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Cycle Time in Packaged Software Firms

Cycle Time in Packaged Software Firms Reduction of cycle time (i.e., time to market) is a fundamental competitive strategy in many industries. With the current proliferation of personal computer (PC) technology, software developers face intense competition. However, unlike their counterparts in other consumer goods markets, product development managers in the software industry appear to be less concerned with (or even aware of) cycle time than they are with other competitive variables. To explore the role of cycle‐time reduction in the process of developing software packages, Erran Carmel conducted a study of 15 software package companies in the Washington‐Baltimore metropolitan area. The survey results indicate that software package developers are generally unaware of cycle‐time reduction as a management concept. Instead, software developers tend to focus on rapid development, with an emphasis on “crunch” periods of intense effort aimed at meeting a deadline. During these periods of peak activity, 87% of the developers in core teams worked more than 56 hours per week and 47% worked more than 71 hours per week. In terms of the organizational variables necessary for cycle‐time reduction, all of the survey respondents point to the importance of a small, cohesive, core development team, similar to a cross‐functional team. Members of the core team are entrepreneurial and share a common vision of the product's design, use, and long‐term direction. As for the development variables associated with cycle‐time reduction, the software companies in the survey typically do not use process models or risk analysis techniques. Similarly, they devote scant resources to automated tools. For the majority of the firms in the survey, annual investment in automated software development tools is less than $1,000 per developer. On the other hand, reuse (as embodied in object‐oriented design and development) and incremental innovation are important to all of the sample firms. Although quality assurance (QA) activities are not addressed in the innovation literature, QA is a significant cycle‐time component in software development. As demonstrated by the industry practice of releasing products with long lists of known defects, the software product category clearly has quality problems. With the current boom in new users, pressure will grow for improved quality. To remain competitive, software developers need to determine how they can better integrate QA activities into the development process while reducing cycle time. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The Journal of Product Innovation Management Wiley

Cycle Time in Packaged Software Firms

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References (60)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
© 1995 Elsevier Science Inc.
ISSN
0737-6782
eISSN
1540-5885
DOI
10.1111/j.1540-5885.1995.jpim122_0110.xml.x
Publisher site
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Abstract

Reduction of cycle time (i.e., time to market) is a fundamental competitive strategy in many industries. With the current proliferation of personal computer (PC) technology, software developers face intense competition. However, unlike their counterparts in other consumer goods markets, product development managers in the software industry appear to be less concerned with (or even aware of) cycle time than they are with other competitive variables. To explore the role of cycle‐time reduction in the process of developing software packages, Erran Carmel conducted a study of 15 software package companies in the Washington‐Baltimore metropolitan area. The survey results indicate that software package developers are generally unaware of cycle‐time reduction as a management concept. Instead, software developers tend to focus on rapid development, with an emphasis on “crunch” periods of intense effort aimed at meeting a deadline. During these periods of peak activity, 87% of the developers in core teams worked more than 56 hours per week and 47% worked more than 71 hours per week. In terms of the organizational variables necessary for cycle‐time reduction, all of the survey respondents point to the importance of a small, cohesive, core development team, similar to a cross‐functional team. Members of the core team are entrepreneurial and share a common vision of the product's design, use, and long‐term direction. As for the development variables associated with cycle‐time reduction, the software companies in the survey typically do not use process models or risk analysis techniques. Similarly, they devote scant resources to automated tools. For the majority of the firms in the survey, annual investment in automated software development tools is less than $1,000 per developer. On the other hand, reuse (as embodied in object‐oriented design and development) and incremental innovation are important to all of the sample firms. Although quality assurance (QA) activities are not addressed in the innovation literature, QA is a significant cycle‐time component in software development. As demonstrated by the industry practice of releasing products with long lists of known defects, the software product category clearly has quality problems. With the current boom in new users, pressure will grow for improved quality. To remain competitive, software developers need to determine how they can better integrate QA activities into the development process while reducing cycle time.

Journal

The Journal of Product Innovation Management – Wiley

Published: Mar 1, 1995

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