Suppliers’ software development project start-up practices

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a life cycle phase of a software development project which is substantial for the success of the project. This paper visualizes the project start-up phase from suppliers’ perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

The method is a theory building from case studies. The data were collected from three software supplier firms by conducting process modeling separately in each firm.

Findings

The study resulted in a model of a supplier’s software project start-up which includes start-up practices and involved roles. The results indicate that project start-up is an integral and structured phase of project life cycle, which influences the execution of a software development project, especially from the supplier’s perspective in the project business context.

Research limitations/implications

The study focuses on the start-up phase of software development projects delivered to external customers. Therefore, developed project start-up model is applicable as such in software supplier firms.

Practical implications

The project start-up model presented in this paper indicates that project start-up is a complex and multi-dimensional activity in a supplier firm. This study suggests that if the project start-up phase is clearly defined, planned and followed in a supplier firm, it reduces confusion and miscommunication among the people involved in the project and helps to achieve the business goals of a project.

Originality/value

This study emphasizes that it is necessary to make a distinction between the perspectives of the customer and the supplier when studying projects in the project business context. The findings contribute the new knowledge for managing outsourced software development projects.

Citation

Merikoski, H., Savolainen, P. and Ahonen, J.J. (2017), "Suppliers’ software development project start-up practices", International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 880-896. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMPB-10-2016-0083