6.4 Research and Discussion Issues

Understand in some depth the relation between industrial organization and software architecture. What are typical circumstances in which organization precedes architecture or architecture precedes organization, and both are determined by market forces beyond the direct control of industrialist and architect?
Discuss in some depth how a firm that defines and promulgates a software architecture maintains control over it and how that firm gains competitive advantage.
Discuss the observed evolution in industrial organization surrounding the capturing of user needs and software requirements, and speculate on how that organization may change in the future. Is this an area where the world will look much different?
Discuss in some depth the different business challenges faced by application, infrastructure, embedded, and component software suppliers.
Discuss the level of configurability required of off-the-shelf software products to meet the needs of multiple end-user organizations. What is the likely trend in this area: toward more customization of software, toward more configurability, or toward greater standardization of business needs and processes around standard software solutions?
If software suppliers are effectively defining the organization and processes of their customers, how can that relationship be made more effective?
The term system integrator is a bit of a misnomer because more functions than integration of software modules and equipment are required. Discuss in detail the range of functions required in software provisioning. Also, discuss the relation between the business consultant and system integration functions.
The systems management function in operation has some similarity to the functions of provisioning. Discuss the similarities and differences.
Describe in some depth the distinct challenges faced by departmental, enterprise, and commerce applications.
What issues and challenges have application service providers encountered in practice? Why have there been some notable business failures? Are these fundamental problems, or can they be addressed by changes in strategy?
In terms of the advantages and disadvantages of the ASP model of provisioning and operation, discuss any differences that may exist between infrastructure software, application software, and software tools.
Are there any essential differences between the conventional and ASP models in terms of pricing strategies for the software supplier? Consider the cases where the software supplier is also the service provider, and the case where they are different firms.
Consider the relation between the means of distribution for a series of releases of the same application and customer value. As part of this, consider the effect on software provisioning, operation, and use.
Consider in some depth the relation between the various pricing models (section 6.3.3) and user value and willingness to pay (section 3.2). Do some pricing models come closer than others to matching pricing and value?
Consider in some depth the make, buy, license, and subscribe models for software acquisition for an end-user organization with specific needs. Under what circumstances is each likely to better match needs? How do the models compare in cost effectiveness and matching of cost versus value?
Speculate on future trends for end-user organizations' outsourcing of infrastructure (including facilities, equipment, and software) provisioning and operation. Do you believe this will become increasingly common, and if so, for which types of infrastructure, and why?
Discuss the capitalization of all expenditures in the software value chain. Under what circumstances do you believe this is justified?