Karl Michael Popp

Goals of Software Vendors for Partner Ecosystems – A Practitioner´s View

There is literature about large software vendors building ecosystems around themselves [1,2]. This paper looks at goals they try to achieve with partner ecosystems.

The Impact of Software-as-a-Service on Software Ecosystems

The trend towards cloud-based applications changes the way customers run their businesses, but also the way software is sold and delivered. This affects software ecosystems and the way software vendors interact and manage their partners. In order to explore on the impacts, we conducted a single-case study by examining a globally leading software vendor of both, traditional on-premises software as well as cloud solutions. The study reveals new insights on how the SaaS revolution impacts partner management within software ecosystems from a vendor perspective, for instance that successful cloud partners may not necessarily come from a cloud background.

The Sun also Sets: Ending the Life of a Software Product

Sunsetting a software product is a painful and frustrating process, whether it happens in times of crisis or in an organized and planned manner. It is surprising that little information is available on how to perform sunsetting and it appears to be a blind spot in software product management literature. This paper describes the sunsetting method and provides practitioners with a well-defined process of how software products must be taken out of development, maintenance, and finally use. With the sunsetting method, product managers will have as little trouble as possible based on the experiences of others. The process description is elaborated using a method description. Furthermore, three retrospective case studies have been conducted to evaluate the method.

Finding the Unicorn: Predicting Early Stage Startup Success Through a Hybrid Intelligence Method

Artificial intelligence is an emerging topic and will soon be able to perform decisions better than humans. In more complex and creative contexts such as innovation, however, the question remains whether machines are superior to humans. Machines fail in two kinds of situations: processing and interpreting “soft” information (information that cannot be quantified) and making predictions in “unknowable risk” situations of extreme uncertainty. In such situations, the machine does not have representative information for a certain outcome. Thereby, humans are still the “gold standard” for assessing “soft” signals and make use intuition. To predict the success of startups, we, thus, combine the complementary capabilities of humans and machines in a Hybrid Intelligence method. To reach our aim, we follow a design science research approach to develop a Hybrid Intelligence method that combines the strength of both machine and collective intelligence to demonstrate its utility for predictions under extreme uncertainty.

Service-Channel Fit Conceptualization and Instrument Development - A Mixed Methods Study in the Context of Electronic Banking

Electronically mediated self-service technologies in the banking industry have impacted the way banks service consumers. Despite a large body of research on electronic banking channels, no study has been undertaken to empirically explore the fit between electronic banking channels and banking services. To address this gap, we developed and validated a service-channel fit conceptualization and an associated survey instrument. We applied a mixed methods approach and initially investigated industry experts’ perceptions regarding the concept of ‘service-channel fit’ (SCF). The findings demonstrated that the concept was highly valued by bank managers. Next, we developed an instrument to measure the perceived service-channel fit of electronic banking channels. The instrument was developed using expert rounds and two pretests involving approximately 300 consumers in New Zealand. Drawing on IS alignment literature, we created a parallel instrument allowing us to calculate SCF across three unique fit dimensions, including service complexity-channel fit, service importance-channel fit, and service routineness-channel fit. To explore the nomological validity of the SCF construct, we linked SCF to customers’ intention to use a specific channel for a particular banking task. We tested our model with data from 340 consumers in New Zealand using Internet banking applications for two different banking tasks. The results of our study have theoretical and practical implications for how clients should be serviced through electronically mediated banking channels.

Defining the Process of Acquiring Product Software Firms

Product software companies increasingly seek expansion by means of acquiring software products. For product software firms, the process of an acquisition is complex and challenging because acquisitions require complex processes, business risk, and life-changing decisions. The determinants that influence such acquisition decisions are rarely investigated. Prior research has focused on software acquisitions, but has not focused on software acquisition determinants during an acquisition process. In this study, the product software acquisition process has been defined and the determinants have been identified. Experts evaluated and assessed the acquisition determinants and the acquisition process, in order to find a critical determinant for each respective phase. Finally, a model is presented in which the most critical determinants are presented in the different phases of the acquisition process. The results provide an exploratory set of guidelines that help managers at product software companies through the complex processes of acquisitions in the product software industry.