11.15.11
Open and Free
[Cartoon]
When it comes to music and software applications, a low price is good and free is even better. Even when the price is low, it is good to be able to try it out without paying. Why can’t this model be used for business enterprise software?
Software vendors have been offering trial periods for software since “download” became a household word. Some software can even be annoying by constantly reminding you that you are using trial software. The annoyance is both a reminder that there is a point where the software will cease to operate and an opportunity for the software provider to close the sale before the end of the trial period.
Most retail stores have a very lenient policy for returned items. This gives the consumer a way to buy a product, try it out, and return it when the product does not perform as expected. The reason behind these policies was not to offer a trial option for their products. It was done to find out why some consumers are not satisfied with the product. This is valuable information for the provider of the product to make improvements and enhance sales.
At the business enterprise level, the free or trial periods for software have never made much sense. For a business to fully try out a software solution at the enterprise level, it will require a major commitment of resources over a long period of time. For the business, this is not free.
Enterprise level changes in applications or infrastructure require the business to be committed to the planned outcome. Unfortunately, many projects never yield the planned outcomes. When this occurs, the business may drop the project and take the loss or complete the project knowing the shortcomings.
For music and many software applications (smartphone and desktop products) trial periods are acceptable since the downloaded component is not integrated with any other components. For business enterprise level software, integration is usually the most significant part of an implementation project. The integration is not simply plugging in a new component to replace an older one. The replacement often requires a rethinking of the information flows of the enterprise.
Componentization of business enterprise software has long been the pipe dream of the theorist in the application of software solutions. There was a belief that object-oriented concepts would bring a component model. When object-oriented business-level components did not emerge, the next big concept, Service-Oriented Architect, looked promising. So far, SOA has not been used to define common business models used by all software providers. Consequently, there is no cross-vendor plug-and-play with SOA.
We can componentize infrastructure software and hardware and make it available in the cloud. We can make Software-as-a-Service components in the cloud. Yet, we can’t plug and play. SaaS solutions are each constructed with their own unique view of information and processes.
When business enterprise software can be downloaded for trial, and even for free, then the software industry will have arrived at componentization. In my next blog, “Prepare for the End of IT”, I will begin explaining how this will take place.
Enterprise Architects are well-aware of the continuing evolution of technology. They creatively look for technology convergence that can provide breakthroughs in thinking. We are at one of those convergent junctions today. What is about to happen will give non-professional information technologists control of their use of automation in their business. No longer will they simply peer through windows and see only what applications let them see. They will be able to go inside, see how things work, and control their automation. – Enterprise Architects Masters of the Unseen City
Closing the Business / IT gap.
