Further Reading and Resources

0 7 4 0 7 4 5 9 / 0 4 / $ 2 0 . 0 0 © 2 0 0 4 I E E E competitive advantage to simply “something good.” Consequently, the software community looks upon ROI with increasing suspicion as a vague and slippery gimmick used chiefly to make the sales pitch (invariably unsubstantiated) for a particular product or initiative. On the contrary, ROI analysis aims to achieve clarity in the decision-making process. For example, from a technical perspective, we generally want to increase a software product’s quality because fixing existing software takes valuable time away from developing new software. But how much investment in software quality is desirable? When should we invest, and where? A robust economic and strategic analysis can help answer these questions. If a firm’s strategy to achieve competitive advantage is based on higher customer satisfaction and corresponding higher prices, then it can argue for a certain level and type of investment in quality. A competitive strategy based on lower production costs and lower focus