Today’s information technology era is driven by software providers of all shapes and sizes. On the one hand we have big or very big providers who have established themselves through very sophisticated business models and ecosystem channels they have invested in for a long time. Tried and tested business processes enable them to stay ahead of the curve when responding to new customer demands – either through large investments in new innovations or because of the market reach they have established over time.
On the other hand, there are several small and medium independent software vendors (ISV) who are focusing on solving very specific problems or addressing niche segments differently. While these small and medium ISVs have created their own space, they are constantly challenged to keep building newer products or adding new features to stay in the game. Another challenge they face is to maintain their market position with changing tastes and a perpetually evolving genre of customers. Customer ‘stickiness’ is never guaranteed and this poses a great threat to an ISV’s revenue cycles in spite of good engineering capabilities.