There’s some new research out from Gartner, however, that reinforces that shift. Here’s the high-level finding: by 2017, approximately one-quarter of all businesses will run some sort of internal app store for managing corporate-sanctioned software.

The main reason this is happening? It’s another outcome of the bring your own device (BYOD) and the related bring your own application (BYOA) phenomenon. By controlling the apps that employees can download to their personal smartphones and tablet computers, companies are hoping to exercise more control over security and software expenditures, according to Gartner.

It’s not just about mobile apps, either. These stores could provide better control over desktop and cloud application provisioning. Or, at the very least, better insight into how is downloading what and who should pay for it.

“Bring your own application (BYOA) has become as important as BYOD in the development of a comprehensive mobile strategy, and the trend toward BYOA has begun to affect desktop and Web applications as well,” said Ian Finley, research vice president at Gartner. “Enterprise app stores promise at least a partial solution, but only if IT security, application, procurement and sourcing professionals can work together to successfully apply the app store concept to their enterprises.”

Technology solution providers definitely have a role to play in helping organize these marketplaces, potentially through deployments of mobile device management software. They also could have a role in defining the broader access control policies that extend the store concept beyond the mobile platform to other corporate software assets.

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During 2011, the average sales growth for software in the Americas was 8.7 percent, according to the research firm. For 2012, IDC is projecting overall software market growth of 7.3 percent for the Americas. Apparently, the economic turmoil in Europe is dragging the rest of the world down.

Microsoft was the No. 1 software vendor worldwide, following by IBM. Several vendors enjoyed double-digital growth rates of more than 20 percent last year: VMware, Salesforce.com and Cadence Design Systems.

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The StreamOne Solutions Store represents dozens of different software applications and cloud service offerings. Technology solution providers can use the store’s StreamOne Software License Selector to figure out which licensing policies make most sense for their individual customer, provision the software or service, and then offer a simple invoice. The latter is especially important if a business is selecting more than one application or cloud service, because it helps simplify license management.

Said Gertrud Pillay, vice president of category marketing and licensing operations at PCMall:

“The Tech Data StreamOne platform is unlike anything currently offered within the channel. With the intuitive interface, we’re able to quickly and easily bring greater value and efficiency to our customers by identifying which software solutions and cloud services will help our customers reach their goals.”

From the solution provider’s standpoint, Tech Data’s store not only helps simplify software management tasks, it provides a single location for helping their customers consider different applications or subscription options that they might not previously have considered.

StreamOne also obviously provides a way for independent software vendors or developers to get their applications in front of potential sales and business partners.

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Its latest forecast calls for overall growth for enterprise and public sector IT to reach 5.6 percent through 2011, compared with the 3 percent growth rate anticipated for the GDP across various economic forecasts. Projects in security, business analytics and “smart technologies” will get the most priority in the spending mix, according to IDC’s survey data.

The top verticals for the rest of the year: healthcare (no brainer), professional services (yup), and (gasp) communications and media. I want to know who is spending money in the media business. Seriously!

How does the IDC forecast compare with some of the other numbers that have been thrown around in recent months? Back in the beginning of April, Forrester Research predicted that overall growth would reach about 8 percent with growth in software sales a bit higher than that. That is obviously higher than the IDC forecast (which, as you know, is more recent). Gartner’s most recent overall prediction, from the end of March, is pretty much the same as IDC’s new one at 5.6 percent.

Gartner, like Forrester, is particularly positive on prospects for software. Just last week, the firm predicted that worldwide enterprise software revenue would increase by 9.5 percent this year to reach $267 billion. In North America, spending is forecast to reach $121.2 billion, up from $112.9 billion in 2010.

Incidentally, there should be another overall IT spending forecast out from Gartner in a matter of days. We’ll watch for it.

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Within software, the growth is coming in large part from licenses for business process applications and middleware, as well as service-oriented architecture, virtualization software and analytics software. Software as as service is also a factor, according to the research report.

Here’s the prediction looking beyond this year, according to Forrester Research Andrew Bartels, who was the primary author of the firm’s first-quarter IT spending analysis:

“For 2012, we expect strong purchasing trends across all categories of the ICT market. Software growth will accelerate to 14.8 percent, with purchasing spreading to a wider array of new software categories. Growth in IT consulting services will follow the rise in spending on software, although growth will not be as pronounced because more vertically focused solutions and SaaS offerings reduce the need for big software implementation projects.”

Yes, folks, things are looking better, although most high-tech vendors are still very cautious in their own growth projections.

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