Calendar

Lec # Topics Key Dates
1 Course Overview and Organization Part 1 of the video "Triumph of the Nerds" shown in class
2 Strategy for Software Companies: What to Think About Part 2 of the video "Triumph of the Nerds"
3 How Software Became a Business Part 3 of the video "Triumph of the Nerds"

Student team 1: Best Practices for IT Services Firms
4 Microsoft® Case Study: Strategy, Management, Organization Student Team 2: Current Standards/Platforms Battles -- .NET vs. J2EE, other

Paper 1 due
5 Managing Software Development: Basic Issues and Best Practices Video from Microsoft®: Chris Peter's on "Shipping Software"

Student Team 3: Report on Different Development Experiences and Paradigms
6 Software Sales

Guest Presentation: Brian Halligan, former MIT student and former VP of Sales, Groove Networks
Student Team 4: Software Sales Techniques
7 Part 1: Software Marketing

Guest Presentations: Steve Kahl (MIT PhD student, former VP of Goldman Sachs; and Charles DeWitt, former MIT LFM student, former VP of Strategy and Planning, i2, current Director of Enterprise Marketing, Kronos Software)

Part 2: Software Entrepreneurship
Student Team 5: Software Marketing and Pricing Techniques

Student Team 7: Startup Analysis

Paper 2 due
8 Open Source

Guest Lecturer: Professor Alan MacCormack, Harvard Business School
Student Team 6: Analysis of For-Profit Open Source Businesses

Excerpts from the video: "Revolution OS" (2002)
9 Software Business Overseas: Outsourcing and Innovation

Guest Presentation -- Izhar Armoney, Charles River Ventures. Specialist on Israeli software industry. MBA Wharton, currently a director of iPhrase, July Systems, Optaros, Proficiency, ThinkFire and Virtusa
Student Team 8: Pros and Cons of Outsourcing and Global Development

Student Team 9: State of India Report

Student Team 10: State of China Report

Student Team 11: State of Israel Report

Paper 3 due
10 "Emerging" Software Technologies/Companies - Paper Presentations 1
11 Wrap-Up