Master of Science in Software Management
Do you or your company need a better understanding of how products are defined and created? Do you want to learn how software businesses are built for success? Do you want to improve your communication, teamwork, managerial, entrepreneurial, and business skills? If so, Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley MS in Software Management is for you. The academic program is designed for the software professional interested in becoming a product manager, director of software development, VP of Engineering, CTO, or successful entrepreneur.
Software management places unique demands on its leaders. You’ve led teams, managed requirements, and released products. Now you want more. You want to be in charge – of your own product group, your own corporate division, maybe even your own software company. You’re ready to fill in the missing pieces, build your professional network, and create your own opportunities. You’re ready to learn the skills and methods that will enable you to lead confidently and competently.
For full time students, the program is completed in one year. For part time students, the program is completed in two years.
Use our Program Advisor to see which program is right for you.
Features of the Full-time program
Master of Science in Software Management Curriculum
The full-time Master of Science in Software Management (MS SM) program is a one-year intensive program focused on software innovation and entrepreneurship. It is designed for individuals interested in harnessing their creativity and passion for software to start their own business or innovate in their workplace. This 12-month, full-time program focuses on real-world technology opportunities, needs, and solutions, utilizing an Idea Workshop for entering students. Students integrate and apply all the coursework in an end-of-year capstone project.
The full-time MS SM program emphasizes key skills in management, metrics, product definition, and strategy that are needed to succeed in software innovation and entrepreneurship. The curriculum includes classes that focus on both management and business in the software field. It presents students with an entrepreneurial perspective of the rapidly changing software industry, specifically in the Silicon Valley.
Idea Workshop
Students kick-off the school year with a mandatory week-long Idea Workshop and Orientation, led by faculty. Students participate in a guided brainstorm and come out with the best ideas for projects to work on during the year. Student teams are also formed during this on-ramp to the program.
Entrepreneurship Graduate Programs
Capstone Project
Students enroll in a team-based independent study project that serves as a capstone for the entire year. This may be a project idea that the team has proposed or a predetermined project assigned by faculty.
Curriculum for Part-time Master's in Software Management
The Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley career-accelerating software management master’s program prepares experienced software engineers and managers for leadership roles in the software industry. This two-year, part-time program’s first-year courses are focused on process, project, and people management. Through a series of integrated task assignments in the second-year course sequence, student teams work on developing a new product business within an existing enterprise. These courses emphasize the business skills required to take a software product or service from an initial concept through detailed requirements analysis, market and competitive analysis, technical feasibility studies, to the development of a successful business.
Concentrations
- Product Development:
Learn the best practices for developing a software product from concept to launch - Entrepreneurship:
Pursue a start-up by developing your own product or service idea while following the Product Development curriculum (requires faculty approval) - Enterprise Innovation:
Learn how to sell, design, implement and deploy software innovation inside a large enterprise
Entrepreneurship Graduate Programs
Focus on Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship permeates the Silicon Valley campus and many aspects of the software management program. Course work considers the latest software industry trends, emphasizes team building and leadership, and many courses include guest speakers from industry, including venture capitalists (VCs) and well-known entrepreneurs. Several of our faculty members have significant startup experience, which they bring into their teaching.
Practicum Project
Available in the second-year summer semester, students work in a team on a real-world project, negotiating the scope, schedule, and deliverables with a business client, demonstrating proficiency of the master’s program content. Alternatively, a student team can pursue an entrepreneurial venture of their own, receiving coaching and advice from faculty. Students have the option to work solely on either type of project for the whole semester, or to take one complementary elective course at the same time, which reduces the project effort by half.
Flexible Delivery
To support our students’ remote requirements, we provide a number of asynchronous and synchronous collaborative tools to support participation in meetings, conference calls, and class sessions.
Streamlined Student Services for Working Professionals
Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley recognizes the pressures that part-time students experience in balancing the competing demands on their time. We are dedicated to streamlining the administrative process by providing students with the highest level of student services.