I’ve [Darren Wesemann] been evangelizing a theme for the past several months at SunGard that describes where I believe software is going. I call it “shorten the distance”, referring to the gap between the identification of a need and the consumption of a delivered solution that meets that need with realized value to the end-user. The distance between needs and solutions in a software context shortens with each improvement in design, construction, testing, deployment and networking technologies, however the concept of software ecosystems is shortening this distance with tremendous speed.
Shortening the distance from a software perspective involves a fundamental shift in how development occurs. A software ecosystem leverages an open platform and a community of contributors including consumers, (such as the AppExchange, App Store, FaceBook Apps, Open Source repositories, etc). I think of the power of software ecosystems in terms of The Wisdom of Crowds (why the many are smarter than the few). When an environment exists where contributions can be contributed and can be consumed, the overall realized value is exponentially greater than the proprietary and closed approach. Look for software ecosystems in the vendors you depend upon, because active communities will continually drive shorter distances between needs and realized value.
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Author: Darren Wesemann
