9 ms·

If developers are decision makers, they buy better tools

39 points by vonnik 13y ago

The rise of developers as decisionsmakers is changing the software industry, fragmenting the enterprise market and changing the way businesses communicate.

alexchamberlain 13y ago
This is an awesome article, and I totally agree with it... but, it is an advert disguised as a blog post. Or are all company blog posts actually just adverts?
- Zikes 13y ago
  I wish I could tell you, but as soon as the page finishes loading it completely freezes up and eventually crashes the tab. Chrome 29.0.1547.76 m on Win7
  - vonnik 13y ago
    try a different browser. i'm on chrome.
  - mtgx 13y ago
    Chrome is at version 31 now. Maybe you should upgrade.
  - wil421 13y ago
    Looks great on Chrome 31 in OS X
- andrew_gardener 13y ago
  All company blog posts are adverts (or they're doing it wrong)
  - dsr_ 13y ago
    Some of the best company blog posts are adverts only in the sense that an astute reader will want to work at or with the company. But, yes, still adverts.
- vonnik 13y ago
  newspapers produce information in order to attract readers, whose eyeballs they sell to advertisers. most news is an indirect advertisement of a sort. we happen to make software and study the business we're in. then we write about it. the awesome is free.
vinayan3 13y ago
Only developers would read that title and be certain of the meaning :). I agree with the bit about developers looking at software skeptically. Most of us do indeed think it doesn't work, it's a gimmick, and it could have been built better. This isn't the first time people have said making developers happy was important... Anyone remember Steve Ballmer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8To-6VIJZRE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8To-6VIJZRE
- vonnik 13y ago
  :) I think the mods made the headline human readable now. For those who didn't see it, it's still on the blog.
VladRussian2 13y ago
interesting, as i can't really name any tool i'd buy. Anything what i think is needed is available for free.
- sbt 13y ago
  Intel compiler/tools perhaps. But generally speaking, as a developer I am mostly interested in buying support contracts on OSS.
- herge 13y ago
  Github? Google apps?
- beagle3 13y ago
  I find that's generally true on Linux, my preferred dev platform of choice - but I did pay for BoundsChecker/Purify for windows (valgrind is comparable) visual c++ 6 and visual assist (nothing is as nice is free. Not even vs 2012 which is not free) I also grudgingly pay for one copy of ms office for compatibility reasons. But generally, for functionality - I agree.
  - csmuk 13y ago
    Spot on. I have managed so far to get other people to pay for the tooling so far :-)
- wil421 13y ago
  VMware so I can do testing in Windows with IE. Virtual box just isnt cutting it.
  - hippich 13y ago
    Just curious, why VB is not enough for testing IE?
    - wil421 13y ago
      I guess when I bought it I needed to access certain Microsoft products for school. So initially I guess it wasn't just for IE. Ive never liked clunky apps VB has always been clunky compared to VMware Fusion or Parallels. I'll pay for speed.
7Figures2Commas 13y ago
> Non-developers respond to ads that entertain, inspire and probably feature celebrities they aspire to be. You’re selling dreams and feelings...They don’t really pay attention to specs and features. Not only is this an amazingly denigrating statement which implies that non-developers are all irrational and driven solely by emotion, it's completely out of touch with reality. "Non-developers" are the decision-makers in the vast majority of B2B purchases, and because "B2B" is so broad, it's hard to credibly make general statements like this. That said, I don't know how anybody who has successfully sold a product or service to a non-developer can write that non-developers "don't really pay attention to specs and features." If anything, it's possible to argue that decision-makers often pay too much attention to specs and features and wind up buying more than they need. > You make statements developers can test and prove to their satisfaction. They are deeply, deeply skeptical. This is a significant overgeneralization. Are there skeptical developers who will thoroughly test a product or service before making a purchasing decision? Of course. But if you have been in the game long enough, you'll find that there are plenty of technical decision-makers who buy products and services without any real due diligence. There are a variety of reasons for this ranging from laziness to career security (i.e. "Nobody has been fired for using [x]"). I get the whole B2D concept, but a great developer isn't necessarily capable of making great purchasing decisions. A lot of companies, and startups in particular, are buying third-party "tools" that won't be around in five years, aren't well supported, can't scale beyond a certain point, aren't competitively priced, lock them into closed ecosystems and/or represent core functionality that should be built and maintained in-house. What looks "better" today can very well be a nightmare tomorrow.
- vonnik 13y ago
  You make some great points. By "nondevelopers," I was referring to consumers rather than CIOs.
  - 7Figures2Commas 13y ago
    Huh? Your post begins with, "Programmers will tell you the reason they’re replacing chief information officers in choosing third-party software is because CIOs don’t understand what’s going on" and has nothing to do with consumers, who don't make the kind of technology purchasing decisions you're discussing in the first place.
diziet 13y ago
Developers don't sign huge checks, yet. Unless it comes to hosting or other very critical infrastructure, you're hard pressed to find developers paying a lot. Developers look at a SAAS product and think I can build the core features of this in a week.
- vonnik 13y ago
  Sure. It's all about prioritizing. When SAAS sells it's because it helps developers save time or make money.
bazzargh 13y ago
Something in the opposite direction, from a few years back. Shortly after Oracle took over Sun (which had pitched itself at developers, as the article suggests), Tim Bray visited Oracle OpenWorld. Quote: "My question was: “OpenWorld is this totally all-about-business conference. The Oracle Develop meeting is just a second-rate sidebar. Where does Oracle go about building developer mindshare?” "I’ll try to reproduce the answer in full as best as I can remember it: “You don’t get it. The central relationship between Oracle and its customers is a business relationship, between an Oracle business expert and a customer business leader. The issues that come up in their conversations are business issues. “The concerns of developers are just not material at the level of that conversation; in fact, they’re apt to be dangerous distractions. ‘Developer mindshare’... what’s that, and why would Oracle care?” http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2010/08/31/A-Story-of-O http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2010/08/31/A-Story-of...
- vonnik 13y ago
  Things have changed. Oracle is a perfect example of a company losing ground because it courts CIOs at the expense of developers. Its rivals are eating its lunch. http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/24/oracle-is-bleeding-at-the-hands-of-database-rivals/ http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/24/oracle-is-bleeding-at-the-h... http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-03-20/oracle-losing-ground-as-more-businesses-look-to-the-cloud http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-03-20/oracle-losing-gr...
lttlrck 13y ago
"A new marketing model has developed. It’s not B2B or B2C — it’s B2D." "D stands for different." Ok...
cratermoon 13y ago
Then there's the case I've seen more than once: Non-developers (non-technical folks) can be vulnerable to what I call "The Listerine Effect". While looking for something to fill a genuine need (as expressed by the technical development team) the sales and marketing might convince them they have a problem where they don't -- thus leading to purchasing something that nobody really needs, but is required to use because "we spent too much on it to let it go unused". There's warehouses full of shelfware that got bought that way.

39 points by vonnik 13y ago

The rise of developers as decisionsmakers is changing the software industry, fragmenting the enterprise market and changing the way businesses communicate.

alexchamberlain 13y ago

This is an awesome article, and I totally agree with it... but, it is an advert disguised as a blog post. Or are all company blog posts actually just adverts?

Zikes 13y ago
I wish I could tell you, but as soon as the page finishes loading it completely freezes up and eventually crashes the tab. Chrome 29.0.1547.76 m on Win7
- vonnik 13y ago
  try a different browser. i'm on chrome.
- mtgx 13y ago
  Chrome is at version 31 now. Maybe you should upgrade.
- wil421 13y ago
  Looks great on Chrome 31 in OS X
andrew_gardener 13y ago
All company blog posts are adverts (or they're doing it wrong)
- dsr_ 13y ago
  Some of the best company blog posts are adverts only in the sense that an astute reader will want to work at or with the company. But, yes, still adverts.
vonnik 13y ago
newspapers produce information in order to attract readers, whose eyeballs they sell to advertisers. most news is an indirect advertisement of a sort. we happen to make software and study the business we're in. then we write about it. the awesome is free.

vinayan3 13y ago

Only developers would read that title and be certain of the meaning :). I agree with the bit about developers looking at software skeptically. Most of us do indeed think it doesn't work, it's a gimmick, and it could have been built better. This isn't the first time people have said making developers happy was important... Anyone remember Steve Ballmer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8To-6VIJZRE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8To-6VIJZRE

vonnik 13y ago
:) I think the mods made the headline human readable now. For those who didn't see it, it's still on the blog.

VladRussian2 13y ago

interesting, as i can't really name any tool i'd buy. Anything what i think is needed is available for free.

sbt 13y ago
Intel compiler/tools perhaps. But generally speaking, as a developer I am mostly interested in buying support contracts on OSS.
herge 13y ago
Github? Google apps?
beagle3 13y ago
I find that's generally true on Linux, my preferred dev platform of choice - but I did pay for BoundsChecker/Purify for windows (valgrind is comparable) visual c++ 6 and visual assist (nothing is as nice is free. Not even vs 2012 which is not free) I also grudgingly pay for one copy of ms office for compatibility reasons. But generally, for functionality - I agree.
- csmuk 13y ago
  Spot on. I have managed so far to get other people to pay for the tooling so far :-)
wil421 13y ago
VMware so I can do testing in Windows with IE. Virtual box just isnt cutting it.
- hippich 13y ago
  Just curious, why VB is not enough for testing IE?
  - wil421 13y ago
    I guess when I bought it I needed to access certain Microsoft products for school. So initially I guess it wasn't just for IE. Ive never liked clunky apps VB has always been clunky compared to VMware Fusion or Parallels. I'll pay for speed.

7Figures2Commas 13y ago

> Non-developers respond to ads that entertain, inspire and probably feature celebrities they aspire to be. You’re selling dreams and feelings...They don’t really pay attention to specs and features. Not only is this an amazingly denigrating statement which implies that non-developers are all irrational and driven solely by emotion, it's completely out of touch with reality. "Non-developers" are the decision-makers in the vast majority of B2B purchases, and because "B2B" is so broad, it's hard to credibly make general statements like this. That said, I don't know how anybody who has successfully sold a product or service to a non-developer can write that non-developers "don't really pay attention to specs and features." If anything, it's possible to argue that decision-makers often pay too much attention to specs and features and wind up buying more than they need. > You make statements developers can test and prove to their satisfaction. They are deeply, deeply skeptical. This is a significant overgeneralization. Are there skeptical developers who will thoroughly test a product or service before making a purchasing decision? Of course. But if you have been in the game long enough, you'll find that there are plenty of technical decision-makers who buy products and services without any real due diligence. There are a variety of reasons for this ranging from laziness to career security (i.e. "Nobody has been fired for using [x]"). I get the whole B2D concept, but a great developer isn't necessarily capable of making great purchasing decisions. A lot of companies, and startups in particular, are buying third-party "tools" that won't be around in five years, aren't well supported, can't scale beyond a certain point, aren't competitively priced, lock them into closed ecosystems and/or represent core functionality that should be built and maintained in-house. What looks "better" today can very well be a nightmare tomorrow.

vonnik 13y ago
You make some great points. By "nondevelopers," I was referring to consumers rather than CIOs.
- 7Figures2Commas 13y ago
  Huh? Your post begins with, "Programmers will tell you the reason they’re replacing chief information officers in choosing third-party software is because CIOs don’t understand what’s going on" and has nothing to do with consumers, who don't make the kind of technology purchasing decisions you're discussing in the first place.

diziet 13y ago

Developers don't sign huge checks, yet. Unless it comes to hosting or other very critical infrastructure, you're hard pressed to find developers paying a lot. Developers look at a SAAS product and think I can build the core features of this in a week.

vonnik 13y ago
Sure. It's all about prioritizing. When SAAS sells it's because it helps developers save time or make money.

bazzargh 13y ago

Something in the opposite direction, from a few years back. Shortly after Oracle took over Sun (which had pitched itself at developers, as the article suggests), Tim Bray visited Oracle OpenWorld. Quote: "My question was: “OpenWorld is this totally all-about-business conference. The Oracle Develop meeting is just a second-rate sidebar. Where does Oracle go about building developer mindshare?” "I’ll try to reproduce the answer in full as best as I can remember it: “You don’t get it. The central relationship between Oracle and its customers is a business relationship, between an Oracle business expert and a customer business leader. The issues that come up in their conversations are business issues. “The concerns of developers are just not material at the level of that conversation; in fact, they’re apt to be dangerous distractions. ‘Developer mindshare’... what’s that, and why would Oracle care?” http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2010/08/31/A-Story-of-O http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2010/08/31/A-Story-of...

vonnik 13y ago
Things have changed. Oracle is a perfect example of a company losing ground because it courts CIOs at the expense of developers. Its rivals are eating its lunch. http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/24/oracle-is-bleeding-at-the-hands-of-database-rivals/ http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/24/oracle-is-bleeding-at-the-h... http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-03-20/oracle-losing-ground-as-more-businesses-look-to-the-cloud http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-03-20/oracle-losing-gr...

lttlrck 13y ago

"A new marketing model has developed. It’s not B2B or B2C — it’s B2D." "D stands for different." Ok...

cratermoon 13y ago

Then there's the case I've seen more than once: Non-developers (non-technical folks) can be vulnerable to what I call "The Listerine Effect". While looking for something to fill a genuine need (as expressed by the technical development team) the sales and marketing might convince them they have a problem where they don't -- thus leading to purchasing something that nobody really needs, but is required to use because "we spent too much on it to let it go unused". There's warehouses full of shelfware that got bought that way.