The year was 1999. It was my first year of University and I had a compulsory module titled "Fundamentals of Software Engineering". As a self-taught programmer, who liked to learn things by "hacking" at code, there was nothing I dreaded more than a 40-year old balding professor who was going to preach "methodologies" and talk about some language used in World War I called Ada. Why couldn't we just get on and create some cool Assembly code and hack on those spare micro-processor units?
Turns out that the professor was not that boring after all and methodologies were quite important in the real world. Between the yawn inducing talk of SSADM and boring geometry of UML, we talked about gems like No Silver Bullet, The Mythical Man Month, and other interesting discussions on real-world software delivery.
It was in this module that I learned of the then revolutionary [sic] software development methodology called Iterative Incremental Development. It just made sense! This was the real deal and I was going to conquer the world with an all new way of developing software. And then I got a real job!
The iterative incremental model was primarily championed in those days by the Rational Unified Process, which had more templates and documentation than my entire university course books combined. It was the flavour of the day, and it was meant to solve all our software engineering pains.
Fast forward nearly 10 years and the web is now filled with talk about how agile development will rescue the economy (interesting, Toyota reported their first operating loss in their 71 year history today). Heck, SCRUM is so cool, it is the only software development process where I can call someone pig and still keep a straight face.
Let me make it clear that I (and my company) believe and practise the core principles of Agile Software Development, primarily the iterative incremental development, transparency, and working systems at all stages. I have no problem with promoting and encouraging agile development, however, let's just be clear that this is nothing new. Scrum was mainstream since 2001 and iterative incremental development preceded even that.
Agile Software Development is not about tools, technology or marketing buzzwords. You don't need fancy words like sprint, card walls, or Scrum to practise an agile development process. Agile development is about people and process, and no one has a monopoly on this.
Hi everyone, I'm Damian - the newest recruit to join hedgehog lab. My official title is Product Manager (manager at only 22 years of age!), which means it's my role to manage and run development of fixx, solomon and Product X (the mystery will soon be unveiled) so we can all get plush new Audis.
I like the fact that straight away, I have been put in a position with a fair bit of responsibility, which is great as it means I get to experience all areas of business and I'm able to directly shape the future of our products. So if you have any queries or features you want for upcoming versions, I'm your go-to guy to make this happen - damian@hedgehoglab.com or alternatively add suggestions to our forums.
On this note, we are getting ready to release a new version of fixx early next year (1.6), with a 2.0 release being planned for summer 2009 which I'll be heavily involved in...get ready for some big changes!
I also want to take this opportunity to quickly talk about solomon - our CRM and web-based contact manager, which is looking mighty fine...don't worry you won't have to wait much longer! It'll be worth the wait as you will soon be able to see the thought and experience design that has went into the interface and the performance should be lightning fast with lots of JavaScript (or AJAX for your 2 point ohs) magic binding the entire thing together.
A bit more about myself. My background is in Computer Security and I have joined the lab pretty much straight from Uni. I am one of the cool kids in the lab who work on a Mac, not a PC (hello Mark!), and in my spare time I dabble with Ruby and Java, which is handy as it means I can hit the ground running with both fixx and solomon, which are both developed in Java.
In the short time that I've been here, the things that I really like about working in a start-up are transparency and team discussions. The former is self-explanatory, as it means that no business related subject is taboo. The daily team meetings and discussions are great because I'm able to voice my opinions in a group of very intelligent people. This also means the turn-around on ideas is pretty darn fast too!
I'll leave it here for now, but I suggest you watch this space for some exciting product releases and announcements over the next year.
One question we frequently get asked at hedgehog lab is, "Do you offer a hosted version of fixx?", to which my answer always is, "No, and we currently have no plans to do this although this might change eventually."
Just to be clear, when I refer to hosted software it refers exclusively to applications delivered over the web as a service or SaaS like Basecamp, Freshbooks, <fancy Web 2.0 app name here>."
Although I am a huge fan of many a good hosted applications (the 2 mentioned above being great examples), I am not entirely convinced of the apparently superior advantage this model has as opposed to installable software.
The advantages and benefits of the hosted model have been covered almost everywhere else, so I won't get into them. What I would like to cover is what we see as our basis for choosing an installable model and why we feel that hosted software comes with it's own perils.
Cost
An often used "benefit" by those selling hosted software is that it is cheaper in comparison to installable software. This is true in most cases but definitely not universal.
But what about the cost of installing, maintaining and administering your installable software? The problem here lies in the fact that historically, most installable software was designed with little thought given to the pains of those managing the systems. For example, our bug tracking system takes a little under 15 minutes on average to install, set-up and run with the default configuration. The last time I signed up for Salesforce, it took me the better part of an hour to sign-up and configure the system for use.
Essentially the problem here is not whether the software is installed or hosted, but the complexity of the system, out-dated pricing models and the user experience it delivers.
Vendor lock-in
I actually disagree with the base argument against reliability of hosted software, that the data is in-secure or the technical infrastructure is unreliable. The reliability I refer to is the reliance of a business on a hosted software for business critical applications. Could you continue business if they suddenly decided to discontinue the product or went out of business?
The well-covered recent story of Sandy and the mixed responses are a great example of how let down people can feel when something they have come to rely on discontinues. If the application was installed, I am sure many people would feel disappointed too, but at least continue using the functionality that is vital to their everyday use.
Another example is of the excellent and now-defunct Zimki, which was shut down last year.
Lack of choice
The primary lack of choice in hosted software is that you don't have any control over when and what features change. Because the system is common for everyone, you have to live with the least common denominator that tries to cater for everybody.
The biggest problem with hosted software is any lack of real differentiation in the hundreds of web-based project management, CRM, and time tracking clones. The functionality difference between systems is negligible and what really differentiates them is not exclusively to hosted software.
Great support, user-friendliness and listening to customers is not exclusive to just hosted software.
A few years ago, you were one of the elite if you were a hosted service. Today, you are more likely to be in a less crowded market if you are selling installable software that delivers real value.
Having said that, I would not write off hosted software completely given choice available and the ease of use of most systems. I would just advise caution when considering your business model as a supplier and the platforms you choose to use as a consumer.
