<s>
The	O
software	B-Application
industry	I-Application
includes	O
businesses	O
for	O
development	O
,	O
maintenance	O
and	O
publication	B-Application
of	O
software	O
that	O
are	O
using	O
different	O
business	O
models	O
,	O
mainly	O
either	O
"	O
license/maintenance	O
based	O
"	O
(	O
on-premises	O
)	O
or	O
"	O
Cloud	B-Architecture
based	O
"	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
SaaS	B-Architecture
,	O
PaaS	B-Application
,	O
IaaS	B-General_Concept
,	O
MBaaS	B-Application
,	O
MSaaS	O
,	O
DCaaS	O
etc	O
.	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
software	B-Application
industry	I-Application
expanded	O
in	O
the	O
early	O
1960s	O
,	O
almost	O
immediately	O
after	O
computers	O
were	O
first	O
sold	O
in	O
mass-produced	O
quantities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
influential	O
or	O
typical	O
software	B-Application
companies	I-Application
begun	O
in	O
the	O
early	O
1960s	O
included	O
Advanced	O
Computer	O
Techniques	O
,	O
Automatic	O
Data	O
Processing	O
,	O
Applied	B-Operating_System
Data	I-Operating_System
Research	I-Operating_System
,	O
and	O
Informatics	O
General	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
computer/hardware	O
makers	O
started	O
bundling	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
,	O
systems	B-Application
software	I-Application
and	O
programming	O
environments	O
with	O
their	O
machines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
Digital	O
Equipment	O
Corporation	O
(	O
DEC	O
)	O
brought	O
a	O
relatively	O
low-priced	O
microcomputer	B-Architecture
to	O
market	O
,	O
it	O
brought	O
computing	O
within	O
the	O
reach	O
of	O
many	O
more	O
companies	O
and	O
universities	O
worldwide	O
,	O
and	O
it	O
spawned	O
great	O
innovation	O
in	O
terms	O
of	O
new	O
,	O
powerful	O
programming	O
languages	O
and	O
methodologies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
New	O
software	O
was	O
built	O
for	O
microcomputers	B-Architecture
,	O
so	O
other	O
manufacturers	O
including	O
IBM	O
,	O
followed	O
DEC	O
's	O
example	O
quickly	O
,	O
resulting	O
in	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
AS/400	I-Device
amongst	O
others	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
industry	O
expanded	O
greatly	O
with	O
the	O
rise	O
of	O
the	O
personal	B-Device
computer	I-Device
(	O
"	O
PC	O
"	O
)	O
in	O
the	O
mid-1970s	O
,	O
which	O
brought	O
desktop	O
computing	O
to	O
the	O
office	O
worker	O
for	O
the	O
first	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DOS	B-Device
,	O
Microsoft	O
's	O
first	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
product	O
,	O
was	O
the	O
dominant	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
at	O
the	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
early	O
years	O
of	O
the	O
21st	O
century	O
,	O
another	O
successful	O
business	O
model	O
has	O
arisen	O
for	O
hosted	O
software	O
,	O
called	O
software-as-a-service	B-Architecture
,	O
or	O
SaaS	B-Architecture
;	O
this	O
was	O
at	O
least	O
the	O
third	O
time	O
this	O
model	O
had	O
been	O
attempted	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
From	O
the	O
point	O
of	O
view	O
of	O
producers	O
of	O
some	O
proprietary	B-Application
software	I-Application
,	O
SaaS	B-Architecture
reduces	O
the	O
concerns	O
about	O
unauthorized	O
copying	O
,	O
since	O
it	O
can	O
only	O
be	O
accessed	O
through	O
the	O
Web	O
,	O
and	O
by	O
definition	O
no	O
client	B-Protocol
software	I-Protocol
is	O
loaded	O
onto	O
the	O
end	O
user	O
's	O
PC	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Major	O
companies	O
include	O
Microsoft	O
,	O
HP	O
,	O
Oracle	B-Application
,	O
Dell	O
and	O
IBM	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
software	B-Application
industry	I-Application
has	O
been	O
subject	O
to	O
a	O
high	O
degree	O
of	O
consolidation	O
over	O
the	O
past	O
couple	O
of	O
decades	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Approaches	O
to	O
successfully	O
acquire	O
and	O
integrate	O
software	B-Application
companies	I-Application
are	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Business	O
models	O
of	O
software	B-Application
companies	I-Application
have	O
been	O
widely	O
discussed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Network	O
effects	O
in	O
software	B-Application
ecosystems	I-Application
,	O
networks	O
of	O
companies	O
,	O
and	O
their	O
customers	O
are	O
an	O
important	O
element	O
in	O
the	O
strategy	O
of	O
software	B-Application
companies	I-Application
.	O
</s>
