Curriculum for Part-time Master's in Software Management
The Master of Science in Software Management (MS SM) program presents students with a management perspective of the rapidly changing software industry. “Management” refers not only to managing people and projects, but also to the strategic management of issues that arise in a software business. The program gives our graduates key insights into software businesses and organizations, as well as the skills to reach the next levels in their careers.
The MS Software Management program now offers four concentrations: Product Development, Entrepreneurship, Enterprise Innovation, and Service Management.
The Product Development concentration allows students to learn the best practices for developing a software product from concept to launch.
The Entrepreneurship concentration provides a venue for students to pursue a start-up by developing their own product or service idea while following the Product Development curriculum. A proposal and business plan is submitted at the end of the first year by the student(s) for faculty approval. Students may select team members that they may have already established a working relationship with from a previous course.
The Enterprise Innovation concentration offers the students the opportunity to learn how to sell, design, implement and deploy software innovation inside a large enterprise. Many times our students are gainfully employed in a large Silicon Valley company and are anxious to remain there and improve their path for advancement within the company. Learning enterprise innovation allows them to gain the knowledge needed to give them the skills and confidence to approach existing problems with innovation solutions.
Finally, the Service Management concentration provides a means for students to learn to manage the design, implementation, operation, and improvement of complex, software-intensive service systems. In addition to developing software, it turns out that close to 70% of the revenue generated by a software company comes from the additional services offered. Employees may be called upon to lead teams, to define innovative solutions, and make excellent business and technical decisions in a crucial area in the software industry; service management. Study service management can provide them with the groundwork necessary to step into this role.
After completing a common core of first-year software management courses, students in the SM program may select their concentration. These concentrations provide the opportunity to tailor their studies to their career goals.
Core Courses
- Elements of Software Management
- Metrics for Software Managers
- Project and Process Management
- Managing Software Professionals or Organizational Behavior
Concentrations begin in Fall Year II
Concentrations Curriculum
Product Development
- Software Product Definition
- Requirements Analysis
- Software Product Strategy
- The Business of Software
- Summer Electives
Entrepreneurship
Follow the same courses as the Product Development concentration, but students apply second-year courses to their own product or service idea (with faculty approval)
Enterprise Innovation
- Software Product Definition
- Requirements Analysis
- Enterprise Innovation
- Summer Electives
Service Management
- Managing Service Organizations
- Sourcing Management
- Service Improvement Implementation
- Service Management Seminar/Project Course
Elective Courses
Course Descriptions
Elements of Software Management
Through seminar discussions and individual investigation, students assess real software businesses from marketing, business strategy, financial, and overall business perspectives, applying fundamental methods, models, and frameworks.
Metrics for Software Managers
As members of a project team, students analyze and propose metrics initiatives for a fictional software organization with specific software management problems, aligning the initiatives with business and stakeholder goals.
Project and Process Management
Project teams establish a business case for a new software product, describing project goals and success criteria, then recommending an appropriate software development method for the project team.
Managing Software Professionals
Student teams address a series of issues related to creating a productive work environment for coordinating and managing a distributed software development project, including hiring and performance reviews.
Organizational Behavior in High-Tech Industry (faculty approval required)
Using innovative conceptual frameworks, students learn the fundamentals of organizational behavior as it relates to the unique challenges of high tech enterprises, concluding with a team project focused on a specific organizational problem for a selected company.
Software Product Definition
Students develop and refine a compelling and realistic vision for a new product. They learn to understand user and customer needs, to document those needs, and to envision creative solutions.
Software Product Strategy
Students analyze market opportunities for a software product, evaluate its technical feasibility, then expand the product definition and create a product roadmap.
Requirements Analysis
Project teams analyze, document, and plan the management of functional, technical, and business requirements for a software system and then create a product release strategy.
The Business of Software
Project teams develop a complete business plan for a software product, including revenue and expense models, as well as sales, marketing, and support mechanisms to define the structure of a successful software business.
Enterprise Innovation
This course is about how business enterprises are being re-invented for today's mobile era. Flexibility, versatility and the capacity to quickly adapt to evolving situations have become the critical challenges. Focus will be on the new rules of "super-flexibility" needed for continuous recalibration and adaptation.
Managing Service Organizations
Addresses the capabilities and resources required to plan, organize, and support the design, development, and delivery of services at required levels of quality while minimizing risks and costs.
Sourcing Management
Provides a brief history and approaches to evaluate business needs, sourcing options (shared services, outsourcing, onshore vs. offshore, etc.), and best practices for establishing and managing sourcing relationships.
Service Improvement Implementation
Gives participants tools and approaches for implementing significant improvement initiatives. Participants will work in teams on improvement projects either generated by each team or proposed by the instructor.
Service Management Seminar/project course
Offers participants an integrating experience where topics of direct relevance to their current/future work assignments are explored and shared within the Seminar setting. Faculty will provide brief presentations to reinforce prior course information and to provide additional resources and insights about critical service management topics such as successful approaches to service design, aligning client and service provider processes, or formulating viable service level agreements (SLA’s).