Challenges of software product companies: results of a national survey in Finland

We report findings from a survey that has been conducted in Finland to study how the software product companies have matured and evolved over the years. In addition to introducing some key terms for characterizing the software product business, we provide some overall data on the sector, and discuss some specific issues related to the software R&D process and subcontracting. The survey is one of the largest such surveys covering the software product companies and has revealed several interesting findings on software product companies. Most notably, the software companies have shown to be dynamic and resilient in challenging business environment; and their biggest challenges in growth are not technical but management and marketing related. Furthermore, we also discovered that the most important improvement areas are improving the degree of productization and level of competence of personnel and that the ability to network with other companies is critical for younger companies. This survey also revealed that programming and planning are the two most common types of subcontracting, and difficulties in modularity and specifications are the biggest hurdles that prevent wider use of subcontracting.