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Why does software cost so little? When you look at the value created by tech, the productivity gains from buying solutions instead of rolling your own, the pos
by shaqbert 8y ago
Why does software cost so little?
When you look at the value created by tech, the productivity gains from buying solutions instead of rolling your own, the possibility to focus on your own competencies vs getting distracted by maintaining your own re-invention of the wheel...
Or maybe, just maybe, it is priced just right.
- tabtab 8y agoThe buy-versus-build decision is not clear cut. Pre-packaged solutions often have a lot of "buttons" and layers that are distractions and/or extra steps that are not otherwise needed by a particular customer, and thus slow things down. For example, a given org I once worked for had a 1-to-1 relationship between subscription user and payer (bill-to). But the pre-packaged software implemented it as a many-to-many relationship to be more flexible for different shops. One can use this to emulate a 1-to-1, but it's more layers, screens, and data tables than a dedicated 1-to-1 design. (My job was to build reports based on those data tables.) Good home-grown software beats bad purchased software, and good purchased software beats bad home-grown software.
- goatlover 8y agoAnd what if it's a decision between both goods? Does good purchased beat good home-grown, or is that a matter of which costs more?
- tabtab 8y agoMy point was that neither type is inherently better just by being a member of that type. The devil is in the details and both can be good or bad for a given organization or product need.
- bassman9000 8y agoThis. The original question doesn't make sense, unless rephrased as Why software costs so much compared to not having said software. Edit: and now that I can read the article, DoD says software costs a lot. DoD still pays for software. Supply and demand. If DoD pays said prices, the software is worth that much.