Estimating the value of decisions relating to managing and developing software-intensive products and projects

Abstract

The software industry’s current decision-making relating to product/project management and development is largely done in a value neutral setting, in which cost is the primary driver for every decision taken. However, numerous studies have shown that the primary critical success factor that differentiates successful products/projects from failed ones lie in the value domain. Therefore, to remain competitive, innovative and to grow, companies must change from cost-based decision-making to value-based decision-making where the decisions taken are the best for that company’s overall value creation. Our vision to tackle this problem and to provide a solution for value estimation is to employ a combination of qualitative and machine learning solutions where a probabilistic model encompassing the knowledge from different stakeholders will be used to predict the overall value of a given decision relating to product management and development. This vision drives the goal of a 3-year research project funded by the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (Tekes), with the participation of several industry partners.