The global enterprise software market may be experiencing a general slowdown across multiple sectors, but there’s one area that seems to be generating a disproportionate degree of optimism: data analytics. These include data delivery systems, security platforms, CRM applications, collaborative applications, and network management software. While the rest of the software market experienced a 2012 growth rate of roughly half the rate of 2011 and 2010, these areas underwent a surge of about seven percent. The market for new technologies and software solutions is becoming increasingly multi-layered, with certain selective areas experiencing higher demand while others stagnate. Big Data, led by Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, and SAP, appears to be one of these focused areas. The desire to manage and leverage information is driving this demand, and in their hunger for reliable infrastructures, companies are pouring vast investments into network-management tools. The firms listed above have been spending the last two years increasing their storage software offerings and adding customization options and scalability to their existing infrastructures, security tools, and product suites. These efforts were launched in anticipation of burgeoning growth in these areas, and they seem to be paying off. Companies taking advantage of increasingly sophisticated CRM platforms, for example, are turning their software investments into hard conversions and appear to have no regrets. According to the same types of ethnographic research and marketing studies that predicted these outcomes, the next wave of both data management and customer management will happen in the areas of social business software and mobile optimization. This may be a wise moment to consider adopting social business strategy, or a redirect of social media tools for business use. Meanwhile, businesses are also scrambling to bring their ecommerce platforms and CRM tools to mobile devices, including smartphones, tablets, and e-readers. The Seattle staffing experts at PACE can help you attract talented IT professionals to help develop your data analytics. Contact PACE to utilize our network and resources in the Seattle tech industry.