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Focusing on the cost side of software development is not very convincing for managers who need to make purchasing decisions. I believe most software is a high-m

by pron 4y ago

Focusing on the cost side of software development is not very convincing for managers who need to make purchasing decisions. I believe most software is a high-margin product because manufacturing costs are close to zero. Even a relatively high difference in cost is not as much as a small difference in value. The one cost-side metric that has a big effect on value is time-to-market. What could be more convincing is the effect on product value that build times could have, and they certainly could (and I, for one, believe that they do, especially if they can be made to be less than 15 seconds or so). For example, it's certainly conceivable that very short build times make it easier to write more tests, which could result in more correct software with better features and/or a shorter time-to-market. Some products targeted at developers also make the mistake of focusing their marketing message on the cost, perhaps because that's the part of the business that developers personally feel, but it's not the message that would convince their employers.

DrScientist 4y ago
Totally agree. What matters is development velocity and quality - these are the things you will be competing on - not really cost of production. Slow builds impact both of the above of course.
chasinglogic 4y ago
Definitely, it's also important to remember how salaries vs. infrastructure costs show up on a P&L sheet. Salaries are going to be considered largely immovable and they won't "go down" or show as a lower number on the P&L as a result of your devs getting some time back. Whereas your infrastructure costs jumping up (even by a small amount, esp if you have any amount of scale) will set of alarms, rightly IMO, in the Finance department.
- pron 4y ago
  Yep. In developer-targeted products the users are usually not the customers. Making the product appealing to users is (often) necessary, but it's insufficient to convince the actual customer. Sometimes the problem is in the product itself, but often it's just a matter of shaping the marketing message.

by pron 4y ago

DrScientist 4y ago

Totally agree. What matters is development velocity and quality - these are the things you will be competing on - not really cost of production. Slow builds impact both of the above of course.

chasinglogic 4y ago

Definitely, it's also important to remember how salaries vs. infrastructure costs show up on a P&L sheet. Salaries are going to be considered largely immovable and they won't "go down" or show as a lower number on the P&L as a result of your devs getting some time back. Whereas your infrastructure costs jumping up (even by a small amount, esp if you have any amount of scale) will set of alarms, rightly IMO, in the Finance department.

pron 4y ago
Yep. In developer-targeted products the users are usually not the customers. Making the product appealing to users is (often) necessary, but it's insufficient to convince the actual customer. Sometimes the problem is in the product itself, but often it's just a matter of shaping the marketing message.