|
|
Crystal Reports for Microsoft Great Plains – overview for developers
Looks like Microsoft Great Plains becomes more and more popular, partly because of Microsoft muscles behind it. Now it is targeted to the whole spectrum of horizontal and vertical market clientele. Small companies use Small Business Manager...
Lifetime Email Addresses part 3
Checking Domain Name availability Having decided on a domain name we now need to check its availability before we can register it. All registrars that can register a .name domain name also have a facility for checking its availablity. So to check...
Password Security - How Secure are You?
Passwords - we use them every day, here in cyberland. They're used as the first step in identifying ourselves. Yes, we're allowed to logon to this network, because we have the pre-approved password. They're necessary for our online banking...
The Importance Of Email Backup
Viruses, software failures, power failures, human errors, hard drive failures are only a few examples of what could destroy the data on a hard drive, including all documents, pictures, emails and other files!
Most home computer users don't need an...
The Ten Commandments to Creating Amazing Audio Products
.Thou shall create audio products as the fastest way to come out with a product. Forget about e-books. They take to long to create especially if you’re a slooooow typist. You can create an audio product in a day instead of weeks or months with an...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Five Steps to Create Your Software Product with Outsourcing
Many executives and investors are skeptical that software products can be developed using outsourcing. Even more skepticism is expressed at the idea of outsourcing version 1.0 of a product. Yet Accelerance clients are using outsourcing to create their products right now. What is the secret to using outsourcing to successfully develop a software product?
Many people believe outsourcing is useless when you are in the Fuzzy Front End - that fuzzy zone between when a market opportunity is known and when serious software development can begin. They think you need to slog through the Fuzzy Front End by coding a prototype of your product. If so, you need the development team here, not several oceans away.
Another false assumption is that you need to write a comprehensive specification for your software during the Fuzzy Front End. Many companies use a very formal product definition process, optimized to remove as much "fuzz" as possible. How long should it take to design a software product before development can begin?
Obviously time is of the essence when developing a new product, but before the development process can begin you must have some idea of what your software will do. It is best to find this out from your prospective customers. But how can you involve your customers early and often in a collaborative process, when both of you are not sure of what they need or want? And what does that have to do with outsourcing?
According to Steve Blank, founder of several software startups and now lecturer at the Haas School of Business at Berkeley, you don't need a product development process. You need a customer development process. You need a process to discover what ornery problem your potential customers have that will cause them to part with their hard-earned money to solve that problem by buying your software.
The first step of Blank's customer development process is Customer Discovery. Here are his steps of customer discovery: * Create a product (or product demo) * Meet with customers and answer these four questions of customer discovery: 1. Have you identified a problem customers want to solve? 2. Does
your product solve these customer needs? 3. If so, do you have a viable and profitable business model? 4. Have you learned enough to go out and sell? * Change your product to reflect what you learn * Iterate until all questions can be answered positively
Is there a way to shorten these iteration cycles? The Accelerance answer is, don't code up your product or prototype at the start. Use an HTML editor to create screen mock-ups. Then link them together to tell the "user stories" of your software product. They show the major use cases of your product. Demonstrating the use cases this way is like putting your product requirements in motion. It simulates how the real product will be used.
HTML is easy to edit and requires no programming. You can make quick iterations before committing your product ideas to code.
Here is the five-step Accelerance formula you can follow to successfully design your product: 1. Describe your product idea and its benefits 2. Create a demo of the major use cases showing the biggest benefits of your software 3. Perform the Customer Discovery steps described above, iterating until you & customers are satisfied 4. Write an MRD using screen shots from your demo as illustrations 5. Develop and test your software
In modern business, you should focus on your core competency and outsource the rest. In the Accelerance five-step process, the first 4 steps of defining your product idea, completing the customer discovery process and documenting the requirements must be part of your core competency. The last step is not.
***
Anybody can develop software. But only you can figure out what your customers will buy. And that makes your software development a non-core process. Use this five step formula to take advantage of low cost outsourcing as an effective way to get your product developed quickly.
About the Author
Steve Mezak is a successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur and international outsourcing expert. Get your copy of his free report now on "The Seven Deadly Dangers of Outsourcing Your Software Development" by visiting http://www.Accelerance.com
|
|
|
|
|
Tucows Downloads - Download Freeware and Shareware Software |
Download freeware, shareware, and demos. Maintains over 45000 software titles that are tested, rated, reviewed and ready to download. |
www.tucows.com |
  |
Free Software Downloads and Software Reviews - Download.com |
Download shareware, freeware and Demo software for PC, Mac, Linux, and Handhelds categorized into categories, plus software reviews. |
www.download.com |
  |
Computer software - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
This includes application software such as a word processor, which enables a ... Application software is often purchased separately from computer hardware. ... |
en.wikipedia.org |
  |
Shareware.com - Search for shareware programs and free software ... |
Search for shareware programs from more than a dozen downloadable software directories. |
www.shareware.com |
  |
Jumbo: Free & Shareware MP3 files, Games, Screen Savers & Computer ... |
Source of free and shareware computer programs and utilities for PC and Mac. Evaluate software and read product reviews. Download games and screen savers. |
www.jumbo.com |
  |
Computer Software in the Yahoo! Directory |
Browse categories featuring sites devoted to computer software, including shareware and freeware download sites, operating systems, desktop customization, ... |
dir.yahoo.com |
  |
IEEE Software |
IEEE Computer Society's magazine covering all aspects of software, including software engineering. |
www.computer.org |
  |
Free Downloads on ZDNet | Shareware, Trialware, Evaluation Software |
ZDNet's Software Directory is the Web's largest library of software downloads. Covering software for Windows, Mac, and Mobile systems, ZDNet's Software ... |
downloads.zdnet.com |
  |
FSF - The Free Software Foundation |
Free software is a matter of liberty not price. Think of "free" as in "free speech". |
www.fsf.org |
  |
Apple - Software |
Software products for your digital life. ... The perfect addition for professional review. QuickTime Broadcaster. Encoding software for live events. ... |
www.apple.com |
  |
Open Directory - Computers: Software |
In Partnership with AOL Search. about dmoz | report abuse/spam | help. the entire directory, only in Computers/Software. Top: Computers: Software (38471) ... |
dmoz.org |
  |
freshmeat.net: Welcome to freshmeat.net |
About: The Web browser is probably the most frequently used software today, ... Web professionals can use the software for functional testing and regression ... |
freshmeat.net |
  |
Software - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation (FSF) |
Listing of the GNU software packages. |
www.gnu.org |
  |
Sun Software |
Get enterprise-class software--Solaris 10 OS, the Java Enterprise System, ... Sun Java StorageTek Software reduces cost and complexity with a single, ... |
www.sun.com |
  |
Internet Real Estate.com -- owns and operates a portfolio of the ... |
SOFTWARE.COM · SWEEPSTAKES.COM · PHONE.COM PODCAST.COM ... Software.com | Sweepstakes.com | Phone.com | Podcast.com | Shop.com | Safety.com ... |
www.internetrealestate.com |
  |
Joel on Software |
A weblog by Joel Spolsky, a programmer working in New York City, about software and software companies. |
www.joelonsoftware.com |
  |
Amazon.com Software: Computer & video games, business, accounting ... |
Online shopping for computer & video games, business & office productivity software, software from Microsoft, Apple, Adobe & more; accounting, antivirus, ... |
www.amazon.com |
  |
IBM Software - Home Page |
IBM home page for all of its software products, including Lotus and Tivoli, with keyword search, category browse and AZ product names. |
www.ibm.com |
  |
Opera web browser: Homepage |
Copyright © 2006 Opera Software ASA. All rights reserved. Skip navigation. Opera Software ... Copyright Opera Software ASA . All rights reserved. ... |
www.opera.com |
  |
Google Directory - Computers > Software |
Search only in Software Search the Web ... Software Categorized by Letter: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z ... |
www.google.com |
  |
|