Review By: Karin Hodyl
05/26/2005

Vijay Sikka tells the story of the rapidly changing IT environment in "Maximizing ROI on Software Development." He explains ways to capitalize on both productivity and quality within an organization in this easy to read book. His style of dissemination flows naturally because of his software development background. The terms used are understandable to technical analysts and business leaders alike. Sikka proves that the ROI of software development is a valuable tool for determining how productive and efficient an organization is at maximizing quality and profits.

The author gives the history of software development and various evolving practices. Then his focus shifts towards software controls within the organization, such as configuration, change, and release management. These controls showcase what needs to change in order to truly maximize ROI. Afterwards, Sikka analyzes the business case for maximizing software ROI, first listing the cons then the benefits. The "How" is addressed as well as what an organization should avoid. He references offshore as "bestshore" practices.

Sikka subsequently answers the "Why?" portion of the issue. TCO and other metrics and models are given to better understand the ROI formula in regards to software development. By using the "Rings of Applied ROI," one can see how ROI could increase based on an organization’s methodology and process, automation, and tools. Sikka also considers an organization's cosourcing, which is more than "bestshoring" because it involves fully globalizing software development and testing efforts.

Sikka ties the concept of cosourcing into the argument for global software development and testing. He follows with examples and explanations discussing the quality perspective giving various scenarios. He places emphasis on the training factor and lists the costs involved. A roadmap of how to implement a global software development and testing concept is featured in chapter six.

Two case studies detail Sikka's proposition. Both cases reveal that blindly following the "How" may not work unless proper planning and execution are also used. The concept of outsourcing is fresh in everyone’s mind, so this book does a service in further developing the concept. The issues Sikka presents are relevant and timely issues many business leaders are currently investigating.