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August 18, 2010

It’s Time to Think Lean

Adopting “Lean” development principles can help software vendors add value, reduce waste and thrive during tough economic times.

By Leonardo Mattiazzi, Ci&T

In any economic climate, a company’s most important objective is ensuring that the cost of doing business does not overshadow its returns. When margins are robust, companies can afford to invest heavily in technologies that may not immediately produce visible returns, but can be counted on to reap benefits several years down the line.

However, when these margins become razor thin and the future looks uncertain, companies must quickly adapt their strategies and invest in only the software development strategies that can provide an immediate return on investment (ROI). With more companies seeking new approaches to achieve faster ROI in their development efforts, many have begun applying and incorporating “Lean” thinking in order to drive value to the bottom line.

Meet the “Leaders in the Cloud”

Keep up with the trends, companies, and executives driving the cloud computing revolution. Read Kamesh Pemmaraju's blog - including last week's interview with Matt Thompson, Microsoft's PaaS leader - and uncover the business value of cloud computing for customers and vendors in Sand Hill Group's recent report, "Leaders in the Cloud."

Make Decisions Easier for Your Prospects

Jill Konrath of SNAP Selling explains how simplicity is key when dealing with busy clients and prospects in this post to the SandHill.com Blog on Software Sales.

Competitive Devaluation

Guy Smith discusses how markets change and product devaluation can happen instantly, especially with smart phones, in this post to the SandHill.com Blog on Mobile Moves.

Winning Channel Strategies for the Cloud, Part I

In a series of posts concerning winning channel strategies of cloud computing, Kamesh Pemmaraju confers with Intacct’s Taylor Macdonald and Daniel Druker about SaaS technology and the Channel in this post to his SandHill.com Blog, Leaders in the Cloud.

The Productive Imperative

To sustain wealth creation, developed nations must find ways to boost productivity; product and process innovation will be key. Read why in this article from The McKinsey Quarterly.

Poll: Lean Development?

What is the potential impact of lean development on the software industry?
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The Latest Software Business News on SandHill.com

All Headlines: Oracle moves against Java and OpenSolaris.

VC Activity: Shape Up The Nation receives $5 million in Series A round.

M&A Deals: Google headlines news with several acquisitions.

Executive Moves: Basil Geoghegan named Chief Development Officer at mobile data firm, Acision.

Quote of the Week

“Most segments of the security software market will continue to grow over the next few years, although a significant degree of variation is expected between the more-established and less-mature technologies. Overall, security will remain one of the fastest-growing areas within the enterprise software market.”

- Principal research analyst at Gartner Ruggero Contu on the predicted growth of the worldwide security software market.

This Week's Sponsor

OpSource delivers a complete Web operations solution for software as a service and web companies. Many of the largest software companies and the most innovative web companies have selected OpSource as their Web operations partner. By doing so, they are able to focus their resources on building on-demand businesses, rather than investing in and managing the complex and costly infrastructure 24x7, staff and services necessary for successful web application delivery. Providing everything but the application itself, OpSource is the only Web operations company whose customers pay only for what they sell, not for the resources they consume. Find out more.

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