Productization - Delivering the Total Package
Introduction
The industry is filled with well-conceived, exceptionally useful software applications that have failed in the hands of customers or were unacceptably delayed. Many of these failures were due to the simple fact that the software development process wasn't scalable or the software itself wasn't packaged in a way that met customer expectations.
Organizations that fall short of customer expectations can irreparably harm the reputation of their software. The best defense against getting labeled as poor quality software is productization. Simply put, deliver a complete package that includes all the pieces your customers expect. My experience driving quality projects is rooted in meeting customer delivery expectations via productization.
Vision, good design, and professional implementation produce excellent software. However delivering what customers need, namely a total package that includes high quality documentation, training, and services is challenging. Usable features delivered in a well-balanced package is at the heart of productization. This article describes how right-sizing software and creating a complete offering was achieved in real-life situations.
A well-architected and implemented software product may receive lackluster reviews from customers. Documentation, installation, and training are no exception. Driving change is a challenge because you have to bridge the gap between customer and developer. This article shows examples of how focus groups and storyboarding were used to successfully close the gap and dramatically increase customer satisfaction.
Successful products and applications inevitably place great demands on development teams. Enhancements and maintenance can leave little time for important innovations. Therefore a critical aspect of productization is to control these costs. Test automation assures that testing can be repeated frequently, accurately, and economically. This article shows how test automation is an integral part of productization.
Software development organizations that have successfully built and demonstrated a product that serves market needs, often find themselves unable to reliably produce and deliver it to customers. This is a typical situation for organizations in pre-emergent phases. Overcoming these shortcomings requires process changes, and very often restructuring of the development and testing teams to distribute the work load across specialized teams, many of which may be located internationally.
© 2007 Claude Fenner - Specializing in Software Management and Quality www.claudefenner.com