Software development – what you don’t know

Although the frequency at which major software developers such as Apple and Microsoft are releasing new operating systems and software may please the average consumer, this practice may be hurting other branches of the software development sector.

The reality is that each iteration of an operating system, word processing tool, or server management mainframe requires the continued efforts of third party developers to keep up with the pace. Every time a major developer releases a new version of its software, third party developers for niche sectors are forced to commit considerable resources to rewriting code which accommodates this.

This is the message being passed on by Kevin Phillips, Managing Director of South African based third party software development firm idu Software, which specialises in integrating ERP software with client databases and infrastructure within the financial management sector.

According to Phillips, third party developers are being forced into a catch twenty-two situation where they are inadvertently encouraging clients to purchase new operating systems as they are released due to the fact that legacy support for the multitude of systems which are now available does not make financial sense.

“There have been sixteen versions of Windows and SQL released in the last four years alone and our software has to support all of them. Eventually, as a third party developer, we are forced to encourage clients to purchase new software because eventually we cannot support every new addition”.

This is a massive challenge for third party developers owing to the fact that more often than not, new operating systems or software is based on a completely different architecture to the previous generation. In order to optimise these for client usage, third party developers are forced to commit thousands of man hours towards recoding enterprise systems and plugins in order to offer the basic functionality of the updated software.

Due to this, it is becoming increasingly difficult for these firms to roll out new functionality as major software developers increase the frequency at which they release new systems.

Phillips also noted that the frequency at which large software developers encourage consumers to upgrade their software is impractical and may just be positioned to benefit their revenue streams. “The average car manufacturer brings out a new model every year or so, but buyers are expected to drive their purchase for three or four years. You simply don’t see consumers being ostracized for driving cars that are six months old. It’s not like this in IT.”

In conclusion, Phillips has admitted that although there is no way of encouraging major players such as Microsoft to slow the release of a new operating system, clients can be made aware that it takes time to recode applications for these platforms.

“I don’t think there is an understanding within the market place. What people don’t realise that as a third party developer you’ve got to comply with all software changes otherwise you can’t upgrade. We don’t know what Microsoft is going to do next. As a result, business at large needs to understand that there is a cost associated with redeveloping applications.”