A Staged Capability Improvement Model for Software Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

Recent research has shown that small and medium software enterprises (SMEs) are a very important cog in the gears of the world economy and comprise of about 99.2% of the companies in the world [1, 9]. But unfortunately most of the research done and policies made by the government favour the large companies [8]. So, as a result, the larger Indian companies are growing even larger, while the SMEs are being increasingly wiped out. The authors have conducted a qualitative and quantitative survey to understand the technical and business challenges faced by the SMEs in the Indian sector. In this paper, we discuss the major challenges faced by them and propose a Staged Capability Improvement Model (SCIM) as a solution. The model proposed will help the SMEs to gradually grow in the competitive market and help them to challenge the market leaders.