International growth strategies for software companies

This book aims to be an easy-to-understand guide and companion to structure the thoughts for those who consider walking on the sometimes challenging but exciting path to internationalisation. The book summarises strategies, decisions and factors that impact those decisions, as well as critical success factors for taking a software company international. It is based on a combination of investigation, interviews, review of academic research literature and the personal experience of the authors and those interviewed. Specifically the research has focused on software companies, as they are inherently different to other sets of companies in their ability to distribute products in various channels with limited extra cost for each additional unit sold. This difference makes the process of internationalisation more variable and more flexible, but also equally fuzzy and potentially time- and resource consuming. The book raises important questions to help the reader challenge his or her own preconceived ideas of internationalisation. It covers critical success factors, best practices and lessons learned from company leaders interviewed for this book. Easy-to-use models and checklists that can be applied when evaluating new markets and approaches to internationalisation are also included.