Who wants to live forever? The advantages of the product life cycle concept.

Business is often associated with the dryer side of dullness, and many of us frequently refer with some distaste to "getting round to the business side of things". But over the years some very useful methods and techniques have emerged from the "other-side", many of which can be beneficial to all of us. After all, while we may consider much of what we do as a labour of love, we are nonetheless trying to make some money out of the whole thing as well! A good place to start is with the concept of the product life cycle.

Like most things, the sales (and demand) for your software conform to some sort of pattern. The advantages of the product life cycle concept is that it provides a basic structure that allows you to see where you are, and what lies ahead. There are four components to the cycle; introduction, growth, maturity and decline.