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The Death
                       of Custom
                       Software
                                                               By Rich Napoli

Life used to be much simpler for IT folks when     that meets the needs of such a diverse group      dramatically. At OFS, we have been able to
there were two distinct types of software—         means that more and more, IT organizations        use our software product build management
custom software you wrote for your own             have to consider themselves as software           skills to help IT organizations bring that
corporation’s use and product software that        vendors. They have to survey their markets,       same, consistent build environment to their
you bought from a software vendor. The             develop product roadmaps and plan for future      work, using the latest source control and
custom software you wrote for your own firm        ‘releases’ to add features and functions to       build tools to help them successfully manage
had only to meet your company’s unique             accommodate all their departments’ needs in       the process.
requirements. That is no longer so.                a timely and efficient manner.
   It used to be if your company only did                                                            4. Regression Testing
business in the US, the software you built         2. Planning a Release                             As custom IT software becomes more and
only had to deal in US dollars and to show         Gone are the days when an employee called         more complicated, the need for thorough
screens in English. Product software made          to complain about some internal system, and       testing has increased. As new releases come
by a commercial software company, by               the IT department would simply make the           out, it is critical to test not only the new
comparison, was designed and built to work         change and put it into production. With the       features that were added but also the existing
in multiple languages and currencies, with         IT organization supporting an ever-increasing     features from previous releases to make sure
multiple options and configuration settings        and diverse user base spread around the globe,    they still work. IT organizations used to just
to accommodate the thousands of different          changes to corporate software have to be          ask their departmental users to “bang on the
companies that might one day use their             carefully planned and timed to avoid helping      system” for a while to test it out but now
product. So building product software used         one department while hurting another. We are      these IT must now approach testing in the
to be more complicated and involved than           assisting some of our IT customers bring a        same way that software companies do—with
building custom software, but that is no           release management discipline to their internal   a robust test suite of automated regression
longer the case today. Increasingly today, IT      IT software using impact analysis, capacity       tests that replays all the existing test scripts
organizations have to view their own internally-   planning and product roadmaps to help make        to ensure that nothing that used to work has
developed software with the same eye towards       sure that the software upgrades they are          been broken with the new release. There are
productization as commercial software firms.       planning are managed well and delivered as        a number of great tools that can help do this,
Why the change? And what is prompting it?          scheduled with no unexpected impacts.             and we have been introducing them to our IT
   Here are the 5 main challenges many                                                               customers to help them maintain the quality
large IT customers are now facing—they are         3. Software Build Management                      of their software.
those same challenges that software product        Traditionally, IT organizations were unlike
customers have been dealing with for years.        software firms and did not have to worry          5. Multi-Tenancy
                                                   about how to control multiple versions of         This is a term that was once unknown to
1. Building a Product Roadmap                      their software or coordinate the development      anyone outside the software industry. It’s the
While in the past, a corporation could consider    of their code across multiple development         concept that lets a software vendor host their
itself a fairly homogenous group that had a        groups. This is because IT typically only had     customers on a version of their software in the
specific set of needs, today’s IT organizations    the current version of the code to manage         cloud without having to set up a single instance
are responding to the integration challenges of    and just a single, employee-based group of        of their product for each and every client. Each
newly-acquired companies and a potential user      developers to maintain it. But now, with          customer is considered a ‘tenant’, much like
base that includes suppliers and customers in      multiple instances of the software running in     the tenants in an apartment building that have
addition to employees. These companies deal        different organizations around the world and      their own space and share common services or
now serve diverse geographies and customers        with a team of onshore and offshore resources     amenities like heat, electricity and elevators.
and employ staff in other non-English speaking     maintaining the code, the need for tight          In technical terms, this means that software
countries. Trying to develop custom software       software build management has increased           vendors create their code to be multi-tenant so



  16                                                     TechNews | www.njtc.org | November 2012
CIOs now demand that internal IT software
be designed like software products.


that each of their clients has access to all the
features of the software while sharing some
core services across them.
   For example, the vendor can store all
                                                                   No need to get lost on commercial job boards.
their clients’ individual data in a single,                  The NJTC Career & Job Center is tailored specifically for you.
managed database with appropriate security
and controls so that no one customer can see
or change another customer’s data. We are
currently dealing with an IT customer who
wants to set up a multi-tenant environment
for the clients they now support to replace
their replicated versions of their software
they currently use for each client. They
want a single instance of the software, with
appropriate configuration settings to handle
all clients.
   With all these new challenges, IT
organizations are increasingly blurring the
line between custom software and product
software, thinking of themselves more as
software vendors that design, build and test
software for their corporation’s departments
around the world. The old methods of
building custom software no longer work
in today’s modern, distributed economy.
Increasingly IT organizations must think like
software product firms in order to compete
with effective solutions that work around the                                         www.njtc.org
globe in different working environments. In
order to make sure that they are adopting
the most advanced product development
principles, IT organizations should turn to
experienced product development firms such
OFS, which has a 15-year history of building
commercial software for independent
software vendors (ISVs). n



  Rich Napoli is the COO of ObjectFrontier (OFS),
 an outsourced product development firm that helps
   software-enabled businesses build and test their
commercial software offerings. www.objectfrontier.com



                                                        TechNews | www.njtc.org | November 2012                               17

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Today Custom Software is no longer work in modern days..

  • 1. The Death of Custom Software By Rich Napoli Life used to be much simpler for IT folks when that meets the needs of such a diverse group dramatically. At OFS, we have been able to there were two distinct types of software— means that more and more, IT organizations use our software product build management custom software you wrote for your own have to consider themselves as software skills to help IT organizations bring that corporation’s use and product software that vendors. They have to survey their markets, same, consistent build environment to their you bought from a software vendor. The develop product roadmaps and plan for future work, using the latest source control and custom software you wrote for your own firm ‘releases’ to add features and functions to build tools to help them successfully manage had only to meet your company’s unique accommodate all their departments’ needs in the process. requirements. That is no longer so. a timely and efficient manner. It used to be if your company only did 4. Regression Testing business in the US, the software you built 2. Planning a Release As custom IT software becomes more and only had to deal in US dollars and to show Gone are the days when an employee called more complicated, the need for thorough screens in English. Product software made to complain about some internal system, and testing has increased. As new releases come by a commercial software company, by the IT department would simply make the out, it is critical to test not only the new comparison, was designed and built to work change and put it into production. With the features that were added but also the existing in multiple languages and currencies, with IT organization supporting an ever-increasing features from previous releases to make sure multiple options and configuration settings and diverse user base spread around the globe, they still work. IT organizations used to just to accommodate the thousands of different changes to corporate software have to be ask their departmental users to “bang on the companies that might one day use their carefully planned and timed to avoid helping system” for a while to test it out but now product. So building product software used one department while hurting another. We are these IT must now approach testing in the to be more complicated and involved than assisting some of our IT customers bring a same way that software companies do—with building custom software, but that is no release management discipline to their internal a robust test suite of automated regression longer the case today. Increasingly today, IT IT software using impact analysis, capacity tests that replays all the existing test scripts organizations have to view their own internally- planning and product roadmaps to help make to ensure that nothing that used to work has developed software with the same eye towards sure that the software upgrades they are been broken with the new release. There are productization as commercial software firms. planning are managed well and delivered as a number of great tools that can help do this, Why the change? And what is prompting it? scheduled with no unexpected impacts. and we have been introducing them to our IT Here are the 5 main challenges many customers to help them maintain the quality large IT customers are now facing—they are 3. Software Build Management of their software. those same challenges that software product Traditionally, IT organizations were unlike customers have been dealing with for years. software firms and did not have to worry 5. Multi-Tenancy about how to control multiple versions of This is a term that was once unknown to 1. Building a Product Roadmap their software or coordinate the development anyone outside the software industry. It’s the While in the past, a corporation could consider of their code across multiple development concept that lets a software vendor host their itself a fairly homogenous group that had a groups. This is because IT typically only had customers on a version of their software in the specific set of needs, today’s IT organizations the current version of the code to manage cloud without having to set up a single instance are responding to the integration challenges of and just a single, employee-based group of of their product for each and every client. Each newly-acquired companies and a potential user developers to maintain it. But now, with customer is considered a ‘tenant’, much like base that includes suppliers and customers in multiple instances of the software running in the tenants in an apartment building that have addition to employees. These companies deal different organizations around the world and their own space and share common services or now serve diverse geographies and customers with a team of onshore and offshore resources amenities like heat, electricity and elevators. and employ staff in other non-English speaking maintaining the code, the need for tight In technical terms, this means that software countries. Trying to develop custom software software build management has increased vendors create their code to be multi-tenant so 16 TechNews | www.njtc.org | November 2012
  • 2. CIOs now demand that internal IT software be designed like software products. that each of their clients has access to all the features of the software while sharing some core services across them. For example, the vendor can store all No need to get lost on commercial job boards. their clients’ individual data in a single, The NJTC Career & Job Center is tailored specifically for you. managed database with appropriate security and controls so that no one customer can see or change another customer’s data. We are currently dealing with an IT customer who wants to set up a multi-tenant environment for the clients they now support to replace their replicated versions of their software they currently use for each client. They want a single instance of the software, with appropriate configuration settings to handle all clients. With all these new challenges, IT organizations are increasingly blurring the line between custom software and product software, thinking of themselves more as software vendors that design, build and test software for their corporation’s departments around the world. The old methods of building custom software no longer work in today’s modern, distributed economy. Increasingly IT organizations must think like software product firms in order to compete with effective solutions that work around the www.njtc.org globe in different working environments. In order to make sure that they are adopting the most advanced product development principles, IT organizations should turn to experienced product development firms such OFS, which has a 15-year history of building commercial software for independent software vendors (ISVs). n Rich Napoli is the COO of ObjectFrontier (OFS), an outsourced product development firm that helps software-enabled businesses build and test their commercial software offerings. www.objectfrontier.com TechNews | www.njtc.org | November 2012 17