An information technology (IT) solution is a set of related software programs and/or services that are sold as a single package. IT vendors, service providers and value-added resellers (VARs) market their software suites and service bundles under the label solution to promote the idea that purchasing the product will help the customer successfully solve a problem or deal with a complicated situation.
Many vendors, software developers, in particular, refer to all of their individual products as software solutions. For example, a vendor may call its antivirus software a solution because it helps to solve a particular problem.
In a stricter sense, however, an IT solution is an aggregation of products and services, as opposed to a single, discrete product. To accurately be called a solution, therefore, the antivirus software should be bundled with related products, such as a spam filter or backup service.
The product versus solution distinction extends back to the 1970s, when VARs emerged. At that time, the rise of microcomputers moved computing beyond the glass house and out to other departments, such as manufacturing and engineering. In response, VARs bundled software — their own or a third-party package — with a particular hardware platform and sold the bundle as a turnkey solution designed specifically for a particular use case. Frequently, such hardware/software solutions targeted customers in niche vertical markets.