The worldwide software industry was estimated to be worth about $229 billion in 1995 and is expected to be worth over $300 billion by the year 2000. Besides the economic benefits that can be reaped from the industry, our national information infrastructure is becoming more and more dependent upon computers and the software that makes them run.

However, the "software engineering crisis" that was identified in the late 1960's continues to be a problem today. One fourth of all software projects are canceled before they are delivered. The average project is delivered one year late and is 100% over budget. Three out of four software systems delivered do not function as intended or are never used at all.

In spite of this the US dominates the software industry, retaining about 70% of the market. The primary factors contributing to that success are lack of strong foreign competition due to the hindrance of cultural barriers and distance, the rise in quality of US software due to better software engineering practices, the concept of "good enough software" and the success of shrink-wrapped software companies such as Microsoft.