Education & Training Software
Description
Companies in this industry design, develop, market, and support software used in education and training. Major companies include Anthology, Renaissance Learning, Rosetta Stone, and Skillsoft (all based in the US); as well as software divisions of publishers such as Cengage Learning and Scholastic Corporation and training units of diversified software providers such as Oracle and SAP. Top firms based outside the US include Affero Lab (Brazil), NIIT (India), and Promethean World (the UK).
The global e-learning market, which includes education and training software, is forecast to reach about $1.1 trillion by 2031, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 18%, according to Verified Market Research. In 2024, the Asia Pacific E-learning market saw the largest number of students joining online courses. It is followed by North America.
The US software industry includes more than 13,000 establishments (single-location companies and units of multi-location companies) with combined annual revenue of about $280 billion.
The US education and training software industry is a subset of the computer software industry, which is covered in a separate industry profile.
COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
Demand is driven by corporate, institutional, and consumer spending. The profitability of individual companies depends on technical expertise and effective marketing. Large companies enjoy economies of scale in marketing and customer support. Small companies compete mainly by targeting niche markets or developing new technology. The US industry is concentrated: the 50 largest firms account for about 70% of revenue.
PRODUCTS, OPERATIONS & TECHNOLOGY
Major products include software for training students, employees, and consumers. Published system software and published applications software account for about 40%, each. Using education and training software online is often referred to as e-learning.
Education and training software for students is used by universities and colleges to create online learning programs and communities with internet-based assignments and online collaboration between students and teachers. Many large book publishers also produce educational software for students, which may include additional content, quizzes and flashcards to complement textbooks. Education and training software for employees is used by HR departments of large companies and government agencies to provide policy training and career development to employees. Other companies in the industry provide personal education products for consumers.
Much of the education and training software is a type of software as a service (SaaS) that allows customers to manage information about students, teachers, or employees. Unlike traditional desktop software that must be installed, maintained, and updated on individual machines, SaaS is delivered over the internet. Many education and training software providers sell access to their software online, and provide security and maintain performance of the software.
Some companies offer learning management system (LMS) applications with administrative tools for managing and tracking the use of e-learning software. Like other publishers of education and training software, LMS providers are part of the larger educational technology (ed tech) market, which also includes hardware and administrative software.
Education and training software is developed by teams of programmers who design the structure of a product and write the individual lines of code. The rough draft of a new program is called the alpha version. The beta version is an almost-final version that is tested by actual users to find and correct additional bugs. The release version of most software still contains bugs that aren't apparent until the software is used by many people. Typically, programmers begin work on a new version of a product as soon as the current version is released for sale. The complexity of most software requires that software companies provide technical assistance to users, often an expensive operation for small companies. Companies may use waterfall or agile development practices, which involve collaboration between teams of programmers working in synchronized phases.
The global e-learning market, which includes education and training software, is forecast to reach about $1.1 trillion by 2031, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 18%, according to Verified Market Research. In 2024, the Asia Pacific E-learning market saw the largest number of students joining online courses. It is followed by North America.
The US software industry includes more than 13,000 establishments (single-location companies and units of multi-location companies) with combined annual revenue of about $280 billion.
The US education and training software industry is a subset of the computer software industry, which is covered in a separate industry profile.
COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
Demand is driven by corporate, institutional, and consumer spending. The profitability of individual companies depends on technical expertise and effective marketing. Large companies enjoy economies of scale in marketing and customer support. Small companies compete mainly by targeting niche markets or developing new technology. The US industry is concentrated: the 50 largest firms account for about 70% of revenue.
PRODUCTS, OPERATIONS & TECHNOLOGY
Major products include software for training students, employees, and consumers. Published system software and published applications software account for about 40%, each. Using education and training software online is often referred to as e-learning.
Education and training software for students is used by universities and colleges to create online learning programs and communities with internet-based assignments and online collaboration between students and teachers. Many large book publishers also produce educational software for students, which may include additional content, quizzes and flashcards to complement textbooks. Education and training software for employees is used by HR departments of large companies and government agencies to provide policy training and career development to employees. Other companies in the industry provide personal education products for consumers.
Much of the education and training software is a type of software as a service (SaaS) that allows customers to manage information about students, teachers, or employees. Unlike traditional desktop software that must be installed, maintained, and updated on individual machines, SaaS is delivered over the internet. Many education and training software providers sell access to their software online, and provide security and maintain performance of the software.
Some companies offer learning management system (LMS) applications with administrative tools for managing and tracking the use of e-learning software. Like other publishers of education and training software, LMS providers are part of the larger educational technology (ed tech) market, which also includes hardware and administrative software.
Education and training software is developed by teams of programmers who design the structure of a product and write the individual lines of code. The rough draft of a new program is called the alpha version. The beta version is an almost-final version that is tested by actual users to find and correct additional bugs. The release version of most software still contains bugs that aren't apparent until the software is used by many people. Typically, programmers begin work on a new version of a product as soon as the current version is released for sale. The complexity of most software requires that software companies provide technical assistance to users, often an expensive operation for small companies. Companies may use waterfall or agile development practices, which involve collaboration between teams of programmers working in synchronized phases.
Table of Contents
- Industry Overview
- Quarterly Industry Update
- Business Challenges
- Business Trends
- Industry Opportunities
- Call Preparation Questions
- Financial Information
- Industry Forecast
- Web Links and Acronyms
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