Optimizing for Sustainability: Product Ops and Software Waste Reduction

Abstract

In today’s competitive software-intensive industries, the pursuit of sustainability is increasingly recognized as one of the important drivers of long-term performance. While lean methodologies focusing on waste reduction are widely adopted across various domains, the software-intensive industries face unique challenges when applying these principles. The emergence of Product Operations (Product Ops) in product-led companies presents new opportunities for improving operational efficiency and reducing waste within software development processes. This paper investigates the role of Product Ops in addressing different types of software development waste by mapping the responsibilities and impacts of Product Ops to these types of waste. The results indicate that Product Ops may help reduce multiple forms of waste, contributing to the sustainability of software businesses. This exploratory study lays the foundation for further research examining the impact of Product Ops on the sustainability of software companies.