +44 (0)20 7920 8620 or at library@icaew.com for a report tailored to your own specific requirements.

Trade bodies

The websites of trade bodies and other organisations in this sector are a useful source of industry overviews, contacts and statistics.

UK

Americas

Europe

DIGITALEUROPE provides a list of national trade associations.

The International Federation for Information Processing gives contact details and links to member organisations throughout the world.

WITSA provides a list of ICT industry associations in its World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA) membership directory.

Trade journals and publications

Trade journals, B2B magazines and specialist consumer magazines are another useful source of news and statistics.