Search results for "Software business"

Towards Measuring the Agility of Software Business

2018

Agile development methods have been employed across the software industry. However, it is not always clear if the used methods actually help the software firms in being more agile and if agility has a positive influence in the software firm performance. Studying these questions may turn out impossible since good measurements for assessing the overall agility of software firms do not yet exist. A need is therefore detected to measure the differences in agility between firms and finding the means to evaluate the differences in agility in reliable manner. This article examines how to measure the agility of a software firm and reports initial steps in the process of developing measurement instr…

Evolution of Secondary Software Businesses: Understanding Industry Dynamics

2008

Primary software industry originates from IBM’s decision to unbundle software-related computer system development activities to external partners. This kind of outsourcing from an enterprise internal software development activity is a common means to start a new software business serving a vertical software market. It combines knowledge of the vertical market process with competence in software development. In this research, we present and analyze the key figures of the Finnish secondary software industry, in order to quantify its interaction with the primary software industry during the period of 2000–2003. On the basis of the empirical data, we present a model for evolution of a secondary…

Objectives and Challenges in Finnish Software Companies 2018 - Interview of 99 Finnish Software Development Firms

2019

The business domain of software development growth increasingly during 2018 and while software companies in Finland are taking benefit of this momentum, they are facing multiple internal and external challenges. We constructed annual software business survey for 99 enterprise to micro-size software companies in Finland. Based on our survey, software development firms aim at growing rather than improving efficiency or changing focus. The focus remains on strengthening the current business instead of aligning it with the market transition, although the lack of competence and resources is remarkable. This poster paper gives a prompt overview of the Finnish software business domain and how soft…

Software Business in the Telecommunications Sector

2012

Operations and Business Support Systems (OSS/BSS) software of Communication Service Providers (CSP's) can be developed internally within the CSP or acquired from a Software Vendor. The software industry lifecycle model hypothesizes that software development is internal in the beginning of the industry's lifecycle, and that the share of external products increases when it matures. Empirical evidence shows signs of the OSS/BSS software industry approaching maturity. Current and future developments of the industry include the possibilities of utilizing the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model and Open Source software (OSSw). Both have gained increasing interest by the CSP's. However, the relativ…

How to Sell SaaS: A Model for Main Factors of Marketing and Selling Software-as-a-Service

2011

Software-as-a-Service providers have been growing fast while the contemporary research literature has neglected analysis of their business-critical marketing and sales processes. In this paper we collect the key factors characterizing how to market and sell SaaS to business customers into an eight dimensional model. We also use an explorative multi-case study to observe six SaaS providers and validate the model. The interviewed providers emphasized use of the Internet for marketing communication while personal direct sale was the dominating sales approach. Customer acquisition cost was the key performance indicator for marketing and sales while customer lifetime value and churn were the KPI…

Vertical Software Industries

2009

The software industry (SWI) was born only a few decades ago, and is still relatively young compared to other industries. Its origins can be traced down to the decisions to unbundle some secondary parts of IBM computer development to independent software companies (Campbell-Kelly 2004). The software development was then considered a secondary activity serving the core business, which was at that time computer hardware manufacturing. This focus on hardware is still visible in the brand names of both the global information and communication technology (ICT) giants, such as IBM, and the major professional and scientific establishments of the field, such as the Association for Computing Machiner…

Examining business models of Software-as-a-Service companies

2013

A Conceptual Model for the IT-supported International Subsidiary Establishment Process

2004

This study examines how the IT-supported international subsidiary establishment process can be implemented. An in-depth literature review uncovered that there is a significant lack of literature to guide managers about how to execute the establishment process of a subsidiary through the support of various IT-tools. This study, by answering the research question “What are the phases in the establishment of a subsidiary through IT-support and how have the phases been executed?” introduces a conceptual model for the IT-supported international subsidiary establishment process. The research findings are useful for both practice and further research. peerReviewed

Life cycle and internationalization of Finnish software product companies

2005

Managerial Growth Challenges in Small Software Firms: A Multiple-Case Study of Growth-Oriented Enterprises

2010

Notwithstanding the importance of small software firms, research focusing on understanding the growth challenges faced by their management is close to non-existent. By taking a life-cycle approach and focusing on managerial challenges, the aim of this paper is to analyze the growth process of small software firms. After forming a synthesis of possible growth challenges from relevant literature, the results are reflected upon case software firms using thematic interviews and questionnaires. According to the analysis of four software firms, managing human resources represents the greatest challenge for software services firms. Additionally, other challenges stem from competition and sales-rel…