You Light Up My Life—Solving Real Problems with Software

If you're interested in useful applications of technology, I'd suggest you check out this article in ComputerWorld about building automation. Essentially, what used to be under the control the maintenance department, is now coming under the control of the IT department. So, now when you can't control the temperature in your office, you have something else to blame on the techies in your company.

But seriously, what's key here is that software still has a major roll to play to solve unsolved problems—in this case energy efficiency. As an environmentalist and someone he sees a future of $50, if not $75 oil, I'm always encouraged to see that what I know can fix something that matters. If only this were true of most of the software business. Like many colleagues, I occasionally allow myself a nostalgic moment thinking back to 1998 or so. Customers were easy to find. Everybody needed the product. A booming economy and a looming absolute deadline. Oh, the good old days.

Unfortunately, even as tech spending rebounds somewhat, the problems which were solved in the great automation push of the 20th century are just that, solved. Do you know any major company that doesn't have automated bookkeeping? Indeed, how many companies have relatively new software purchased in the pre-Y2K frenzy? Sure, there are plenty of new technologies out there and plenty of work to do but the major structural change is over.

If software is to prosper and thrive, it needs to happen in areas where there are structural opportunities. These challenges, not outsourcing to India, are the fundamental challenges for the technology business. The question we need to ask are not "how far can WiFi" go but how can technology solve major structural issues. Energy is certainly one of those issues. Health Care and Security are other ones. If you want to know the future of technologists, you need to compare the possibilities in these markets instead of the continued application of the well-served basic automation business.

November 28, 2008 | Email Us

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