Software Business in Industrial Companies: Identifying Capabilities for Three Types of Software Business

The development of organizational capabilities takes time and resources, and they are difficult to change once they have been created. Recently, also non-software companies – so-called industrial companies – have started to sell software and related services. So far it has been unclear which capabilities are needed in, and whether they differ for, different types of software business in industrial companies. The present research closes this gap and identifies 20 software business capabilities by studying the capabilities relevant in three types of software business in industrial companies. Of these capabilities, some proved to be relevant for all types of software business, some for software product and/or enterprise solution system business, and some for software service business. Based on our findings, industrial companies could improve their competitive position by directing their resources at the development or improvement of specifically those capabilities that proved to be relevant for a certain type of software business.

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