Ten Misconceptions about Product Software Release Management explained using Update Cost/Value Functions

The decision for a young product software vendor to release a version of their product is dependent on different factors, such as development decisions (it feels right), sales decisions (the market needs it), and quality decisions (the product is stable). Customers of these products, however, are much more cost oriented when deciding whether to update their product or not, and will look mainly at the cost and value of an update. Product software vendors would gain tremendously if their release package planning method was supported by a similar cost/value overview. This paper presents cost/value functions for product software vendors to support their release package planning method. These cost/value functions are supported by ten misconceptions encountered in seven case studies of product software vendors that these vendors had to adjust during their lifetime. Finally, a number of cost saving opportunities are presented to enable quicker adoption of a release and thus shorten release times and customer feedback cycles.