Developing Software through Crowdsourcing

Nezaket Yerinde

TopCoder

• Jack Hughes CEO and founder• Choice of crowdsourcing(a global community

of more than 225000 programmers) for software solutions

Surprising Success• Bug-free and operational• In 4 months 65 participants to competitions

Thougths and Expectations of Huges

• All aspects of software development• Increasing project volume• Contest demand high quality software• But $200 million in revenue possible?

Background and Current Operations

• Business Data Services -1985• Renaming as Tallan in 1991

• Recruitement Expensive and frustrating• Opposition of Tallan’s goal and Hughes’s about reusing computer programs

basic components

• Sold to CMGI in 2000• TopCoder - found in 2001 which was envisioned as a two-sided

(client-community members) platform• 2001-2003 web-based programming competitions• By the end 2004 environ 50000 community members• Acting as placement firm• In 2005, TopCoder use its own community

• Conceptualization• Specification• Architecture• Component production• Application assembly• Certification and deployment

Hybrid Consulting Model

• Identification reusable components from the software

• Collecting components in a catalog• Production of applications by combining

existing catalog components with new ones built through competition

Revenues and CostsIn 2007 and 2008 nearly $20 million in revenueBut platform manager costs remained high

Efforts for reducing costs • In 2007 – making competitions for component architecture

and assembly(now, work was made by community not by platform managers)

• In 2008 – adding also competition in software development task, such as conceptualization and specification

• In 2009 – giving up hybrid model and completing all tasks in software through competitions

• Clients paid a monthly platform feeDepending on the complexity of softwareEstimated number of competitions they would run through TopCoder

platform

Competition Types Algorithm ->Served for attracting new members and

retaining existing members And client software development• Initially developping a game plan by platform manager• Cross-examination of the client staff by contestants• Submission a business requirement document and

use-cases• Choosing the best represents the needs of the clients

Evolution of the TopCoder Community

• From 2001-2009 adding an average of 25000 new programmers

• Latent pool – nearly %80• Second group participated

one time and then stopped.• Long tail – for learning• Everyday winners - %0.5