Independent software vendor - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Independent software vendor (ISV) is a business term for companies specializing in making or selling software, designed for mass marketing

Mass marketing

Mass marketing is a market coverage strategy in which a firm decides to ignore market segment differences and go after the whole market with one offer. It is type of marketing of a product to a wide audience. The idea is to broadcast a message that will reach the largest number of people possible...

or for niche market

Niche market

A niche market is the subset of the market on which a specific product is focusing; therefore the market niche defines the specific product features aimed at satisfying specific market needs, as well as the price range, production quality and the demographics that is intended to impact...

s. Such markets may be diverse including software for real estate

Real estate

In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...

brokers, scheduling for healthcare personnel, barcode

Barcode

A barcode is an optical machine-readable representation of data, which shows data about the object to which it attaches. Originally barcodes represented data by varying the widths and spacings of parallel lines, and may be referred to as linear or 1 dimensional . Later they evolved into rectangles,...

scanning, stock maintenance and even child care management software

Child care management software

Child care management software also referred to as child care administrative software or daycare accounting software is a term used to describe a unique category of business software designed specifically for use by child care centers, preschools and similar child oriented facilities...

.

Specialized products generally offer higher productivity to organizations than more generalized software such as basic spreadsheet

Spreadsheet

A spreadsheet is a computer application that simulates a paper accounting worksheet. It displays multiple cells usually in a two-dimensional matrix or grid consisting of rows and columns. Each cell contains alphanumeric text, numeric values or formulas...

or database

Database

A database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality , in a way that supports processes requiring this information...

packages.

Most large software companies, including Microsoft

Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...

, Google

Google

Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...

, Red Hat

Red Hat

Red Hat, Inc. is an S&P 500 company in the free and open source software sector, and a major Linux distribution vendor. Founded in 1993, Red Hat has its corporate headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina with satellite offices worldwide....

, Oracle

Oracle Corporation

Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation that specializes in developing and marketing hardware systems and enterprise software products – particularly database management systems...

, SAP

SAP AG

SAP AG is a German software corporation that makes enterprise software to manage business operations and customer relations. Headquartered in Walldorf, Baden-Württemberg, with regional offices around the world, SAP is the market leader in enterprise application software...

, HP and IBM

IBM

International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...

, have special programs for ISVs.

An ISV makes and sells software products that run on one or more computer hardware or operating system platforms. The companies that make the platforms, such as Microsoft

Microsoft

, IBM

IBM

, Hewlett-Packard

Hewlett-Packard

Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...

, Novell

Novell

Novell, Inc. is a multinational software and services company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Attachmate Group. It specializes in network operating systems, such as Novell NetWare; systems management solutions, such as Novell ZENworks; and collaboration solutions, such as Novell Groupwise...

, Google

Google

, Oracle

Oracle Corporation

, Apple, SAP, salesforce.com

Salesforce.com

Salesforce.com is an enterprise cloud computing company headquartered in San Francisco that distributes business software on a subscription basis. Salesforce.com hosts the applications off-site...

encourage and lend support to ISVs, often with special "business partner" programs.

In general, the more applications that run on a platform, the more value it offers to customers. Of course, platform manufacturers such as Microsoft and IBM

IBM

make applications as well, but don't have the resources and, in many cases, the special knowledge required, to make them all.

Some ISVs focus on a particular operating system, such as IBM

IBM

's small business AS/400, for which there are thousands of ISV applications. Other ISVs specialize in a particular application area, such as engineering, and develop software primarily for high-end Unix

Unix

Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...

-based workstation platforms.

ISVs make and sell software that is added to platforms. Original equipment manufacturers
Original Equipment Manufacturer
An original equipment manufacturer, or OEM, manufactures products or components that are purchased by a company and retailed under that purchasing company's brand name. OEM refers to the company that originally manufactured the product. When referring to automotive parts, OEM designates a...

(OEMs) use hardware platform components to build larger products. Value-added reseller
Value-added reseller
A value-added reseller is a company that adds features or services to an existing product, then resells it as an integrated product or complete "turn-key" solution...

s (VARs) incorporate platform software into their own software product packages.

According to the Institute for Partner Education & Development, at least 50 percent of an Independent Software Vendor’s revenue comes from the development of proprietary software solutions or applications. They have expertise in standard market platforms (Windows, Unix, Linux, Mac OS X) and large business software solutions.

External links

Computer Reseller News Magazine VAR 500 Listing for 2009 lists top 500 technology resellers.
Software Magazine Top 500 Software Companies for 2008 requires a registration
Definition ISV
Micro-ISV: From Vision to Reality

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.