3 ms·

Enterprise. Basically horribly overpriced clunky systems for back offices of non tech companies. For example CRMs or any custom proprietary stuff, usually invol

Enterprise. Basically horribly overpriced clunky systems for back offices of non tech companies. For example CRMs or any custom proprietary stuff, usually involving lots of Java and XML, integrations with other horrible enterprise systems from other players in the field like Oracle, SAP etc. It's really hard to understand this from HN startup / open source / Go/Rust/NodeJS bubble but most of IT is enterprise and it's the reason why companies like HP, Dell, Oracle, SAP are making billions of dollars even though to average HN poster paying for any of their horrible products seems crazy. Edit: and as somebody mentioned also selling all sort of server / networking stuff

nsxwolf 9y ago
If you can't understand why enterprises don't just hire a couple engineers to rebuild everything in Go/Rust/NodeJS and save millions of dollars in enterprise software expenses, you probably really are in a bubble.
- richardknop 9y ago
  I can understand it. Just commenting on what I suspect is majority HN view. Lot of people here are from startups or from Silicon Valley etc. I'd also like to mention massive waste of money in enterprise IT though. I have seen big enterprise companies buy licenses for products from a consultancy company which costs tens of millions per year and it never ends up being used ;) Rewriting everything in a hipster / HN favorite language is obviously naive but there is a lot of money being wasted now in enterprise IT that could be saved and used more efficiently (like R&D and innovation). Enterprise is area ripe for disruption imho.
  - rwmj 9y ago
    To some extent, SaaS is the disruption. Which companies run their own email servers or CRM? Quite a few now use GApps (ugh), SalesForce or similar.
    - richardknop 9y ago
      Not any non startup company I have worked at used GApps, only small startups. And bigger companies / corporations will use SalesForce, sure. But they will also be using another 20 other vaguely similar enterprise products. Sometimes different ones per department.
    - X86BSD 9y ago
      I don't doubt your claim, but what terrifies me about this if it's true is how willing companies are to give up all their data, security, etc for Google and company to mine, sell, etc. I would never do that. I just don't get that. To me it's insane to let others have and manage all your data. Doing god knows what with all that precious clear text data and and then not knowing who has access to it once it's in the "cloud". Just crazy.
      - vageli 9y ago
        Gapps for business are not mined by Google. If you don't trust that Google would honor their contractual obligations, that's a whole other issue.
  - nsxwolf 9y ago
    There is astronomical waste, yes. But it's hard to put your finger on just what "disruption" would mean in this context. A lot of what enterprise software does is manage complexity. Massive amounts of complexity from interdependent systems and 30 legacy customers with byzantine business rules and contractual obligations to use this or that data format on this or that protocol. Processes that involve hand-written paper documents that you aren't at liberty to change but you must somehow account for them. Startups like to write new, shiny things. They like to "move fast and break things". They like to write a single "beautiful RESTful API" for their users. It's a totally different world. When you work in the enterprise world, things like rules engines and BPMN and enterprise service buses and Java/Spring with its Factories of Factories start making a lot of sense. I always bristle a bit when I hear "enterprise" used on HN. It's usually a pejorative, and I get the sense many people think it's just a bunch of overpaid consultants scamming a bunch of hapless dupes out of millions because they just don't know any better. Not accusing you of this of course, but there's an awful lot of condescension about the topic in general. And then I hear things like "Oh you don't need enterprise software because you can use Gmail for your email now"...
- Quarrelsome 9y ago
  typically its because in the past they fucked up and it was super expensive. Move fast and break things is anathema to billion dollar enterprise where the mood is mostly "keep the money rolling in".

nsxwolf 9y ago

If you can't understand why enterprises don't just hire a couple engineers to rebuild everything in Go/Rust/NodeJS and save millions of dollars in enterprise software expenses, you probably really are in a bubble.

richardknop 9y ago
I can understand it. Just commenting on what I suspect is majority HN view. Lot of people here are from startups or from Silicon Valley etc. I'd also like to mention massive waste of money in enterprise IT though. I have seen big enterprise companies buy licenses for products from a consultancy company which costs tens of millions per year and it never ends up being used ;) Rewriting everything in a hipster / HN favorite language is obviously naive but there is a lot of money being wasted now in enterprise IT that could be saved and used more efficiently (like R&D and innovation). Enterprise is area ripe for disruption imho.
- rwmj 9y ago
  To some extent, SaaS is the disruption. Which companies run their own email servers or CRM? Quite a few now use GApps (ugh), SalesForce or similar.
  - richardknop 9y ago
    Not any non startup company I have worked at used GApps, only small startups. And bigger companies / corporations will use SalesForce, sure. But they will also be using another 20 other vaguely similar enterprise products. Sometimes different ones per department.
  - X86BSD 9y ago
    I don't doubt your claim, but what terrifies me about this if it's true is how willing companies are to give up all their data, security, etc for Google and company to mine, sell, etc. I would never do that. I just don't get that. To me it's insane to let others have and manage all your data. Doing god knows what with all that precious clear text data and and then not knowing who has access to it once it's in the "cloud". Just crazy.
    - vageli 9y ago
      Gapps for business are not mined by Google. If you don't trust that Google would honor their contractual obligations, that's a whole other issue.
- nsxwolf 9y ago
  There is astronomical waste, yes. But it's hard to put your finger on just what "disruption" would mean in this context. A lot of what enterprise software does is manage complexity. Massive amounts of complexity from interdependent systems and 30 legacy customers with byzantine business rules and contractual obligations to use this or that data format on this or that protocol. Processes that involve hand-written paper documents that you aren't at liberty to change but you must somehow account for them. Startups like to write new, shiny things. They like to "move fast and break things". They like to write a single "beautiful RESTful API" for their users. It's a totally different world. When you work in the enterprise world, things like rules engines and BPMN and enterprise service buses and Java/Spring with its Factories of Factories start making a lot of sense. I always bristle a bit when I hear "enterprise" used on HN. It's usually a pejorative, and I get the sense many people think it's just a bunch of overpaid consultants scamming a bunch of hapless dupes out of millions because they just don't know any better. Not accusing you of this of course, but there's an awful lot of condescension about the topic in general. And then I hear things like "Oh you don't need enterprise software because you can use Gmail for your email now"...
Quarrelsome 9y ago
typically its because in the past they fucked up and it was super expensive. Move fast and break things is anathema to billion dollar enterprise where the mood is mostly "keep the money rolling in".