"Software Rules that need to be broken"

Optimize magazine carries 8 perspectives on rules the software industry has hidden behind for years- that need to be broken.

Let me suggest a few more that need to be challenged:

"Software SG&A has to be at least 40% of revenues"
"We have to work with software vendors and their revenue recognition constraints"
"Software TCO has to be at least 10X base software license cost"
"The Software store is only open 12 days a year "
"I bought a Porsche. I can only allow the Porsche dealer to maintain it"
"Life would be so boring without stupid pet tricks"
"Upgrades are like refueling in mid-air"
"The software industry can only afford 10% for R&D"
"When the software industry itself offshores, it does not save money"
"The software iron triangle cannot be melted"

I think my readers can add a few more...

Comments

[Jason Wood]

Vinnie, nice find. I used to read Optimize but ratcheted back of late. This makes me think I should add it back to my queue.

I've added 11 more "rules" that need to be broken:

1. The CIO must have complete control over the selection and deployment of software within the enterprise
2. Customers will pay for component architectures simply because ERP vendors ask them to
3. Open source has proven itself as a profitable, long-term business model at the apps layer
4. The mid-market can be owned by the same companies that dominate the Global 1000
5. 3rd party maintenance is a substantive concern for established apps vendors in the next 3-5 years
6. Multi-tenancy isn't secure, nor does it scale
7. Software procurement is 100% rational and ROI-driven
8. Software applications and tools, by themselves, can give a company competitive advantage
9. CRM is a misnomer
10. Business intelligence is ripe for further consolidation
11. Blogs and wikis aren't ready for enterprise ubiquity

Curious to compare thoughts,

J

[vinnie mirchandani]

Jason, my list is better - satisfy your curiosity, my friend -)

[Brian Gillooly]

Glad to see you guys are paying attention to Optimize! We've gotten great feedback on the "8 Rules Of Software That Need To Be Broken" issue. As I said in my column from that issue, we could have done 100 rules -- it was a passionate topic for a lot of people tired of suffering through ossified old standards about software. You guys offer great "rules" for us to follow up on for the next time we do this topic, which, judging from the reaction, oughta be soon. Jason, glad to have you back as a reader. Vinnie, keep it real, thanks for the attention! BTW, Jason, if you believe your rule no. 11 should be broken and you're a proponent of Enterprise 2.0, I may have a speaking opportunity for you. Feel free to contact me at bgillooly@cmp.com. That goes for anyone wanting to talk about the "rules," too!
Brian Gillooly
Editor-in-Chief, Optimize