Fast food software

Our industry of software development has used the "large software" model for development. By "large software", I mean software that costs a lot. Not just in purchase cost (or support licenses) but in care and feeding.

I recently attended a science fiction convention. I noticed that the con used little in the way of tech. The folks running the con used computers, but few attendees used them. The con made no effort to interact with people via tech. The con had a static web site and a PDF with a list of events.

In contrast, the O'Reilly conferences use tech to involve people. They have a web site. You can create a profile. The web site has a schedule of sessions, and you can create your personal schedule, picking those sessions that interest you.

The difference between the two organizations is technical firepower. O'Reilly has the wherewithal to hire folks and make the interaction happen. Science fiction conventions are often volunteer-run and have little technical expertise on staff.

I suspect that a lot of small organizations, companies, and government agencies are in similar situations. They probably use PCs with Windows, MS-Office, and Internet Explorer... because that's the software that is on the PC when they take it out of the box. Small organizations don't have IT support teams and cannot adopt today's high-tech solutions (the effort outstrips the one guy who sets up the PCs).

Small shops are too often run on a bunch of PCs, a router, and shared spreadsheets. (Or worse, passed-around spreadsheets, and we're not really sure who has the latest changes.) They don't have the expertise to install and support custom-made systems. (I suspect that many small shops don't have the experience to install MS-Office and track licenses and activation codes.)

Smartphones and tablets (and the cloud) are a possible solution here. The model provided by smartphones and tablets is a good fit for these small organizations. Installation of software is handled by a single click. (No license, no activation code, no special instructions.) Smartphone and tablet software is also priced within the budget of a small organization. The local Mom-and-Pop store will never, ever, purchase and install an ERP system (nor should they) but they can record expenses on their phones.

The business model for small software is different from the business model for large software. Large software is like a dinner at a high-end restaurant: You have personal service and you meal is prepared according to your specifications. Small software is fast food: You pick a set of items from a limited menu and your meal is handed to you from a stack of prepared items, with little or no personalization. It is not elegant... but it is fast, predictable, and cheap.

With the right combination of front-end software (on tablets and phones) and back-end software (in the cloud), small organizations will be able to use tech and involve their customers. (And involve their customers in a way that is easy for customers to use.)

There is a market here. It's different from the current market, in terms of tech and business. It is a high-volume, low-margin market. And for those who exploit it capably, very profitable.