Surveys on software engineering excellence (SEE) of the Japanese software industry were designed and administrated in 2005 through 2007 with the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. In the survey, the software engineering capability was measured from the seven viewpoints of deliverables, project management, quality assurance, process improvement, research and development, human development, and customer contacts. Through a cross-section analysis of the SEE data from 151 IT firms in Japan, we found superior deliverables and business performance to be significantly correlated with the effort expended on human resource development, quality assurance, research and development, and process improvement. Based on the results of the panel analysis of the SEE data, we found that most SEE factors for a particular year had significant positive influences on the same factors the following year, although several negative paths were observed, which implies that the effort put into a particular factor did not pay off in the short-term. Finally, we assessed the current state of affairs and futures of the software industry in Japan through a panel analysis, including financial data of the IT firms as well as an agent-based simulation model.