SWOT Analysis in the software industry

The internal environment of any company forms the premise or basis for internal analysis. Internal analysis actually sees manager or business leaders basing their organization's pursuit of "...market opportunities not only on the existence of external opportunities but also on a very sound awareness of their firm's competitive advantages arising from the firm's internal resources, capabilities, and skills" (p.148). Hence, internal analysis sees a close look being taken at the components of a company's internal environment with the aim of improving its competitive edge. The components of a company's internal environment are based on the approach taken to internal analysis. Among the approaches used to identify and analyze the elements

Capabilities are what a firm does, and represents the firm’s capacity to deploy resources that have been purposely integrated to achieve the desired end state. Capabilities become important when they are combined in unique combinations which create core competencies which have strategic value and can lead to competitive advantage. Capabilities needed for strategic fit are

The assessment of internal factors analyze inside the physical confines of the organization. These factors are within the control of the organization. The internal assessment considers plan implementation, structure, culture, innovation, diversity, ethics, processes and technology. All of the factors can have a grave impact on the success of an organization. This is why the planning function of management is so important. Technology is rapidly changing, and for a business to succeed it must change with the time to adapt to

* Resources and capabilities serve as a source of competitive advantage for a firm over its rival.

The computer software industry is a relatively new development on the international market place. Only a few decades ago, there was no such industry at all. Thanks to a number of innovative software developers, the rise of the industry has become a booming success. The industry itself increased dramatically in the 1990s. It was during this period that software was growing in a number of other supporting industries. Software soon became an integral part of industries like healthcare, business applications like databases and network structures, personal finance, and education (Kent & Williams 1997). The more intertwined it became with other business applications, the more successful software became as a

be either an internal factor or an external factor that influences the success or failure of an organization,

Roger S. Pressman, Ph.D. SOFTWARE ENGINEERING A Practitioner’s Approach, McGraw-Hill, an imprint of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Americas, New York, NY -10020, 2001.

They must have the resources, competencies, and capabilities to attain the competitive advantage. It must develop a value to have a competitive advantage.

These factors influence the internal environment of an organisation and they help in identifying the past and the present of the company, It also provides a frame work for reviewing strategy position and direction of the company.

The internal factors are inclusive of the marketing mix of the organization and the organizational goals. The product itself is a huge

On the other hand, it must identify the positive points and negative points in internal factors and external factors. It can divide the key pieces of information into two main aspects, the first one is Internal factors, it describes in the organisation internal environment, the ‘strengths’ and ‘weaknesses’, the other one is External factors, it shows the ‘opportunities’ and ‘threats’ appeared by the external environment (Panagiotou G. 2003).

Through an internal environment analysis, companies can identify and understand their own unique resources, capabilities, and competencies that are required for their sustainable competitive advantage. Resources, capabilities, and core competencies are the foundation of competitive advantage. There is no competitive advantages are permanently sustainable in any companies, so they have to consist on their current advantages and develop new advantages by internally understanding and analyzing their resources and capabilities. Competitors have their own unique resources, capabilities, and core competencies to create values for their customers. Both tangible and intangible resources, which include individual, social and organizational phenomena, are combined to generate capabilities. In turn, company’s capabilities are used to build core competencies. Also, core competencies are as a source of competitive advantage for a company to win in the competitive market.

For an organization to perform well in a competitive environment there must be internal consistency among the four dimensions of

External analysis is about opportunities and threats of the business. The company has to know what they want to achieve and

According to What is SWOT Anlysis (2011), SWOT analysis is an analysis used to identify the internal factors (strengths and weaknesses) of the company as well as external factors (opportunities and threats) of the company.