E-Business
Software Market Hit $342Bn in 2012-IDC
International Data Corporation (IDC) has released the latest results from the Worldwide Semiannual Software Tracker, showing that for year 2012 the software market reached a total size of $342 billion.
The report said that worldwide software market grew 3.6% year over year, which was in line with IDC’s previous forecast of 3.4% and less than half the growth rate experienced in 2010 and 2011.
Nigeria only last weekend commissioned the first software incubation centre in Lagos, with five others in the offing, however, the IDC report showed that Middle East and Africa software markets accounted for 9.5% of the total market.
The IDC report confirmed that in 2012 confirms the beginning of a more conservative growth period. In the middle of this scenario, there are faster growing market segments, such as Data Access, Analysis and Delivery, Collaborative Applications, CRM Applications, Security Software, and System and Network Management Software. Every one of these markets grew in the 6-7% range, about double the rate for enterprise software as a whole.
Commenting on the result, Henry D. Morris, senior vice president for Worldwide Software, Services and Executive Advisory Research, said, “The global software market, comprised of a multi-layered collection of technologies and solutions, is growing more slowly in this period of economic uncertainty. Yet there is strong growth in selective areas. The management and leveraging of information for competitive advantage is driving growth in markets associated with Big Data and analytics.
“Similarly, rapid growth in cloud deployments is fueling growth in application areas associated with social business and customer experience. Both these initiatives require a reliable and secure infrastructure, driving investments in security and system/network management. The combination of these forces is advancing the growth to what IDC has termed the third platform”.
Three primary segments comprise the total software market in IDC’s software taxonomy: Applications; Application Development & Deployment (AD&D); and Systems Infrastructure Software.
Among the three primary segments, the AD&D segment, which comprised nearly 24% of total software revenues in 2012, was the fastest growing market with a 4.6% year-over-year growth rate.
Growth in the AD&D segment was largely driven by the performance of the Data Access, Analysis, and Delivery and the Structured Data Management secondary markets with 6.0% and 5.9% growth rates, respectively.
Business Intelligence and Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS) solutions are pushing the growing trend for these markets because of widening Big Data and Analytics adoption.
Big data and analytics are also closely tied to the fast growth social business software markets, where the combination of contextual data and the “right” expertise is becoming critical for supporting enterprise decision making and data driven customer experience solutions. Oracle continued to lead the AD&D segment with steady market share of 21.6%, followed by IBM, Microsoft, SAP, and SAS.
Among these vendors, Microsoft and SAP stood out by each gaining almost a half point of market share year over year.
In the Applications primary market segment, which comprised 49% of total software revenue, year-over-year growth for 2012 was 3.3%, which is slightly lower than for software overall.
Within this market segment, CRM and Collaborative Applications stood out with year-over-year growth rates near 7%.
While the former is driven by the cloud migration trend and the large investments by businesses to deliver a better customer experience to the “social customer”, the latter is largely driven by the Enterprise Social Software market, which grew at 24.8% year over year and gained more than 5 points of market share over three years.
Mobile, while not a direct enterprise applications driver, is however a contributing factor and driver for businesses moving to newer and more mobile device agnostic enterprise software. From a vendor perspective, Microsoft led the Applications primary market in 2012 with 13.7% of market share followed by SAP, Oracle, IBM, and Adobe; IBM showed the highest growth rate as it is expanding its portfolio coverage in the Middleware, Infrastructure and Information-related markets to the Applications markets.
The third primary segment of the software market is System Infrastructure Software, which comprised 27% of total software revenue and grew 3.3% year over year in 2012.
The Security Software and System/Network Management Software secondary segments both grew more than 6% year over year as these solutions provide the infrastructure – whether in the cloud or on-premise – to support the 3rd Platform.
Although the other two System Infrastructure Software secondary segment (Storage Software and System Software) had flat growth in 2012, the Virtualization sub-segments had double-digit growth rates. Microsoft remains the clear leader in System Infrastructure Software overall with 28% of market share, followed by IBM, Symantec, EMC, and VMware.
On a regional basis, the overall software market was heavily influenced by the downward trend in Western Europe, which represented 26.5% of the worldwide market and was the only region to experience negative growth in 2012.
The U.S. market, which represents more than 45% of the overall market, grew 6.0% year over year while the emerging markets in Latin America, Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan), and Central Europe, Middle East, and Africa (CEMA) also experienced solid growth in 2012. The countries with the greatest growth in 2012 were Saudi Arabia, Peru, Colombia, China, and Turkey.
Ministry of Interior has announced the launch of a new Online Citizenship and Business Management Platform in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
A statement signed by Dr Magdalene Ajani, permanent secretary, Ministry of Interior’s said the initiative forms a key part of its ongoing reforms aimed at promoting transparency, enhancing operational efficiency, and significantly improving service delivery to the public.
The new digital platform is designed to streamline the application and processing of citizenship and business-related services, ensuring faster turnaround times and improved user experience.
The platform allows users to apply for and manage business permits, ensuring that both local and foreign businesses operate legally in Nigeria.
It includes an Expatriate Quota System to manage work permits for foreign employees, helping companies hire skilled workers while complying with Nigeria’s immigration laws.
The Citizenship Administration and Management System provides a streamlined online process for applying, tracking, and managing Nigerian citizenship applications and related services.
Members of the public, corporate entities, and other stakeholders are expected to access the platform through the ministry’s website: https://interior.gov.ng , Direct Portal Access: https://candb.interior.gov.ng , or contact candb-support@interior.gov.ng for support and inquiries.
“The Ministry of Interior remains committed to establishing a more efficient, transparent, and secure framework for citizenship administration, while continuously enhancing service delivery through digital transformation,” the statement read in part.
Fifty selected young unemployed Nigerians have completed a four-week intensive digital skills bootcamp under the Digital Literacy for All (DL4ALL) initiative, gaining practical training in Data Science, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and IT Essentials.
The programme, a collaborative effort between the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and Cisco, was hosted at NITDA’s South West Zonal Office in Victoria Island, Lagos.
Speaking on behalf of the Director General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa , the Head of the South West Zonal Office, Mrs. Chioma Okee-Agugwo, described the initiative as a vital component of Nigeria’s digital future. “This is not just a closing ceremony. It is the launchpad for new journeys—anchored in digital knowledge and powered by innovation,” she remarked.
According to the Director General, the initiative is rooted in NITDA’s Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP 2.0) and reflects key focus areas including Digital Literacy, Emerging Technologies, and Youth Empowerment. It also aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which seeks to accelerate economic diversification through digitisation, innovation, and skills development.
Inuwa noted that the DL4ALL initiative forms part of Nigeria’s broader commitment to digital inclusion—ensuring that no one is left behind in the evolving digital economy. It also supports the ambitious goal of achieving 70% digital literacy by 2027, championed by the Honourable Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani. This national vision aims to equip millions of Nigerians with the skills required to thrive in a tech-driven world.
He further emphasized the importance of empowering youth with globally relevant skills. “They are no longer just consumers of technology. They are creators, innovators, and future employers,” he said.
The NITDA boss explained that throughout the bootcamp, participants engaged in hands-on learning experiences designed to build both technical proficiency and digital leadership capabilities.
“This is only the beginning,” he stated. “Through our zonal strategy, we are bringing innovation closer to local communities. This is how we democratise access and unlock Nigeria’s full digital potential.”
Inuwa expressed appreciation to Cisco for delivering high-impact training and called on stakeholders to continue investing in partnerships, people, and platforms that drive digital inclusion.
He asserted that the newly certified participants are now equipped to contribute meaningfully to Nigeria’s digital economy—armed with the skills to build solutions, secure infrastructure, and launch tech ventures that solve real-world problems.
At the end of the bootcamp, participants demonstrated their knowledge through impressive presentations that showcased the integration of skills acquired across Data Science, AI, and IT Essentials. Many spoke passionately about how the programme had expanded their technical competence and sparked a drive to create job opportunities—not only for themselves but also for others—as entrepreneurs and digital solution providers in their communities.
Coinbase forecast a hit of between $180m and $400m from a cyberattack that breached account data of a “small subset” of its customers, the crypto exchange said in a regulatory filing on Thursday.
The company received an anonymous email on May 11, claiming to have information about certain customer accounts as well as internal documents.
While some data — including names, addresses and emails — was stolen, the hackers did not get access to login credentials or passwords, Coinbase said.
Still, it will reimburse customers who were tricked into sending funds to the attackers.
Hackers had paid multiple contractors and employees working in support roles outside the US to collect information.
The company has fired those involved, it said.
Separately, the New York Times reported that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was investigating whether the company had misstated its user numbers.
Coinbase shares extended losses after the report and were last down 6.5%.
“This is a hold-over investigation from the prior administration about a metric we stopped reporting two-and-a-half years ago, which was fully disclosed to the public,” said Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief legal officer.
“While we strongly believe this investigation should not continue, we remain committed to working with the SEC to bring this matter to a close.”
The SEC declined to comment.
The latest developments come days before the company is set to join the benchmark S&P 500 index, casting a shadow over what was expected to be a landmark moment for the crypto industry.
Security remains a challenge for the crypto industry despite its growing mainstream acceptance.
In February, Bybit disclosed a hack in which about $1.5bn worth of digital tokens were stolen — widely described the biggest crypto heist ever.
“The cyberattack may push the industry to adopt stricter employee vetting and introduce some reputational risks,” said Bo Pei, an analyst at US Tiger Securities.
Funds stolen by hacking crypto platforms amounted to $2.2bn in 2024, according to a report from Chainalysis, a US-based blockchain analysis firm.
“As our nascent industry grows rapidly, it draws the eye of bad actors, who are becoming increasingly sophisticated in the scope of their attacks,” said Nick Jones, founder of crypto firm Zumo.
Coinbase has refused to pay a ransom of $20m demanded by the attackers and is working with law enforcement agencies. Instead it has established a $20m reward for information on the hackers.
The company is also opening a new support hub in the US and taking other measures to prevent such cyberattacks, it said.
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