Part of the strength of Ottawa’s economy is the diversity of its industries.  Ottawa’s high tech sector continues to grow employing nearly 75,000 employees within 1,944 companies. The Knowledge Based Support Services industries is the largest with 582 companies established in the community followed by the software sector with a total of 385 companies in the region. The Defence and Security, eBusiness, Telecommunications and Cleantech industries also have a significant impact in Ottawa's high tech sector with a total of 619 companies between them. Although the Knowledge Based Support Services industry employs the largest number of people, the Telecommunications sector follows closely has the second largest employer. The Software and Defence and Security sectors also play a hefty role in the community, employing 23,065 people between them. IBM is now Ottawa’s largest employer outside of the public sector.