The Business Value of Software

This book shows that software development must be organized, managed and measured to maximize the flow of business value, end-to-end. It offers valuable advice and examples for identifying value and making it visible to all stakeholders who can then make decisions that increase the flow of software value and business and economic benefits.

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In business, driving value is a key strategy and typically starts at the top of an organization. In today’s digital age, driving software value is also an important, and often overlooked, key strategy. Executives, and the corporate board, need to expect the highest level of business value from the software the organization is developing, buying, and selling. In today’s digital transformation marketplace, it is imperative that organizations start driving business value from software development initiatives.



For many years, the cost of software development challenged organizations with questions such as:










How do we allocate software development costs?



Should these costs be considered an overhead expense?



Are we getting the most value possible for our investment?






A fundamental problem has been built into these questions – the focus on cost. In almost every other part of the organization, maximizing profit or, in the case of a not-for-profit, maximizing the funds available, provides a clear focus with metrics to determine success or failure. In theory, simply aligning software spending with the maximizing profit goals should be sufficient to avoid any questions about value for money. Unfortunately, this alignment hasn’t turned out to be so simple, and the questions persist, particularly at the strategic or application portfolio level.



In this book, Michael D.S. Harris describes how a software business value culture—one where all stakeholders, including technology and business—have a clear understanding of the goals and expected business value from software development. The book shows readers how they can transform software development from a cost or profit center to a business value center. Only a culture of software as a value center enables an organization to constantly maximize business value flow through software development. If your organization is starting to ask how it can change software from a cost-center to a value-center, this book is for you.