Personal influence on software development. Russian IT Quarterly (#29, October 2011)
Oct 20, 2011
Though for the last months Russian IT market has witnessed series of most interesting events (Russoft 10th anniversary and St-Petersburg Innovations Forum were among them), today, if you don’t mind, I wouldn’t like to discuss outsourcing or software engineering.
I would like to speak about a person’s influence on software development and IT infrastructure.
For decades enterprises and public sector dictated their will and drew the track for IT development. But during the past years we’ve seen a person re-shaping the industry and making other people change the corporate world. I mean Steve Jobs, of course.
I’m not going to write an epitaph for this brilliant man, but I certainly want to understand how Apple’s products changed the world and what changes the software development companies will have to face in the nearest future.
Let’s have a look. A number of devices declared a possibility to work out of the office before iPad, but only iPad made mobile work. And though Apple positions iPad as a home device, more and more users bring it to the office and ask the IT department for its integration into the corporate infrastructure.
So, probably, for the first time in the history of IT industry mobile computing wins corporate customers not due to vendor’s efforts, but through users’ influence.
This means that we will see a lot of integration projects in the future as well as more and more mobile applications will find their niche at the market.
How will the mobile devices communicate with the corporate systems? The answer is obvious: the corporate world is already moving to Web and to Cloud, and in the upcoming years the movement will go faster and never to return.
Corporate web-portals, virtual office solutions, communications & collaboration tools – here comes the era of these systems, not only in advertising slogans but in reality.
The roll-out of a product or of a system will quicken beyond any comparison with the present. And the role of software testing will increase dramatically. The 24/7 help-desk and client-oriented support will become an inseparable part of a product or a service.
So the software developing companies should adapt their strategies and portfolios to meet the upcoming enterprise demand.
Perhaps, it would be an overstatement to say that it’s all a result of Steve Jobs’ and Apple activities. The roadmap was already sketched before them. But still their influence was great and their input priceless.
In fact Steve Job had the same influence of IT industry as Napoleon Bonapart had had on European youth in 19th century. Suddenly every young lieutenant had seen a possibility to become an Emperor, suddenly everyone believed they could change the world. And today, as St-Petersburg Innovation Forum demonstrated, hundreds of young people in Russia are looking for their chance. Let’s see what their imprint would be.
Download PDF from Reksoft site
I would like to speak about a person’s influence on software development and IT infrastructure.
For decades enterprises and public sector dictated their will and drew the track for IT development. But during the past years we’ve seen a person re-shaping the industry and making other people change the corporate world. I mean Steve Jobs, of course.
I’m not going to write an epitaph for this brilliant man, but I certainly want to understand how Apple’s products changed the world and what changes the software development companies will have to face in the nearest future.
Let’s have a look. A number of devices declared a possibility to work out of the office before iPad, but only iPad made mobile work. And though Apple positions iPad as a home device, more and more users bring it to the office and ask the IT department for its integration into the corporate infrastructure.
So, probably, for the first time in the history of IT industry mobile computing wins corporate customers not due to vendor’s efforts, but through users’ influence.
This means that we will see a lot of integration projects in the future as well as more and more mobile applications will find their niche at the market.
How will the mobile devices communicate with the corporate systems? The answer is obvious: the corporate world is already moving to Web and to Cloud, and in the upcoming years the movement will go faster and never to return.
Corporate web-portals, virtual office solutions, communications & collaboration tools – here comes the era of these systems, not only in advertising slogans but in reality.
The roll-out of a product or of a system will quicken beyond any comparison with the present. And the role of software testing will increase dramatically. The 24/7 help-desk and client-oriented support will become an inseparable part of a product or a service.
So the software developing companies should adapt their strategies and portfolios to meet the upcoming enterprise demand.
Perhaps, it would be an overstatement to say that it’s all a result of Steve Jobs’ and Apple activities. The roadmap was already sketched before them. But still their influence was great and their input priceless.
In fact Steve Job had the same influence of IT industry as Napoleon Bonapart had had on European youth in 19th century. Suddenly every young lieutenant had seen a possibility to become an Emperor, suddenly everyone believed they could change the world. And today, as St-Petersburg Innovation Forum demonstrated, hundreds of young people in Russia are looking for their chance. Let’s see what their imprint would be.
Download PDF from Reksoft site