Software Productivity as a Strategic Variable

What affects software productivity and how to improve it... still an issue for researchers and developers of large software systems. The economics of software maintenance continues to be a huge problem as software maintenance includes not only fixing programming bugs but new features identified by users and needed by firms for ongoing sales. For service industries in general, human resources are the key component to success. For that reason attention must be focused on training, increasing skill levels, motivation, and compensation; and capital investment can be undertaken to improve worker productivity. The rapidity of technological change in the software environment increases the need to manage people effectively while at the same time making success more difficult to achieve. To increase productivity a highly skilled and motivated work force must be employed in the software industry. A scholarly oldie, but goodie by June Klein, former IBM Systems Research Institute Software Specialist and Gus Grammas, Columbia Business School Management Sciences Dept Head