The IT industry is one of the biggest in the world and more importantly in the United States. The industry has grown year after years since the 1970s. The software industry has grown exponentially to become a leader in the world. With some of the leading companies such as the IBM leading in the US and the world, the industry seems to be driving the economy. The sector employs over 50 million people and appears to be growing over the years. The reason for the growth of the industry is due to the cost competitiveness in providing IT services. The current and future society seems to be built from technology. With some of the new investment and approaches in the industry, it is evident that the future of the world is eminently moving towards technological error. However, one thing that seems imminent in the industry is that there is a very high level of competition. The competition seems to be defined not only the present but also the future of the industry. Within this competition, therefore, the firm is forced to stay on the competitive by becoming even more innovation continually. The focus of these strategies is to develop strategic management for () the IT industry in the US.

The United States has the most advanced software and information (IT) services in the world. More than a quarter of the $3.8 trillion global IT market is in the country. The industry contributes about $1.14 trillion in the GDP and provides about 10.5 million Jobs. Over the years the industry has been experiencing growth and more importantly the software part.

The IT Industry puts together four major categories.

Software

Software companies in the country operate a mature harmonized market and have a reputation for producing reliable and effective solutions that compete well in the market place. Over the years the US software companies have been leading the market place for producing cutting edge solutions. Besides many companies at the international level have often had so much focus on the US market due to the robust regulation on intellectual rights enforcement. The software companies are leading in the world for packaged and custom software solutions. Besides, the country offers a competitive edge in nearly all the market segment in addition to having a stable market overseas.

The countries have more than 100,000 software and IT services and companies. These would include the suppliers of custom computer programing services, software publishers, firms that deal with computer design and facility management companies. The industry takes advantage of the highly educated and skilled workforce of about 200 million people.

IT services

It services constitute a significant part in the US market. The services that are offered within the IT sector include the hosting of severing clients and web-based services. However, other opportunities exist within the industry that include consultation services, internet services maintenance services and the application development and maintenance. The uses that consume IT services in the country include the Government, financial services, Retail and distribution, and manufacturing.

It enabled services

There are still other services that use information technology. These services are referred to as IT-enabled services. The subsector has experienced substantial growth and immensely and is now one of the critical contributors to the growth of the industry. Some of the services offered under this subcategory include

Bank office services

Customer interaction services including call centers

HR services

Remote education

Data entry and data conversion

Content development and animation

Data search

Geographic information

Hardware

The hardware sector majorly focuses on the manufacturing and assembling of computer hardware. The domestic market in the country has a high consumption of computers hardware. The rise of IT companies has led to an increase in the sales of laptops, desktops, routers, servers, and other computer related services. There is also a lot of investment in the hardware from both the domestic and multination companies.

Market Size

The size of the North American IT industry is growing, and the estimates show that the growth trend will remain at about USD 175.2 Billion. By the year 2021, the growth rate would have hit 261.5 billion. The growth trends are as a result of the shift from the on-premises services to the cloud storage resulting in the growth in the IT complexities, increased spending on IT activities to support the core activities. Besides, there was an increase in the adoption of IT services and medium-sized enterprises. These were factors that catapulted the growth of the IT services and the industry as a whole in the industry.

The proliferation of Professional IT services has created a vibrant prospect for the markets, and the forecasts postulate that these services would hold the most significant market size. The emergence of a new trend to professional IT services includes services that include training and education, system integration and consultancy. The coming years are possibly going to dominate the IT sector in the country. There is an increase in the demand for consultancy, system support and system integration due to the complexities that are related to the advanced complex IT infrastructure. Most companies have been focusing their effort on adopting IT services to meet particular demand for the IT infrastructure industry.

There is also expected growth in cloud-based services. The cloud-based services have gained so much interest due to the cost benefits that they are offering in the industry. Besides, there has been a constant increase in the generation of digital data that is leading to so much constraint in storage, and thus there are a high demand offer cloud services. Besides, there is more flexibility of the on-demand IT services, and this is likely to lead to the growth in the cloud deployment in North America.

Besides, the ongoing digitization of the various articles is possibly going to offer possible IT service in the North American market segment. North America including the US, Canada, and Russia comprises developed nations that have a deep route infrastructure that provides a good ground for the adoption of IT services. Among all these nations the US holds the largest market share. Some of the factors that are driving up these changes include fast technology adoption and the presence of large enterprises and the high investment in technology. Besides, there is a high concentration of IT companies in the country that is making the country a great destination for these services. However, studies have shown that Canada is anticipated to create promising opportunities for the IT services vendors in the coming years are the result of the enterprise shift towards advanced IT solutions.

Some of the major vendors of IT services in the North American region include HP enterprises, IBM Corporation, Accenture PLC, and Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation. However, there is also a healthy competition that seems to come from Indian companies. That includes Wipro Limited, Fujitsu, Tata consultancy.

Strategy formulation

SWOT analysis

Strength

Several aspects provide an excellent opportunity for investment and growth in the United States and North America as a whole. One of these aspects is the massive demand for IT-enabled services. Clearly, there is a growth in the market for IT enables services. As most of the industry players are moving toward the digitization of their services, there is a potential increase and demand for computer services. The market is not only limited to the hardware but also in the software services.

Secondly, there is an increase in the use of cloud services. The advantages and the cost-effectiveness of the cloud services are providing a better chance for investment in the country. Today there is an emerging new trend where the firms prefer to outsource their services and use the cloud technology instead of housing their equipment. This offers a better chance for firms that seek to invest in the industry. The high demand for storage and servers provide an excellent room for investment. While many firms are ready to take up computer services, there are very few that are focused on using the traditional IT models. Therefore, the internet is offering better chances for investment.

There is also the focus on the internet and internet-enabled services. Today the internet is providing a better chance in the various sectors including, education, healthcare, and even communication. With this high demand for internet services, there is a great room for innovation and investment.