How do you persuade senior management to invest in software quality and innovation?

In my experience, for software, it all starts with quality requirements. Perfect implementation of the wrong requirements isn't very useful. The techniques for getting agreement on the necessary and sufficient requirements (or even the process to get to them) is always a struggle. Again, in my experience, setting standards for the requirements process, setting standards for the requirements deliverables, and training everyone on both can lead to outstanding results.

Introduce perspectives they may not have considered. Most executives will have considered software quality from a cost perspective, weighing the cost of fixing issues now vs. fixing bad issues post-launch. But perhaps they have not thought of reputational risk or the business risk. The mobile gaming industry has data that shows how critical download time and launch time are to user retention. If speed of installation and speed of launch is not a seriously considered quality requirement, you will most likely lose customers. If your releases are constantly plagued with bugs (even if they are fixed within a month), you will get the reputation of a sloppy dev shop. Probably not the image you want if you are selling quality and precision.

Actually I disagree with this being the first step. First understand if you're dealing with a new product in a prototype phase, a new system in production, or a legacy system in O&M (near EoL). Quality-related activities can be valued differently depending on where the product is in its lifecycle. For example, a prototype that doesn't have users yet might be thrown away. Therefore, building quality into the prototype can be wasteful. A legacy system going end of life won't require new updates, bug fixes, or other quality-related service. But a system in production with long-term support, where support lasts another year, could require significant maintenance to maintain operational excellence. Start there instead.

Most executives consider building MVP is the best approach for delivering solutions quickly whilst also keeping costs down. Building MVPs that do not scale will result in starting from scratch. Not only the costs quickly stack up but this will lose customers confidence.

Eh. Realistically, logical arguments can fail. I've seen fantastic, logical, arguments summarily dismissed. I've seen evidence-based arguments fail. I say that to temper expectations. Do your best and hope for the best. Don't take it to heart if your arguments or suggestions are ignored. The most important factors here are - QA investment (time and money) - Cost of lacking QA - Brand damage because of QA issues - Churn because of QA issues The unit of measurement here is dollars time over time. For example, $100MM year/year. This is the most persuasive argument for leadership. Look at data from users leaving service, support requests, and bug reports (time spent on bug fixes) to get started. Remember time may be inaccurate.

The way to evoke emotions around quality is to focus on impacts to the bottom line. How many customers left? How much money is lost? How much churn is there? And so on. That's the problem statement for your pitch on improving quality. The solution tends to scare leadership because it can seem like an enormous investment is needed. Show how quality can be achieved with minor investments. Show how overall quality can be improved over time. Build a roadmap of operational excellence and walk everyone through it. Remember, you might fail to convince upper management to invest. It might take time to convince people you're right. Not a one time presentation.

Every decision has tradeoffs. So addressing them is a good suggestion. Investing in quality may mean your company won't be first to market with a new feature. The more you know the roadmap, the better. Try to explain/show how small investments in quality don't hurt the overall roadmap. How can quality be baked into the normal development cycle? If you know your audience, anticipating objections or concerns can be easy. If you don't, work with people who do. Ask for help to craft a good pitch. You might have to give the pitch several times. Keep formulas, queries, etc. so you can rerun them and easily update your pitch.

It can be useful to present 2 or 3 options, with associated costs, benefits and timeliness. Senior leaders can help with strategic decision making, and should be helping in this process. Be upfront with the risks associated with change, and how you plan to mitigate them. Be prepared for questions and think in advance about how you can keep the leadership team informed. Make promises that you can keep, based on functional demonstrations and KPIs.

Senior management always wants to know what the return on investment (ROI) is. Did the gamble to invest in quality payoff? Quantify the improvements. Are customers happier? How much more? Is something more responsive or less error prone? Revisit numbers from your pitch to invest. What's the delta? Is there an upward trend? Downward? Also, qualify improvements as well. Is it easier to add features? Is development less painful? This is very important for the organization as a whole but especially for upper management. Show it was money well spent. If ROI on an area is low, be transparent, what did you learn? What would you do differently?

No need to pursue, a few outages and lost business will teach them a lesson. If they still don’t learn, the firm obviously is being lead by wrong people.

Metrics and KPIs: Define (KPIs) that showcase the impact of quality and innovation on business outcomes. Pilot Projects: Propose starting with a pilot project to demonstrate tangible benefits and build confidence before full-scale implementation. Competitor Analysis: Highlight how competitors are leveraging quality and innovation to gain a competitive edge. Collaborative Approach: Involve senior management in decision-making and emphasize that their support is crucial for successful implementation. Long-Term Strategy: Present a long-term vision that aligns with the organization's goals and showcases the sustainable benefits of investing in quality and innovation.