Globalisation of software supply and demand

During the mainframe era, software grew to become a major factor of business, government and military operations. Mainframe software development favoured the industrialised nations such as the United States because of the high levels of investment needed for the mainframe computers themselves, and also because of the specialised data centres, cooling systems and power supplies that mainframes required. Personal computers and industrial microcomputers are changing the situation dramatically. The capital investment required to supply a programming staff with personal computers is almost trivial. Software development in the future can be carried out almost anywhere in the world. Software is a comparatively `green´ industry that is not harmful to the environment and uses little in the way of natural resources. Many countries are now entering the commercial software domain, and this trend should accelerate in the 21st century. Software usage and consumption are also expanding rapidly on a global basis