SIC code for technology and IT: the 737 codes, and what they are in NAICS

This page is for technology and IT companies filling in a SIC field (a bank, insurer, landlord, data vendor or government form) and for sellers building lists of tech companies by code.

There's no SIC code for technology

SIC, like NAICS, classifies a business by what it produces, so "technology" spreads across several parts of the system. For software and IT services, the codes are in Industry Group 737, Computer Programming, Data Processing, and Other Computer Related Services:

For hardware, chips and telecom, the codes sit in manufacturing and communications:

The SIC code for IT

For an IT services company, pick by the work that earns the most:

The SIC manual is explicit about consultants: computer consultants operating on a contract or fee basis are classified in 7379. Because 7379 maps to three NAICS codes, a NAICS-coded list of IT consultancies is cleaner than a SIC one; the NAICS code for IT consulting page covers that choice, and NAICS codes for cybersecurity covers security firms.

UK companies use a different system: in the UK SIC 2007 list at Companies House, software development is 62011 or 62012, IT consultancy 62020, computer facilities management 62030, other IT services 62090, and data processing and hosting 63110.

The SEC's own SIC codes

EDGAR assigns SIC codes from the SEC's own list, which includes group-level codes that aren't 1987 SIC industries: 7370 (Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc.) and 3570 (Computer and Office Equipment). The largest tech companies by revenue show how scattered the codes are:

Amazon's AWS segment had $128,725 million in 2025 net sales, which would be cloud infrastructure (518210) on its own, but the company files as a retailer. The lesson for list building: an EDGAR search by one SIC code misses most of "tech". The EDGAR list for SIC 7372 is the largest single tech group to start from, and the largest tech companies page ranks them across codes.

How many tech businesses there are

County Business Patterns 2023 counts establishments with paid employees on a 2017 NAICS basis:

Software Publishers moved from 511210 to 513210 in 2022, so CBP 2023 still reports it under the old code. CBP counts locations, not companies, and leaves out the self-employed: Nonemployer Statistics for 2023 count another 343,329 computer systems design and related businesses with no employees (NAICS 54151).

SBA size standards

From the SBA's table effective March 17, 2023:

Where the code gets used

• Banks, insurers and other counterparties may still ask for a SIC code; give the 737 code that matches your main revenue.
• Data vendors sell lists by SIC, and some add their own extra digits; only the first four digits are the official code.
• Federal contracts use NAICS, not SIC, and the solicitation's code sets the size standard.
• SEC filings carry the SEC's own SIC code, which the SEC assigns for review purposes.

Worked example

Illustrative example. The company and figures are invented to show the method.

Northwind Cloudworks (northwind.example) has 120 employees in Colorado. Revenue: 50% managed IT and cloud operations for mid-sized companies, 30% migration and integration projects, 20% its own monitoring software sold by subscription.

1. SIC for a bank form: 7379 if the managed work is consulting and support delivered remotely, or 7376 if it runs clients' facilities on site. Here it's remote, so 7379.
2. NAICS primary: 541519, with 541512 for projects and 513210 for the software line.
3. A data vendor list by SIC 7379 would include Northwind, but also thousands of one-person consultants, so a seller targeting firms like it should filter by size and services. Bebop does that from a plain-language description and researches each account.
4. Size check for federal work: average annual receipts of $26.0 million, small under 541519 and 541512 ($34.0 million).

Next step: see how to sell into IT firms in selling IT services.