Customer Reviews

Secrets of Software Success: Management Insights from 100 Software Firms Around the World

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As I read through the book, I kept waiting for the authors to unveil a secret to software success. As I reached the halfway point it occurred to me that there would be none. At least not for anyone that is already in the business. To set expectations, this book would be better suited to a reader from outside the industry.

For these readers, this well-written report adeptly summarizes knowledge gained from previously printed materials and personal interviews with the people that matter. Unfortunately, this access may have come at a price. The authors gloss over failures and accent the positive moves by these companies to such an extent that the reader may come away with a success-biased view of the software development business.

"Secrets of.." reflects a lot of work by the four authors.

Unfortunately a lot of information is repeated throughout several chapters, which make reading the book from front to end a bit strenuous.

While the collection of data is impressive and the message is clear, the book lacks what I expected from it: a quantitative yardstick to evaluate the players in the software products market and the software service companies.

What does it take to thrive in an industry where "more than 60% of companies that make it to IPO eventually go bankrupt or create very little value"? Five young German business consultants decided they needed to know urgently, and have come up with some original conclusions. Not only are the winners significantly different from the also-rans, they are significantly different from successful companies in other industries. The book reads as though the the five authors split up the task of the book between them, and some sections are stronger than others. Whoever did the hard research and formed the major conclusions did a thorough and superb job - the reason for the five stars. The chapter on the technical aspects of producing good products were mostly derivative of Steve McConnell (" Software Project Survival Guide") and Fred Brooks ("Mythical Man Month"). The section on what it takes to attract good employees bordered on the silly, and the thumbnail sketches of such corporations as SAP, Baan and Platinum were uncritical to the point of reading like recruiting brochures. Who would I recommend the book to? Certainly, anybody who's thinking of starting a software company. I'd also recommend it to anyone wanting to invest in hi-tech, and any software professional who's job-hunting. Personally, I'm going to mail my copy to Judge Penfield Jackson.

The McKinsey team does an excellent job of identifying what it takes to succeed as a software company. A good first read for anyone wanting to get into the software industry, Secrets of Software Success could be rather repetitive and too simplistic for industry veterans as they spend a lot of time covering the basics. Nevertheless, I read it cover-to-cover in less than 10 days and have purchased copies for other members of our team.

For such a critical area of business there are very few good books written on the software industry. 'Secrets' gives some annecdotal insights, a decent point-of-view, but is by no means a great overview of the industry. It very much feels like this book was thrown together by a team and lacked editorial or conceptual focus. Nonetheless, it deserves a relative four stars because there is nothing else better (if you know of something, please email me antonow@yahoo.com.

This is a fascinating book. Never before have I seen such a comprehensive look at what goes on behind-the-scenes in the software industry. The insights into what management practices lead to success in this field are invaluable, and many could easily be translated into other industries. I plan to apply many in my own business.

Overall this is an adequate book for the title. However, coming from McKinsey folks, then...... hmmm.... The writing is a little sloppy and some of the analysis are not really insights. There ought to be more daring predictions at the end of the book from the authors... I suggest the authors to create an updated edition NOW since things are changing so much so fast in the software industry.

Written by a team from McKinsey following several man years interviews and analysis, `Success' highlights business success factors through 100s of facts, quotes and anecdotes.

The positively presented chapters span:

* It's like riding a bull- some historical innovation, software in aerospace, cars & health, software industry overview, and research scope & methodology.

* A new business called "software"- IT segmentation & evolution (mass products, enterprise solutions and professional services), volume vs productization chart, and market issues.

* Exceptional software leaders are the rule- characteristics (visionaries, risk-takers, dynamic, create teams with talent).

* Winning the war for software talent- recruiting (partner with universities, hiring workshops, internal referrals, freebies, learning), and issues of staff churn.

* Software development: completing a mission impossible- good processes (clarify requirements, structured approach, quality control, reusable components, daily build, communication)

* Marketing gods make software kings- law of increasing returns for being leader, good processes (customer segmentation, aggressive adventurist PR, value rather than technical approach), building trust for services (host conferences, discussion circles, online communities, trade & white papers/books), risk-sharing contracts, and life-time customer value.

* Grow your partners to grow yourselves- webs of 100s/1000s credible partners (train, pamper & certify them, with incentives rather than controls to manage), shapers (set standards/foundations) & adapters, and great expansion when >60% benefits to adapters of web

* The landscape of the future- growth- Internet applications, unbundelling of embedded software, digitized business system, convergence, component brokering, and market consolidation.

* Staying on the bull- services priority areas (people, resource assignment, development, marketing, partnering), enterprise solutions priority areas (partnering, service strategy, marketing, people, development), mass-market priority areas (marketing, partnering, globalization, people, development).

`Success' is a fact-filled & referenced, positive, timely global review of mass products, enterprise solutions and professional services.

Weaknesses include: the overwhelming positive (non-objective) viewpoint; factual inconsistency, omissions (e.g. Booch, Rumbaugh, Jacobsen, UML etc when taking about object-oriented analysis/design/implementations) & errors when discussing the technology; superficiality due to a lack of wider knowledge of technology & industry; poor use of sidebars/bullet charts/summaries & figures for effective communication; and a lack of interactivity for the reader or tools to use (beyond mimicking other success factors).

Overall, this book is an enjoyable entertaining easy-read, which ultimately fails the "so what" test- there is little of direct use (beyond standard management texts) for the reader to launch or improve companies. As such, `Success' is most suitable for newcomers to technology industries & service companies, job-seekers, and students.

I am moderately familiar with the literature on software projects (e.g., Steve McConnell's Software Project Survival Guide) and business success (e.g., Collins and Porras', Built to Last). "Secrets" tries to merge the knowledge of both disciplines, and comes up short. Its greatest strength lies in distinguishing between and describing in some depth the authors' views on the different kinds of software companies (mass products, enterprise solutions, and professional services). Its greatest weaknesss lies in committing the "common characteristics" analysis identified as "flawed" in Built to Last, p 13-15 (1997) (100 percent correlation between successful companies and having desks means having desks is a success factor).

"Secrets" adequately describes the conditions that its primary conduits (Navision, SAP, Intershop, Platinum) believe contributed to their successes. It is less obvious that these conditions, if copied, would increase the probability of success for any given company. The reader would surely be better off reading "Built to Last", then following up with Software Project Survival, Peopleware (DeMarco, Lister), and Principles of Software Engineering Management (Tom Gilb) for starters. The right software product, software service, clients, and market couldn't hurt . . .

A must read for everyone who is interested to find real life examples of successful software companies as well as those who failed. I especally enjoyed reading the chapter where it explains why projects fail at such high percentage.