What are the essential pointers to keep in mind while understanding Business side of Software ?
A:
Think about the following questions:
- How does the business make money?
- How can the software that I write increase the profitability of the business?
Shiraz Bhaiji
2009-10-18 21:12:37
+2
A:
More importantly think of the customer's needs first.
How will this make money for my customers?
What will this feature/add on/improvement do for my customers?
Martin Beckett
2009-10-18 21:14:40
+2
A:
Jeff Moser wrote a really good essay about software and business.
From my own experience, it's about understanding what motivates people, and about understanding the fine details of a specific business model.
RoadWarrior
2009-10-18 21:15:09
+3
A:
I'm a big reader of Joel's blog, www.joelonsoftware.com, and Eric Sink's, www.ericsink.com (specifically, the "Business of Software" series and "Marketing for Geeks"). Since they're both geeks that have a great understanding of the business side of things, they can put it into terms that other techies can understand.
I finished my MBA last year, and I found that in a number of classes (especially marketing), the material I'd picked up from these two blogs covered almost all the base curriculum in the class, so I was free to focus on deeper stuff instead of struggling to understand things like "crossing the chasm", for example.
A business understanding is critical for a successful development career. Anybody who says you just need to implement the spec and stop asking questions doesn't know what they're talking about - putting yourself in the customer's shoes and asking what problem you're trying to solve, not just what they asked you to solve, will put you head and shoulders above your competition.
rwmnau
2009-10-18 21:22:57
Can you provide Eric Sink's working link, coz I opened the link and it just said HELLO
Rachel
2009-10-18 21:26:44
Let me google that for you: http://www.ericsink.com/bos/Business_of_Software.html
MarkJ
2009-10-18 21:52:04
I linked his main blog - there are a number of interesting series down the left side of the page. He's gotten more technical recently and away from explaining the business, but all his old content is still available.
rwmnau
2009-10-18 22:08:07
A:
I would vote AGAINST Joel Spoelsky. The problem is that he has been out of the software development side of things for so long. Occasionally, you get nuggets of gold from him but even from a business sense, his suggestions seem to be against learning, best practices and short sided gains.
fregas
2009-10-18 22:20:23