The End of the Line: Project Management Challenges in Small Software Shops in Pakistan

Very small software companies (VSSCs) with from five to ten employees comprise a large share of the total number of software devel- opment companies in both “developed” and “developing” economies. In this chapter, we discuss characteristics and challenges of VSSCs in Pakistan. In a study of seven Pakistani VSSCs, we found that these companies operate mostly on the global software market as vendors to clients in Europe and the United States. The companies share several of the challenges and characteristics found in VSSCs in other parts of the world, but their position and role in a global software production chain create additional challenges: They are separated from the end customer by several layers of intermediaries, they experience communication delays and distortion, and payments are often delayed. Furthermore, their immediate customer often takes responsibility for key project management tasks. We argue that software process improvement ini- tiatives directed at this type of company must be designed around their specific context and properties.