The India software market is on track to reach $5.3 billion in 2016, a 12.8 percent increase from 2015, according to Gartner, Inc.

“The enterprise software marketplace is dynamic and ever-changing. Its growth and structure are being shaped by factors and forces of decentralized purchasing, consumerization, mobility, influence of other emerging markets, cloud-based implementations, and new consumption models,” said Bhavish Sood, research director at Gartner.

Several leading trends that are common across the India software market include:

• Software as a service (SaaS) adoption and development
• Open source software (OSS) adoption, and its broader market implications
• Changing buying behaviors and purchasing styles associated with digital business and the digital India initiative of Indian government
• Demand for specialized software vendors that can deliver on the digital business vision

“In 2015, the Indian economy has shown signs of resurgence, with increased efforts by the government toward ease of doing business, which has triggered a significant increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows,” Mr. Sood said. “FDI inflows in 2015 have grown to $30.9 billion, a 27 percent increase year over year. It is also evident that the Indian government is serious about leveraging information technology for effective governance.”

Corporations also want to know how to use digital technologies, services and disciplines to create new growth opportunities. Businesses are getting ready to digitally transform, creating new organizations, and leadership roles. This transformation is generating varying degrees of adoption, experimentation and spending in the newest technologies. Branded companies that sell to consumer markets are more rapidly purchasing and adopting digital applications to expand their digital footprint and strengthen their competitive positioning. Increasingly, Indian enterprises will be evaluating emerging technology solutions on innovation and business impact rather than cost and ease of deployment.

“It is also evident that the Indian government is serious about leveraging information technology for effective governance,” Mr. Sood said. “The Digital India initiative, MyGov citizen portal, the Self-Employment and Talent Utilization (SETU) program for startups, and smart cities initiatives are some examples. The Digital India initiative is centered around three areas: digital infrastructure as a utility to every citizen, governance and services on demand, and digital empowerment of citizens. These are further categorized into nine pillars, and clearly highlight ongoing activities in those three areas and timelines of completion for each of these initiatives.”