In the age of the customer, companies need to drive a new business agenda around customer engagement- and to achieve that level of engagement, software becomes critical. Software has become a strategic asset which sits at the intersection between companies and their customers and has become vital in enriching companies’ brands. For example, how you interact with a travel agency or retailer today is often through their mobile app – and the experience of using that app has a direct impact on how you perceive the company.
 
However, developing software-enabled products requires sophisticated technology and architectural design skills which presents tremendous challenges — even more so for companies for whom technology is not in their DNA. Reflective of this, already in 2012, 38% of the business budget decision-makers who indicated that improving their firm's ability to innovate was a top priority, expressed an increasing willingness to partner with other firms to address their innovation challenges.
 
The recently published Forrester Wave on software product development services (PDS) evaluated the leading providers who can partner with companies to help develop these software-enabled products (EPAM Systems, GlobalLogic, HCL, Infosys, Mindtree, Ness Technologies, Pactera, Persistent Systems, Symphony Teleca, TCS, and Wipro).
 
Next week (on June 24) I will be conducting a webinar for Forrester clients to discuss the results of the Wave evaluation. In addition to reviewing the service providers who participated, I’ll also discuss findings from 33 customer interviews. These customers varied from large traditional independent software vendor (ISV) buyers to small startups in Silicon Valley to companies not traditionally associated with technology or software. The diversity of these companies provides a clear indication of the state of the software PDS market and the changing needs and concerns of buyers.
 
Look forward to seeing you there.