Software Value to US Economic Competitiveness: Taxonomy

Global Software Competitiveness The strategic management of global competitiveness in software calls for setting direction, providing fuel, and controlling the business environment including the supplier, the customer, the competition, and change and event threats. Accordingly, enterprise maturity in global software competitiveness is achieved in five levels. Levels of Maturity Level 1 is the absence of expectation, achievement, and engagement in the conversation on global software competitiveness. Hopefully an industry conversation on global software competitiveness can be stimulated as a first step towards being competitive. Level 2 is associated with the availability of personnel skills and resources and their deployment. Software personnel are the most precious resource a globally competitive enterprise can possess. It is not simply a human resources task of correcting turnover through recruitment; instead software and its people impact the culture of the enterprise... profoundly. Supplier control is achieved by establishing an attractive workplace culture, achieving maturity in process and skills, deepening industry relationships, and retaining personnel. Level 3 is associated with value to the customer derived through vigorous competition for current market niche with mature products that deliver value and earn customer satisfaction. Controlling the customer has many faces. It is not simply satisfying and delighting; instead it is delivering value and achieving total customer satisfaction through an increasingly intimate relationship. Customer control is achieved by deepening customer relationships, balancing business factors, and achieving total customer satisfaction. Level 4 is associated with competing for the future by setting the industry standard and practicing reuse and domain architecture technology to meet it. Controlling the competition is the preferred tactic. It is not simply competing head on head with falling margins; instead it is inventing a new niche, occupying it alone, and avoiding head on head competition... perhaps even cooperating. Competitor control is achieved by deepening community relationships, fielding superior products, and setting the direction for the niche. Level 5 is associated with managing change and controlling event threats through strategic software management that raises the ability to improve software to a core competence. Event threats and change introduce uncertainty... where luck plays a role in the process of experimentation, and chaos is the ethos of competitiveness. Event threat control is achieved by guarding against government intrusion, applying strategic software management, performing due diligence, and understanding reality. Supplier Control... A Closer Look Supplier control is achieved by establishing an attractive workplace culture, achieving maturity in process and skills, deepening industry relationships, and retaining personnel. Establish Attractive Workplace Culture In establishing an attractive workplace culture, the leading indicators of behaviors to understand well include civility, push back, commodity view, and management ignorance. The leading indicators of rewards to manage well include competitive wage structures, key employee status, and investment contribution. The leading indicators of outcomes to measure and guide include personnel overtime, off the clock time, employee morale, and team satisfaction. Achieve Maturity in Process and Skills The right skills at the right time in the right place is a difficult combination to achieve in an environment of rapid change and personnel shortages. The leading indicators for achieving maturity include software skills and personnel certification. The leading indicators of outcome include software productivity and span of responsibility. With skilled personnel and organization software process maturity, the leading indicators to manage well include accountability and control, commitment management, predictable performance, and modern software engineering practice. Deepen Industry Relationships A variety of industry relationships are needed to control resources. Sources for outsourcing both domestic and offshore are highly valued. The agenda for supplier bargaining power, immigration policy, and unionization demands active participation by the enterprise. The outcome is measured in terms of open requisitions, personnel turnover, and staff churn and their impact on products and services. Retain Personnel Software personnel are in great demand to support industries of all kinds. Retaining software personnel who have learned the application domain and the trade secrets of an enterprise is essential. The leading indicators for retaining software personnel include competitive wage structures and key employee status. The leading indicators of outcome to measure include open requisitions, personnel turnover, and staff churn. The Art of Customer Control Customer control is achieved by deepening customer relationships, balancing business factors, and achieving total customer satisfaction. Deepen Customer Relationships Industries of all types strive to achieve a high degree of customer intimacy. This begins with having the deepest possible understanding of customer needs. It progresses to fielding mature products that conform to these needs. These products have been shown to be Y2K compliant and resistant to software failure. Balance Business Factors The enterprise understands the degree of customer bargaining power and its origin. This is reflected in leading indicators for price elasticity, time to market, and the degree to which market share is contested. Achieve Total Customer Satisfaction Total customer satisfaction exceeds customer expectation and delivers value through mature products that are highly usable and maintained through an orderly release frequency. Controlling the Competition Competitor control is achieved by deepening community relationships, fielding superior products, and setting the direction for the niche. Deepen Community Relationships Community relationships are forged through participation in government research, contributing to university research, acquiring and supplying venture capital, and partnering with industry peers in collaborative research. Field Superior Products Superior products are fielded based on domain architectures, product line practice, and reuse technology that stem from superior knowledge of the application obtained through community relationships. Successful products reflect a high degree of innovation and integrated bundles that package carefully selected features and capabilities designed for delivering total customer satisfaction and distinguishing the enterprise from the competition. Lead Niche Direction The successful enterprise sets the industry standard for products in the niche, understands actions taken by competitors, and counters the threat of new entrants. Controlling Event Threats and Change Event threat control is achieved by guarding against government intrusion, applying strategic software management, performing due diligence, and understanding reality. Guard Against Government Intrusion Government threats come in the form of antitrust litigation, export control, and tax policy. Immigration policy and government research are also government related factors. Apply Strategic Software Management The blueprint for strategic software management goes beyond commitment. It calls for raising the organization's ability to improve to a core competence. The organization must strive to achieve the best possible practice by defining, assessing, improving, and measuring each element in the blueprint for software capability. Perform Due Diligence Performing due diligence is necessary to protect software products and their users. Vulnerability to certain event threats flows from both internal organizational neglect and external threats.This is best countered by exercising due diligence. The leading indicators to control well include defect free, patent application, product traceability, network security, and statistical process control. Understand Reality Where the personnel, customer, and business environment is highly non deterministic, chaos and luck are the leading indicators needed to understand reality.

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