It has been estimated that the world market for software is rising rapidly. In 2006 this industry remained dynamic. The total volume of the IT sector, according to preliminary data, will be over 1trl 60 bln rubles ($60 bln). This is 20% higher than in 2005. Expected revenues for electronic services are 745 bln rubles ($28 bln), which is 21% higher than in the previous year, and prospective revenues on postal services are 54,4 bln rubles ($2 bln), which is 27,4% higher than in the previous year.
The lion's share of this market is either outsourced or offshore programming (offshore software development) when the on-demand of some large corporations is present. According to the research company Gartner, 72% of IT users opt to outsource.
Russia now is one of the leaders in exporting software and outsourcing services. Today in Russia, there is between 25 and 30 thousand people in the field of exporting software, while in 2004, exports amounted to 560 million dollars. It is expected that in 2007 this figure will exceed 1 billion. The growth of the industry is due to the increase in demand for programming in the Russian market. With the support of the IT sphere that could grow by 20% annually. The government concept of the IT industry development would be a further impetus for growth in Russian IT-businesses. The Russian resort developers and large companies have several advantages over their counterparts from other countries. These include high levels of training, the cost of services, geographical proximity to the countries of Western Europe, and the developed countries of South-East Asia and the Middle East.