Managing a software company?

There are many books about managing an IT consulting firm.

Is there any good book about managing a software company who develops and sells products?

For example, in such a company:

- each product must have a product team, which works only on that product

- there must be someone who studies the market, and recommends which new products to develop

- each existing product must evolve in a direction, and you have to figure out in which direction your customers what the project to go

Is there a book about managing and leading a software products company?

Thank you!

Jack Kyle
Monday, October 6, 2003

I'd recommend the book by cusumano on how Microsoft is run - it's a few years old, but there's a lot of detail from strategy to code.
(Microsoft Secrets: How the World's Most Powerful Software Company Creates Technology, Shapes Markets, and Manages People  - Michael A Cusumano, Richard W Selby ; ISBN: 0028740483 )
"Beyond Software Architecture: Creating and Sustaining Winning Solutions"  by Luke Hohmann (ISBN: 0201775948) is specifically about the detailed tradeoffs a software organisation has to make to achieve their goals. It's a bit superficial in some areas, but well worth a read.

Finally, - deMarco & Lister, peopleware ! Seriously !

Nev (www.kuyt.com)
Monday, October 6, 2003

Don't forget that running a software company is a lot like running any other kind of company to some degree.

What you mention as your "tips" for example applies to any organisation that develops its own products (as opposed to selling a service) and then markets them itself.

Robert Moir
Tuesday, October 7, 2003

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