A Face Only a Mother Could Love

Robert Scoble has started an Enterprise Software Foodfight.

The core topic is based around the question of why enterprise software is not well covered by bloggers and journalists.

It looks like he struck a nerve.

I've been mulling over the topic. Given that I spend my days with enterprise architecture, I even considered my own stance on blogging about enterprise software.

There are so many potential reasons. I'm guessing the reasons vary for each blogger.

Perhaps it's because many technical people see enterprise software every day at work, and long to see something with more hope.

Perhaps it's because of the age-old problem of reporting on the hand that feeds you.

Perhaps it's because many (most?) enterprise software vendors don't understand how to operate in the world of blogging. Blogging begets blogging. Press releases beget yawns. Most enterprise vendors are still struggling to internalize the read/write web.

Perhaps it's because readers don't want any more input about products from vendors already bombarding us with information and awareness of the products.

Or...

Perhaps it's because a considerable amount of enterprise software has a face only a mother could love.

Just a thought...

Alarm Clocks, Coffee, and Enterprises

It's Saturday. My alarm clock woke me up at its regularly scheduled time. It's earlier than necessary, but I don't dare turn it off on weekends, lest I forget to turn it back on for Monday morning.

So I'm up early on a Saturday. It's a good time to make a pot of coffee and read some blogs. One of the articles I read this morning was Alarm clocks, by Seth Godin.

In his article he posts some thoughts on why products often lack the features most people actually want to buy. His comments center around the idea that alarm clocks should be capable of differentiating between weekdays and weekends.

This catches my attention. I grab a cup of coffee.

He attributes the problem to the idea that people are too busy doing their jobs to create compelling products. (I'm paraphrasing - his article is worth a read to get his version)

Despite the coffee, I'm foggy from rising early on this cloudy Oregon morning. My mind starts to explore the topic of why products often fail to meet our true needs and desires. This warrants another cup of coffee.

The problem of creating compelling products is obviously not limited to external products. My current interests lean in the area of improving the ability for IT to create compelling products and services. It's all in the same problem space.

Seth lists one reason compelling products tend not to get created. I think we can expand this a bit.

• Too busy
  
• Too myopic
  
• Too skeptical
  
• Too apathetic
• Too scared
  

Which items in this list contribute to the problem in your organization?

I might not have written this article if my alarm clock had a weekend feature. On the other hand, it might not have been necessary.

Governance Marketing

In Replace SOA Governance with SOA Marketing, Nick Malik proposes taking a different approach when motivating developments team to follow SOA standards.

I'm not completely convinced development governance can be replaced with marketing, but I'm also not convinced it's impossible. Regardless, it can significantly decrease resistance to standards.

It seems each of the categories of governance mentioned in Nick's article would be greatly simplified if marketing principles were applied. At the very least, it could help minimize a variety of unhealthy organizational reactions to governance activities. I submit that much of the burden associated with governance is related to managing the reactions to governance.