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Not all marketplace issues (for example, sales channels) strongly affect software project planning and decision-making, but the decisions we discuss here do. Rather than discuss contracted software development for specific customers or open-source software efforts, we'll emphasize the uncertainties and strategic issues that suppliers encounter in selling or licensing software in the general marketplace. 3,4 We categorize these issues by the standard ROI measures of revenue, cost, and risk. Revenue Revenue is affected by many factors, including pricing strategies and unit sales. All these factors strongly depend on design decisions affecting customer-perceived value and customer-incurred costs, as well as the status of competition. Factors deserving careful consideration include the customer's costs of switching to competitors, the value of compatibility with complementary products, and any value associated with more widespread adoption. Companies can increase revenue by charging higher unit-license or subscription fees, by increasing the number of units licensed, or both. Total revenue is proportional to the product of market share and market size, and many revenue maximization strategies increase one at the expense of the other. S oftware management and project decisions must consider many factors. 1,2 The most recognized return-on-investment drivers include the value to users; the cost of development, maintenance, upgrades, and customer support; and the risks of project failure, budget overrun, and revenue shortfall. This article focuses on other ROI issues related to positioning software in the marketplace, which serves as an intermediary between a software supplier organization and its customers. Strategic decisions in planning and designing commercial software often arise from marketplace issues related to the ROI measures of revenue, cost, and risk. These issues should influence ongoing project planning and design decisions and should not be left to business managers alone.