Question

In my company we often value the software to be almost the same as concurrent software on the market. While this is one way I’m interested of other (maybe more academic) ways of value and put a price on software.

Any ideas or methods that have been succesful for you?

Answer 1

I’ve done some contract work in the past, and I based my estimate on:

• The cost of the man hours to produce the software, from start to finish
• Potential money the client saves by using the software
• Cost of any planned support for the software
• Any other related costs such as installation fees, documentation, training, etc.

Then I compared that to the industry standard. In my case it was usually cheaper, and I still made money. Thus both the client and myself were happy.

Edit:

Mind you the above method is for a single client, with a custom software solution, and a simple unlimited-use license.