Internal SW dev can work with a lot less overhead and setting up direct communication between users and developers is reasonably simple. There is usually a 1:1 relationship between user roles and developers.
Published software ideally has many, many more licensees and you absolutely need rigid communication channels with various go-betweens (PM, marketing, support). Direct communication between devs and customers wastes too much of the developers' time. Especially the PM role becomes extremely important for product quality then. In the extreme, the product can only be as good as its PM.
Published software ideally has many, many more licensees and you absolutely need rigid communication channels with various go-betweens (PM, marketing, support). Direct communication between devs and customers wastes too much of the developers' time. Especially the PM role becomes extremely important for product quality then. In the extreme, the product can only be as good as its PM.