A collection of essays from more than 20 experts, this book was coordinated by five editors, including Barry Boehm, the founding father of software engineering economics in the early 1980s. The book is organized into three parts. Part 1 focuses on the concepts and theories supporting value-based software engineering (VBSE). Part 2 focuses on VBSE methods and practices. Part 3 depicts examples of the application of VBSE in the field.

Part 1 begins by presenting the challenges faced by value analysis since the decline of the Internet boom and the rise of information technology (IT) governance, including intriguing questions such as Carr’s “IT doesn’t matter” and Thorp’s “Information Paradox.” From that point, the book presents the common basic concepts of value analysis, grounded in decision support theories, stakeholder win-win theories, and modern portfolio analysis theories for value risk managemen!t.

Part 2 details the concepts presented in Part 1, with special emphasis on value proposition analysis and value decision analysis. Part 3 addresses cases that are common “value dilemmas” for software projects in most organizations: how to economically justify investments in usability analysis and prototyping, thorough requirements specification, and testing efforts and tools, and even the pioneer use of new technologies. The book also reminds the reader to take care of issues such as tailoring software traceability to value-based needs and valuing software intellectual property. Each topic is carefully addressed in a specific chapter.

Chapters are structured as technical papers, each with the traditional abstract and keywords in the header, and references at the end. However, the book is very cohesive; concepts and examples presented in one chapter are referenced in others. This integration is particularly useful when exploring different value analy!sis perspectives in the book, all stemming from a simple and practical example of an order entry system development project. Essays ranging from a discussion of the simple concept of results chain analysis to coverage of advanced portfolio options analysis all reference the order entry system example. This coordination effort, undertaken by the five editors, contributes substantially to the high value of this book.

The book represents an extraction of practical principles, concepts, and techniques from advanced software engineering theories that the reader will be able to apply to improve the governance of IT in the organization, or simply to better manage the expectations of, and value to, stakeholders in the project.