Information technology underpins how the world works today – from global supply chains to financial systems to advanced innovations enabling new products and services. As we have seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, access to reliable, secure IT infrastructure and software has become even more crucial.
The following are 2022‘s 10 largest public IT companies worldwide based on market capitalization, ranging from venerable giants like IBM to relative newcomers such as Accenture. Collectively they generate over $700 billion in annual revenue across software, hardware, cloud platforms, consulting and more.
But market leadership today does not guarantee future dominance. As emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, 5G networks and quantum computing mature, the IT landscape ten years from now could look quite different. Though still early, even newer spheres like Web3 and the Metaverse represent potential epoch shifts.
This analysis will explore the product portfolios, client bases, financial performance, investments and strategic visions driving the top 10 leaders currently. While exact rankings may change, most are actively positioning themselves to shape and harness the transformative potential of IT for businesses and societies ahead.
Overview of the IT Industry Today
Information technology has expanded dramatically from early roots in mainframe computing. It now encompasses everything from software development, to managing enterprise architecture to designing, manufacturing and supporting computing devices and components.
As per research firm IDC, in 2022 the IT industry overall is on pace to exceed $5.3 trillion globally, led by purchases of new software.
Several interlinking trends and technologies are converging to drive growth:
Cloud Computing: Public cloud spending alone is forecast to grow 20% this year surpassing $500 billion as more workloads migrate from on-premise data centers. Leading providers like Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform offer scalable, flexible computing power and storage without upfront infrastructure costs.
Big Data and Analytics: Vast volumes of data are being generated from digital tools, platforms and connected devices deployed across homes, government agencies and private enterprises. Meanwhile analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning unlock hidden insights from all this data to inform strategy and operations.
The Internet of Things (IoT): Networked sensors embedded in everyday objects like vehicles, appliances, manufacturing equipment etc can monitor status and environments generating yet more data. 5G networks will enable breakthrough applications across sectors from healthcare to construction.
Cybersecurity: As sensitive data and critical infrastructure move online, sophisticated threats mean investments in IT security and resilience continue growing rapidly.
Let‘s explore the 10 IT leaders delivering solutions across these realms and more.
#10: HP Inc.
Revenue (2021): $63 billion
Headquarters: Palo Alto, CA
Employees: 51,000
When Hewlett-Packard split into HP Inc and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE) in 2015, HP Inc took the company‘s personal computers and printing assets. It continues to hold significant market share globally across both domains.
HP Inc generates 65% of its revenue from printing includingprinter hardware, supplies and services. The remaining 35% comes from selling PCs and laptops targeted at consumers and businesses plus accessories like displays and virtual reality gear.
While the overall PC market declined in 2020, HP Inc shipments grew 10.8% year-over-year seizing 25% market share. The pandemic prompted demand for PCs and printers for remote work and education.
PC Market Share Worldwide (IDC Report):
Sustainable technology is also a priority — HP aims for net zero emissions across its value chain by 2040.
Though it spun out just 6 years ago, HP Inc continues to dominate the global printing and personal computing markets it pioneered.
#9 Capgemini
Revenue (2021): $21.1 billion
Headquarters: Paris, France
Employees: 340,000+
Offering consulting, digital transformation, cloud services and engineering, Capgemini works with leading organizations globally to manage complex IT systems integrations and support evolving data strategies. Their talent base exceeds 340,000 across disciplines like AI, software development, quantum computing and 5G.
The pandemic saw clients accelerate their digital transformation timelines dramatically. Capgemini responded by growing its commercial footprint and delivery capacity worldwide. 2021 marked stellar financial performance with reported revenues of €18.2 billion, 15.1% higher than 2020 in constant currency.
However, acute talent scarcity persists across high-demand skill areas. Capgemini rapidly onboarded over 210,000 team members virtually in 2021. Moreover, their in-house Applied Innovation Exchange performed over 60,000 training days unlocking niche expertise for client projects on emerging tech.
Through enhancing partnerships with institutes of technology and proactively upskilling talent, Capgemini is strengthening its position as an essential partner for enterprise innovation and IT modernization worldwide.
Capgemini Key Financials 2018-2021
| Year | Revenue (€ billions) | Net Profit (€ billions) |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 13.2 | 1.2 |
| 2019 | 14.1 | 0.9 |
| 2020 | 15.8 | 1.0 |
| 2021 | 18.2 | 1.2 |
#8 Cognizant
Revenue: $19 billion
Headquarters: Teaneck, NJ
Employees: 343,500
Offering strategic consulting plus technology development and operations support, New Jersey-based Cognizant works with 90 of the Fortune 100. Their counsel and services empower transformation initiatives spanning AI/ML, cloud, IoT, digital engineering and much more.
Even amidst pandemic uncertainty, Cognizant generated consistent revenue growth from 2019-2021:
Cognizant Revenue 2019-2021
| Year | Revenue | % Increase YoY |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | $16.8 billion | |
| 2020 | $16.7 billion | -0.7% |
| 2021 | $19.0 billion | 13.8% |
Geographically while North America accounts for 75% of revenues, expansion in Europe and Asia fluidly continues through strategic partnerships and acquisitions.
Cognizant CEO Brian Humphries notes, "As technology permeates every enterprise globally, Cognizant is extraordinarily well-positioned…I have no doubt that our best years lie ahead."
Bolstered by sustained performance through downtowns plus $6 billion in cash reserves, Cognizant seems poised to continue realizing double-digit growth.
#7 Infosys
Revenue (2022): $16.3 billion
Headquarters: Bangalore, India
Employees: 345,000
Based in India, Infosys builds partnerships with global 2000 companies to accelerate their digital evolution. Through their proprietary platforms powered by AI/ML alongside cloud computing, big data analytics and more, Infosys streamlines legacy processes while unlocking innovation for worldwide customers.
Financial performance remains strong during the pandemic with minimal revenue impact due to geographic diversification:
Infosys Revenue by Geography
| Year | North America | Europe | Rest of World |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 37.4% | 27.1% | 35.5% |
| 2020 | 50.9% | 30.2% | 18.9% |
| 2019 | 55.7% | 32.8% | 11.5% |
Forward focus areas include scaling AI capabilities, expanding cloud partnerships, tailoring industry-specific solutions and responsibly enabling global workforces.
Infosys also continues receiving worldwide accolades as an employer – named the World‘s Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere Institute yet again in 2022.
#6 SAP
Revenue (2021): ~$32 billion
Headquarters: Walldorf, Germany
Employees: 107,000
SAP is the global leader in enterprise application software serving 77% of transactional revenue worldwide. Over 100 different solutions constitute their offering enabling intelligent enterprises across public sector, healthcare, manufacturing and beyond.
Cloud computing however has emerged as the core focus. By 2025, SAP plans migrating more than 90% of current customers over to SAP S/4 HANA Cloud across essential finance, supply chain and HR functions.
SAP has committed €220 million towards cultivating startup partnerships specializing in sustainability, health, machine learning and quantum computing. Getting solutions built on SAP technology exposure early creates a potential conveyor belt for rapid scale.
They also aim to have over 2 million developers worldwide skilled in building on SAP by 2025. Expanding platforms like SAP Learning and the SAP Tech Academy facilitate onboarding students plus IT professionals crossing over from other systems.
Both through acquisitions and organic acceleration, SAP looks to remain the trusted technology foundation empowering enterprises to run smoothly as the digital economy continuously transforms.
#5 IBM
Revenue (2021): $57 billion
Headquarters: Armonk, NY
Employees: 345,900
IBM offers an incredibly diverse technology product portfolio from quantum and mainframe computing to IT infrastructure services used by 75% of the world‘s banks.
However, transformation towards high-growth domains like cloud, security and artificial intelligence dominates strategic vision now. IBM CEO Arvind Krishna notes "the new IBM is fundamentally a growth company focused on capturing this $1 trillion hybrid cloud opportunity."
Last year, the company invested over $2 billion in AI research plus announced further $20 billion towards advanced semiconductor design/manufacturing essential for next-gen infrastructure.
Krishna affirmed commitment towards emerging quantum computing space also with plans for 4,000+ qubit system operational by 2025. "[Quantum] will enable us in areas like materials, energy, climatology breakthroughs," he remarked.
Blockchain constitutes another priority application domain given cryptography strengths. Partnership with Indian Institute of Technology Madras aims advancing blockchain for ERP innovations.
While historic dominance in on-premise enterprise software wanes as clients shift operations into the cloud, IBM seems focused on the enormous possibilities ahead.
#4 Tata Consultancy Services
Revenue (2022): $25 billion
Headquarters: Mumbai, India
Employees: 592,000
As the leading IT services firm in India, Tata Consultancy Services Limited (TCSL) offers custom solutions meeting the technology needs of banking, financial services, insurance, retail and communications organizations globally. TCS constitutes the most profitable subsidiary of the Tata Group too accounting for 95% income.
Over 163 clients trust TCS as their primary IT partner including major airlines, hotel chains, oil/gas majors and government agencies like UK Home Office and India Post.
TCS saw annual revenue growth upwards of 15% annually before 2020:
TCS Revenue 2018-2022
| Year | Revenue | % Increase YoY |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | $22 billion | 11.4% |
| 2020 | $22 billion | 0.2% |
| 2021 | $25 billion | 15.5% |
| 2022 | $25 billion* | 0%** |
*expected based on Q1 financial results
**projected
Geographically, North America and Europe collectively constitute almost 63% of TCS revenue. However the company has also invested significantly in Latin America lately with a new delivery center launched in Mexico to tap regional demand. Employee count just hit all time high of 592,195 in Q1 2022.
Speaking during Q1 earnings call, CEO Rajesh Gopinathan affirmed, "We are starting the year on a strong note…seeing all-round growth across markets and segments."
#3 Accenture
Revenue (2021): $61 billion
Headquarters: Dublin, Ireland
Employees: 721,000
Accenture embraces their role as a “growth partner” collaborating with clients across strategy, design, technology and operations to build purposeful businesses and societies.
Recent acquisitions like German company Trivadis and CS Technology in France bolster expertise around cloud data platforms, AI/ML capabilities and Metaverse-aligned offerings. Moreover in March 2022, Accenture announced forming the Xen collective focused on extended reality solutions for remote work.
Scaling innovative solutions also continues briskly–more than 50% of the workforce now represents in advanced technology roles. Global delivery capabilities span 200 cities through their Advanced Technology Centers.
Financial performance stayed resilient through uncertainty linked to the pandemic:
Accenture Key Financials
| Year | Revenue | % Increase |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $44.3 billion | 8% |
| 2021 | $61.6 billion | 25% |
Geographically North America contributes highest revenue share currently but presence across Europe, Africa, Asia Pacific and the Middle East seamlessly bolsters global collaboration.
Moreover, Initiative Spotlight concentrates expertise on emerging technologies from extended reality and quantum machine learning algorithms to newer domains like ambient computing. By getting teams skilled on cutting-edge tech, Accenture stays equipped assisting clients implement digital transformation for the next decade.
#2 Oracle
Revenue (2022): $42 billion
Headquarters: Austin, Texas
Employees: 160,000
Oracle constitutes the second largest IT company worldwide by market capitalization. However financial results for their latest quarter missed market estimates due growth slowing down.
Oracle provides databases, cloud applications and enterprise software that runs critical workloads for 430,000+ customers including nearly all Forbes Global 100 corporations. However the transition towards cloud versus legacy on-premise has lagged peers like Microsoft Azure.
But co-founder and CTO Larry Ellison affirmed renewed commitment to cloud, remarking: "Oracle‘s rapidly growing, highly profitable $10 billion cloud business is approaching critical mass… As the Oracle database market shifts to the cloud, we‘re positioned to win by an even greater margin."
Robust innovation continues across Oracle‘s vast technology portfolio from hardware like the Exadata database machine to enterprise software like Fusion ERP. Top focus areas include enhancing automation, integrating AI more seamlessly and growing cloud infrastructure scale.
If Oracle can rouse customers to migrate database and other critical workloads more wholly into Oracle Cloud, they have potential sustaining leadership. Execution however remains key.
#1 Microsoft
Revenue (2022 Q1): $60.7 billion
Headquarters: Seattle, Washington
Employees: 221,000
Microsoft continues tightening its formidable lead as the world‘s most valuable IT company with market cap exceeding $2 trillion since 2021. Revenue streams diversify across productivity software, servers, Xbox gaming, Surface devices and LinkedIn.
However cloud momentum has accelerated significantly. In Q1 2022, Microsoft Intelligent Cloud segment including server products and cloud services jumped 31% year-over-year to $20 billion. Azure particularly grew 46% demonstrating appetite for enterprise cloud migration.
Microsoft is uniquely positioned to equip customers with essential tools for the hybrid work model most have permanently adopted. Teams alone hosts 340 million monthly active users globally participating in collaborative work.
And multiple partnerships with mobile operators like AT&T in the U.S. aim ensuring connectivity and security for enterprises in this new operating environment.
CEO Satya Nadella summarized the ethos driving his 108,000-strong engineering teams: “Tech intensity is the key to business success…From chips to cloud, software development tools, and business applications, we are investing to deliver differentiated tech capabilities to power our customers.”
Indeed, Microsoft cloud and legacy customer retention stays unparalleled at 98% plus. Devotion towards designing human-centered products matching contemporary challenges positions Microsoft steering the future of global IT yet again.
Disclaimer: This independent analysis aims purely sharing knowledgeable perspectives on major IT leaders today. Companies featured did not commission nor influence commentary shared above.
