Report: IBM outpaces competitors in Application Development software market for seventh straight year

ARMONK, NY .- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that analyst firm Gartner, Inc.* and market research firm Evans Data Corp. have ranked IBM as the leader in the application development software market. These rankings come just as IBM is projecting more than 12,000 people will attend its 2008 IBM Rational Software Development Conferences in 13 countries around the globe.

Gartner named IBM the worldwide market share leader in application development based on total software revenue in 2007 and Evans Data Corp. survey respondents who were users of IBM Rational Application Developer ranked it the number one Integrated Developer Environment (IDE) for user satisfaction. This is the seventh consecutive year that Gartner has ranked IBM the leader and second consecutive year that IBM Rational Application Developer was selected as the Developer’s Choice top IDE by the 1,200 developers worldwide participating in the survey.

According to the independent Gartner report, IBM is the leading market share vendor in total software revenue, with 37.8 percent market share -- greater market share than its three closest competitors combined. The worldwide application development software market grew more than 10% percent in 2007 to nearly $6.9 billion, according to Gartner.

IBM was also noted for its overall leadership based on total software revenue for 2007 across application development market sub-categories, including SCCM Distributed, Object Oriented Analysis & Design and Java Platform AD Tool. Telelogic, recently acquired by IBM, had a 2007 marketshare of 40.6 percent in the Requirements Elicitation and Management category based on total software revenue.

“With the rise of globally distributed software development teams, customers are looking for experienced vendors to help them collaborate in an open and transparent manner,” said Dr. Daniel Sabbah, general manager, IBM Rational Software. “We believe the strong response from the Evans Data and Gartner reports coincides with the feedback we’ve received from customers about IBM’s strategy around effective software delivery.”

IBM Kicks off the World’s Most Attended Developer Conference Series
This marketshare news coincides with IBM’s announcement that over 12,000 participants are expected to attend the 15 IBM Rational Software Development Conferences planned around the globe. Following the event held last week in Orlando, FL, IBM will take the show on the road to 17 cities including Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt; San Paulo, Brazil; Bangalore, India; Shanghai, China; Rome and Milan, Italy.

For conference attendees using an iPhone, IBM is releasing a conference scheduler written in Enterprise Generation Language (EGL) to enable iPhone users to dynamically experience the IBM Rational Software Development Conference through an interface that they feel comfortable with. Using Web 2.0 and social engineering concepts, users can provide feedback on and chat about sessions, navigate the conference searching for tracks and events, and use inventive technology that suggests which talks the user should attend next based on preferences.

At the annual IBM Rational Software Development Conference in Orlando, Florida, more than 3,500 attendees learned about new software and programs that help customers transform how they are delivery software on a global scale. The announcement of new products, services and business partner initiatives are designed to transform how IBM Rational software can help clients drive greater value and performance from their globally distributed software investments.

IBM helps developers remain competitive in today’s fast-paced development environment. Innovative programs such as IBM developerWorks, the premier technical resource for software developers, and IBM alphaWorks, IBM’s emerging technologies outlet, provide an online community for the developers of today and tomorrow. Developers who are independent software vendors can take advantage of sales and marketing tools, skill-building courses and technical support by joining the worldwide IBM PartnerWorld program. IBM’s Academic Initiative and IBM Rational Software Development Conference are examples of the ongoing learning and community-building programs needed by students, educators and developers worldwide.