The Ways of the Software People

Jeff Lawson@jeffiel

(and the Ways of the Dodo)

*Fictional Reenactment

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Build vs. Buy

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It’s bad to build.

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Agile Development

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big projects aren’t predictablesmall milestones are predictable

problems change more rapidly than delivery

Agile Development

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Build

ReleaseRevise

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RFP

ContractDelivery

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Buying vendor solutions is waterfall all over again.

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Reduce Risk

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70%FAIL

Software People think differently.

We’re a software

company.

Software Peoplesolve business problems with

magnetic particles.

Who are Software People?It’s not a skill set, it’s a mindset.

throughthe lens of software

Not just developersProduct People

CEOs

Developers

Operations People

CFOs

Customer Service People

SalesMarketing

say:“how can software solve this business

problem?”

believe any

business problem can be

solved once it’s in the

domain of software.

More and more of markets are addressable by Software People

World WorldSoftware

Text Input Text Output

Audio Video

EverythingElse

Problems10’s-20’s

Media Problems90’s-00’s

Textual Problems70’s-80’s

NumericalProblems50’s-60’s

Sensors ActuatorsSoftware

Sensors Actuators

Sensors

Sensors

Sensors

Sensors

Sensors

Sensors

Actuators

Actuators

Actuators

Actuators

Actuators

Actuators

Software

3 AccelerometersProximity Sensor

Light SensorMoisture Sensor

GyroscopeGPS

2 Cameras2 Microphones

2 Speakers

Not Software People Software People

Not Software People Software People

Not Software People Software People

Not Software People Software People

Not Software People Software People

You might not be Software People when...

Minimal Telephone Hardware

Preserve the flexibility of software.

User expectations have changed.

“The only source of competitive advantage is the one that can

survive technology-fueled disruption: an obsession with

customer experience.” Harley ManningForrester Research, author of Outside-In

Iterate quickly.Ship constantly.

Get feedback from customers quickly.

Software People move fast.

Serving users requires agility.

1997 Buy Servers2000 Rent by the Year2003 Rent by the Month2008 Rent by the Hour

Queues

Load BalancersStorage

CDNMap Reduce

Business Intelligence

NotificationsServers

Buy the PBXBuy the Minute

Buy the Message

Phone Numbers

Call Queueing

Picture MessagingText to Speech

Voice Transcription

Conferencing

Compose These

Elements

ComposableBusiness

Still going to buy,but they’re going to buy

smaller blocks.

Value small blocks over big ones.

Value continuous iteration over monolithic vendor

solutions.

This comes naturally to us Software People, but is

news to much of the business world...

... which is good news.

Those that adapt most quickly will

survive.

Natural Selection

Every industry will become a software

industry.

Build vs. Buy

Build vs. Die

Jeff Lawson@jeffiel

The Ways of the Software People(and the Ways of the Dodo)