Jan Bosch
When studying software-intensive systems companies, one of the interesting observations is that they all evolve in the same way. In earlier research, we have referred to this as the “Stairway to Heaven”. In the figure below, the speed dimension of the Stairway to Heaven model is shown. This model is a descriptive model based on … Read more
The greatest accomplishments of mankind have been achieved by groups, often large groups, of people. From the pyramids and gorgeous cathedrals built in the past to the modern accomplishments such as putting a man on the moon or the creation of the internet, none of this could have been created by an individual but required … Read more
In an earlier blog post, I raised the question of how agile organizations really are. This was based on my experience with a variety of companies that claim to be agile, but that, when taking a closer look, were not agile at all. Or that were using some agile practices, but failed to reap the … Read more
Companies spend very large amounts of resources on functionality that is commodity and does not offer any differentiation to the company and its customers. Our research shows that the R&D investment in commodity could be as high as 80-90%. Although the companies that I work with do not dispute the 80-90% numbers and do not … Read more
This week I was in Madrid to present a keynote at a workshop around variability management (VAMOS 2018). It was a fun event and to some extent a trip down memory lane as I was part of the early research community that systematically started to work on software variability management in the early 2000s. We … Read more
All companies have a strategy. Often captured in a nicely designed PowerPoint deck and summarized on a piece of plastified paper so that everyone can look at it and share how much they are in support of the business strategy. These strategies allow everyone to sing kumbaya, sitting around the campfire, even if they secretly, … Read more
Every company is part of an business ecosystem. In the ecosystem, we find the partners, the suppliers, the customers, competitors, complementors as well as other stakeholders. A business ecosystem was more formally defined in the early 1990s by Moore as an economic community with three key characteristics. First, there is a symbiotic relationship between the … Read more
Driving change is hard when you’re working bottom-up, we all know that. You constantly feel you need to ask for approval, get air cover and ensure that you’re not creating enemies that will come out with sharpened knives at the worst possible time. During the occasions that I was in that situation or where I … Read more
As the saying goes, change is the only constant. All the companies that I work with want the change, either because of fear of being disrupted or because of the opportunities that disrupting their industry bring. This is at least what companies and their employees tell me. In practice, however, I run into situation after … Read more
One of my goals for this year was to write a weekly blog post as a means to share my experiences, learnings and insights with a broader community in the hope that my efforts can help accelerate our evolution towards a digitalized, connected future. Although I don’t want to get into a long discussion about … Read more
