Software Product Development Vs Software Project

Many business owners/startup companies are confused between Software Product and Software Project. They get confused and treat their product as a project.😊

Here is the difference you as a business owner should know:

Software Product: 

1. It is the proprietary product of your company. 

2. A product keeps evolving based on the market study.

3. Product doesn’t need to be one-shot deployment into the market. 

4. It can be released as MVPs (Minimum Viable Product) with operatable mandatory features. This helps you to understand the market demand, changes and upgrades the product needs.

Remember: Facebook, Uber, Ola, Amazon, Flipkart all are products that have evolved over the years. They understood the market, kept introducing new features as per the market demand.

Software Project:

1. It is typically one time build and deploy activity. It doesn’t need much changes as time goes about.

2. You get a software application developed and only maintain it.

3. You don’t make market based changes.

4. These are typically time-bound development projects.

Examples: Websites, Learning Management Systems, E-commerce applications etc.,

Many Business owners/startups feel that outsourcing a product development as a project development helps them save costs.

But trust me my friends, if you are doing it that way, you are simply failing your product.

Suggestions: 

1. Products are an asset that you are investing on, which will give you long term returns.  Consider them as an investment, not spend.

2. Be consistent with your product. Release it in small chunks. 

3. Let the market adapt to your product. Let people use it for free. 

4. Have a Technology team that can assist you to change the product according to the market demands. Having an in-house technology team would be an asset. However, if you don't know how to guide an in-house team, have a dedicated technology vendor.

Remember-You are domain experts only. Let the technology experts take care of the technology deliverables and deployments. You really need to trust your technology team and give them the leverage to make the changes for you.

Product experts what do you think? Please feel free to add your comments below.