Ideas for new software products and services are not in shortage. But budgets are, engineering bandwidth is still an issue and many companies focus on servicing their existing customers, extending and maintaining their existing products, that they don’t have time to go after something that can sustain them in the future.

However, if software companies effectively leverage the variables of Time, Budget and Scope – they can build more products in lower budgets and release them successfully. The key is to play around with the scope of Version 1.0. Keeping it simple and building a product that satisfies today’s requirements and which can be adapted to tomorrow’s needs mean that you can take your new product to market fast and within your budget. For more on how you can build new products successfully, view this recorded webinar.

This newsletter also covers ways by which you can reduce your development time through Aspire’s product framework (Propel), how you can effectively leverage the web application framework of RoR, Aspire’s product development successes, news and more.

Insights

Jump-start your product development with Propel

When developing new software products, engineering teams typically spend about 30% of their development time in building a scalable architecture and the plumbing layer of that architecture. As first-mover advantage is a critical differentiator for ISVs, attempts to reduce this 30% timeframe will give them a head-start. Propel is a solution that reduces the development time when building software products and enables high quality product development.

New Product Development using Ruby-on-Rails

Major changes are taking place in the way software is being built today, and the timeframes in which software gets built. Ruby-on-Rails (RoR) is an open-source web development framework that supports rapid development, extensive collaboration and has a Web 2.0 focus. This paper discusses the merits and demerits of RoR as a platform of choice for building the next generation of new web applications and products.

How Aspire helped create successful new products

Desktop Solution for a Consumer Internet Program

A media and direct marketing company needed a desktop product which would provide marketing opportunities for advertisers while helping its members avail various offers from affiliated suppliers. Aspire helped the customer develop a user friendly consumer internet product with solid underlying architecture and powerful security features, within schedule and budget.

Product development, advancement and sustenance - SCM solution for the organic foods industry

Aspire associated strategically with an SCM provider in the organic foods market to develop a unique, scalable supply-chain platform using .NET technologies, which has more than 17 patents till date. The product was developed from scratch and continues to be enhanced and maintained through several new releases and feature additions.

Featured links

The "Broken Iron Triangle" Software Development Anti-pattern

Improve Project Success with Better Scope Management

The Software Project Manager's Bridge to Agility: Scope Management

Fix Time and Budget, Flex Scope