From Software Business Community

IMPACT OF PATCHING ON SOFTWARE QUALITY

The article present a model of fixing or patching a software problem after the product has been released in the market.

Authors

• Arora, Ashish
• Caulkins, Jonathan P.
• Telang,Rahul

Summary

From the abstract:

"We model a software firms trade-off in releasing a buggy product early and investments in fixing it later. Just as the marginal cost of producing software can be effectively zero, so can the marginal cost of repairing multiple copies of defective software by issuing patches. We show that due to the fixed cost nature of investments in patching, a software vendor has incentives to release a buggier product early and patch it later in a larger market. Thus, a software monopolist releases a product with fewer bugs but later than what is socially optimal. We contrast this result with physical good markets where market size does not play any role in quality provision. We also show that for comparable costs, a software monopolist releases the product with more bugs but invests more in post-patching support later than the physical good monopolist. "

Why is it recommended?

The paper analyses the essential trade-of all software companies face: Quality versus time-to-market. The paper gives a comprehensive overview of the effects of these trade-offs and discusses how to tackle them. A recommended reading for everyone involved in the production or sale of software products in high-pace markets.

Publication Info

• Management Science Journal
• Pub Year: 2006
• Volume: 52, Issue: 3
• Page: 465 - 471

Citation

@article{RefWorks:6,
 	author={Ashish Arora and Jonathan P. Caulkins and Rahul Telang},
	year={2006},
	title={Research NoteSell First, Fix Later: Impact of Patching on Software Quality},
	journal={Manage.Sci.},
	volume={52},
	number={3},
	pages={465-471},
},

Links

• ACM Link