A Decade of Change
Over the last decade, publishing and application development have gone through incredible transitions. Ten years ago, most written media was delivered via newspapers and magazines. Ten years ago, most software was delivered via diskettes (remember those?) and CDs. Ten years ago, Internet Explorer was first released, HTML 3.0 specification was in the process of being ratified, you had a dial-up connection (maybe), your corporate intranet was just being hooked into the internet.
State of Today
Today there is hardly a publisher that does not publish online prior to printed editions. Today there is hardly an application that does not auto-update or is hosted so updates happen without even customer knowledge. Today publications and software updates occur continuously.
Today, the distinction between publisher and application provider has blurred. Compare your brick and mortar bookstore from 10 years ago (Barnes and Noble) to your online store of today (Amazon) – Are they a publisher? Is it an application? When do they update their application? When do they update their content? Similar comparisons can be made in CRM solutions, operating systems, database applications, desktop applications, etc.
Adapt Now!
The point is that technology has provided a “free” and instantaneous distribution network that has enabled continuous delivery of value to customers. The successful companies today have leveraged this network and transitioned their organizations and their products to take advantage of this network. Continuous publishing of content and features is a pre-requisite for a successful business model today.
Yet many IT and ISV organizations today are using development methods from more over 10 years ago. They develop applications using a phased-based process that cannot provide incremental delivery of value to customers. These methods require extensive planning, analysis, design, development and testing prior to delivering value.
I Believe…
I believe the CEO was right, application development is very similar to content publishing. Both require a continuous delivery of value. While application development is more complex than content publishing, the most successful companies have blurred the distinction between published content and features and have removed any organizational or product barriers to continuous delivery of both. Companies that fail to recognize and execute on continuous delivery will begin to lose market share to those that do.
The Next Ten Years…
I believe the next ten years will bring an indistinguishable difference between content and application features. I believe that organizations that are not able to adapt their organizational culture and people, development and distribution processes, and applications to provide continuous delivery will not be in business ten years from now.