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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 005.3068
EAN num: 9781578511051
ISBN number: 1578511054
Label: Harvard Business School Press
Manufacturer: Harvard Business School Press
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 312
Printing Date: 1999-10
Publishing house: Harvard Business School Press
Sale Popularity Level: 284198
Studio: Harvard Business School Press
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Product Description:
The software industry is the most powerful wealth creator in history. It's an industry of extreme sucess - unrivalled job creation, extraordinary growth, accelerated product cycles - but the failures can be just as spectacular. What can we learn from the winners? In 'Secrets of Software Success', the authors investigate the software industry's best practices in order to develop a complete picture of what it takes to build a thriving software business. Drawing on an exclusive worldwide survey of more than 100 global software companies and 450 top executives, 'Secrets of Software Success' presents the very first panoramic view of the conditions that influence results for both the product and the service sides of the software industry. In the highly readable and often provocative examples from well-known firms, the authors debunk many widely held-beliefs, and offer instead some surprisingly counter-intuitive findings. Ultimately, say the authors, the secret to sucess lies in the details - the ability to choose from a range of key management decisions in order to balance the right set of actions at the right time to quickly changing market conditions. With its universal lessons of competition, commitment, talent, and timing, 'Secrets of Software Success' holds valuable answers to the questions asked by executives in every industry. Covering firms from Australia to Zimbabwe, it is the most in-depth picture to date of the conditions that surround sucess in the global software business.
Amazon.com Review:
In Secrets of Software Success, Detlev Hoch, with Cyriac Roeding, Gert Purkert, and Sandro Lindner, look at what's driving the prosperity of the world's best software companies and what's responsible for the failure of others. The authors, who are consultants with McKinsey & Co. in Germany, visited nearly 100 software firms around the globe and conducted 450 in-depth interviews with executives. The result is a book loaded with sharp insights and colorful anecdotes from leaders of companies such as Microsoft Germany, Keane Ltd., BroadVision, Andersen Consulting, Oracle, Sun Microsystems, and Navision in Denmark. 'The opportunities for sucess in this industry remain strong,' they conclude. 'But the price of change brings new challenges and uncertainties. Neglecting these challenges could be a deadly mistake: Falling behind in the software industry, after all, almost certainly means failure.'
In separate chapters, the authors examine the importance of leadership, the keys to developing and marketing software, winning the war for software talent, cementing partnerships for growth, and the shape of the future of this quickly changing industry. Some of their findings are contrary to common belief. For example, software developers' and managers' disdain for rigid procedures is well known, but what the authors find is that morale and creativity actually rise with tighter rules that create better products and cut development time. Other conclusions are reinforcing; for example, the most successful companies team up with four times as many other firms as the less successful ones. Written in a lively, conversational style, Secrets of Software Success should be on the bookshelf of anyone connected to the software business. --Dan Ring
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Rated by buyers -
Secrets of Software Sucess goes beyond the dry research papers that appear in the McKinsey Quarterly. Several consultants took upshots from 450 executives and laid them out in a concise and applicable manner. The authors reveal traits that could be implemented at any industry. Software consulting firms lead the industry in customer service and spend 78% of their advertising budget marketing their company name. We see so many software start ups as 95% is intangible capital. Partnerships are used to make up for gaps. Most companies make decisions quickly as they are based on a flat team-based organizational structure. Besides stock options, their culture has successfully overcome factors such as a variety of work styles and high turnover. Almost all companies do daily builds as stress causes 40% of all software errors and late fixes in design could cost 200 times an immediate fix. To conclude, a must read for anyone who wants to be a part of the digitized future.
Rated by buyers 
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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.
Rated by buyers 
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If you work in software, then you MUST read 'Secrets of Software Success'. Its analysis of the factors influencing software company performance is both rigorous and entertaining.
Rated by buyers -
if you are in information technology and "get the business", then avoid this book...
otherwise, look into it... great true stories on how software companies grow organically and quickly in a business that has revolutionized the way we work and communicate daily.
this book is also very beneficial for cio's just entering the "arena" and are in need of some motivation and direction.
enjoy!
Rated by buyers 
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"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.
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