IEEE Software's new series of Impact columns intends to get a better quantitative insight into the impact of software on various businesses. This introduction describes the reasoning behind the columns. All contributors will be asked to quantify the size (in lines of code or another size measure) and volume (number of copies sold per year or another measure) of their projects. This should allow the software developers to position and compare the experiences coming out of the different industries. We hope to publish three to six columns a year and to solicit submissions as momentum grows. Both engineering managers and business managers are encouraged to submit a column. We've already lined up the first columns with submissions from the mobile phone, computer and automotive industries. Our proposal's wide scope should let us accept contributions from large or small programs, low or high volume projects, open or closed source projects, embedded or commercial-off-the-shelf software, and in-house or outsourced software development.