Talk of recession is not worrying software vendors, according to research from recruitment consultancy Harvey Nash.

A survey of 300 senior executives from leading software firms showed 59 per cent believe their company will be profitable in the coming year.

Furthermore, 63 per cent said the enterprise software market will perform better than last year as organisations try to boost their performance and increase efficiencies because of rising economic pressure. And half of the survey respondents were confident their company will make an acquisition in the next year.

“Organisations that are able to build on this changing landscape and take advantage of the trends in the market while maintaining an innovative approach will be those that are best equipped to ride out the current crisis and attract and retain both clients and staff alike,” said Nick Marsh, Harvey Nash global managing director.

The biggest challenges facing the market were identified as: Growing sales revenue; delivering return on investment; and attracting talent.

The difficulty that businesses experience attracting and keeping talent was shown by the intention of more than 60 per cent of those surveyed to change job in the next two years.