KEY POINTS:
Kiwi companies have always been good at developing software - the success of Marshal Software, Aftermail, Orion and Jade, to name just a few, is proof of that.
But a lot of IT companies spend so much time furiously working away to perfect their software, the business development and management side of the business is often neglected.
I come across no end of ambitious, talented little software start-ups that aren't looking at the bigger picture and as a result all their hard work is in danger of going nowhere.
That makes the University of Auckland's Centre for Software Innovation's latest project particularly interesting. The centre has received a hefty amount of funding - $3.4 million, by the Foundation of Research Science and Technology to conduct a year-long survey where they'll look at the processes of a group of software companies and try to help improve the productivity of their software development.
Anyone with a software company should check out the CSI's website and register to get involved in what amounts to an intensive mentoring programme and research project rolled into one.
The results of the study will hopefully benefit the entire software industry and the level of funding suggests this will be methodical and well-resourced.
What sort of companies is the university looking for? According to Professor John Grundy, CSI Co-Director and Professor in Software Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering: "We're looking for companies with a passion for improvement, which are keen to understand how to manage their processes and assess the quality of their products better. They must also be willing to invest staff time and to host students."
We need more of this type of research to determine the strengths and weaknesses in our home grown IT industry and therefore how to improve our chances of making it on the world stage.
