The world's leading expert on the global software industry and coauthor
of the bestseller Microsoft Secrets reveals the inner workings of
software giants like IBM, Microsoft, and Netscape and shows what it
takes to create, develop, and manage a successful company -- in good
times and bad -- in the most fiercely competitive business in the
world.
In the $600 billion software industry it is the business, not the
technology, that determines success or failure. This fact -- one that
thousands of once glamorous start-ups have unhappily discovered for
themselves -- is the well-documented conclusion of this enormously
readable and revealing new book by Michael Cusumano, based on nearly
twenty years of research and consulting with software producers around
the world.
Cusumano builds on dozens of personal experiences and case studies to
show how issues of strategy and organization are irrevocably linked with
those of managing the technology and demonstrates that a thorough
understanding of these issues is vital to success. At the heart of the
book Cusumano poses seven questions that underpin a three-pronged
management framework. He argues that companies must adopt one of three
basic business models: become a products company at one end of the
strategic spectrum, a services company at the other end, or a hybrid
solutions company in between. The author describes the characteristics
of the different models, evaluates their strengths and weaknesses, and
shows how each is more or less appropriate for different stages in the
evolution of a business as well as in good versus bad economic times.
Readers will also find invaluable Cusumano's treatment of software
development issues ranging from architecture and teams to project
management and testing, as well as two chapters devoted to what it takes
to create a successful software start-up. Highlights include eight
fundamental guidelines for evaluating potential software winners and
Cusumano's probing analysis, based on firsthand knowledge, of ten
start-ups that have met with varying degrees of success.
The Business of Software is timely essential reading for managers,
programmers, entrepreneurs, and others who follow the global software
industry.
