Introduction

People have been talking of software crises since the 1960s. They were referring to the disparity between expectations and actual achievements in productivity and in the quality of the software being provided, as observed by both software vendors and corporate users. Nevertheless, the industry has for the most part been doing brilliantly for decades. The first real crisis in the software industry occurred when the Internet bubble burst in 2000. Many publicly traded software companies had to declare insolvency, others were taken over. This development can be considered an overdue consolidation following an exaggerated boom phase. However, it also reveals the immense risks of a difficult business with a rapid succession of technological changes, little standardization, and a lot of irrational hype. Compared to more traditional industries, the software industry is still quite immature.

Corporate users became disillusioned after having made enormous IT investments during the boom period. The “soft” in software was often misinterpreted as meaning “everything is feasible”. A vast number of large projects, including retail banking and securities applications, failed completely in the finance industry. The time and money invested in other projects sometimes either got completely out of control or did not produce the anticipated return on investment or both. In this case we should not conclude that all IT expenditures are excessive, and throw the baby out with the bathwater, however. The question is not whether money should still be invested in IT, but rather how such investments can lead to the desired sustainable commercial success. This is exactly what systematic software product management aims to do.