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| PETALUMA, CA - AUGUST 16: A construction worker cuts a piece of wood on the top of a home under construction at a new housing development on August 16, 2011 in Petaluma, California. The Commerce Department reported that new home construction fell in July with homebuilders beginning construction on a seasonally adjusted 604,000 homes for the month, a 1.5 percent decline from June. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife) |
I found an article about talking about a dissertation by Marianne Kivela. I thought it was quite interesting, and I wanted to share it on this blog. Hope you find it as interesting as I do. Many more posts to come, I promise! The gist of the work is that Finnish ICT companies focus on technology and
processes, when they should be focusing on market inputs. In my experience this
is the case in 90% of all Finnish ICT’s, but now it has been academically
validated!
Marianne goes on to conclude that if ICT’s focused on flexible modular product development and had effective channels for market input they would be in a much better position to succeed. Hypothesis proven! Marianne claims to look at the problem from a more business orientated perspective. I just cannot wait to read her work!
Dr. Petri Salonen has written his dissertation on modular product development… I believe it was in 2004. The software industry with all its glamour is always a generation behind more mature industries like auto manufacturing and construction in their methods and processes. Auto manufacturers have for a few decades build cars from modular components in order to reduce their new product introduction cycles and cost structures. In the construction industry modular building techniques are even older. If we look at the open source community it is all about reusability and components… and that is why open source is flourishing. If we look at what is new in construction, it is self fastening modular locks. You lift walls in place and they seamlessly lock together without bolts, welding or hammering. What would be the equivalent for software? A universal API perhaps? Small software companies could specialize in innovating certain modular functions and the big boys could piece them together in an optimal configuration to meet market needs virtually on demand.
What comes to better channels of market input there is NO substitute for being present in person. My “framework” is simple. Find out where the largest concentrations of potential clients are and move your executives and product management there. If you are relying on analysts and third party market studies then good luck. Analysts are reactive by nature and influenced by resonance. If analysts had insight into the future they would be product vendors as the margins are a lot better. You can always outsource your road map development to a third party, but do they understand your dream the way you do? Will they change the world? If you don’t have a life altering vision then why are you developing products in any case? The worlds full of substitutes… we need life altering!
Marianne goes on to conclude that if ICT’s focused on flexible modular product development and had effective channels for market input they would be in a much better position to succeed. Hypothesis proven! Marianne claims to look at the problem from a more business orientated perspective. I just cannot wait to read her work!
Dr. Petri Salonen has written his dissertation on modular product development… I believe it was in 2004. The software industry with all its glamour is always a generation behind more mature industries like auto manufacturing and construction in their methods and processes. Auto manufacturers have for a few decades build cars from modular components in order to reduce their new product introduction cycles and cost structures. In the construction industry modular building techniques are even older. If we look at the open source community it is all about reusability and components… and that is why open source is flourishing. If we look at what is new in construction, it is self fastening modular locks. You lift walls in place and they seamlessly lock together without bolts, welding or hammering. What would be the equivalent for software? A universal API perhaps? Small software companies could specialize in innovating certain modular functions and the big boys could piece them together in an optimal configuration to meet market needs virtually on demand.
What comes to better channels of market input there is NO substitute for being present in person. My “framework” is simple. Find out where the largest concentrations of potential clients are and move your executives and product management there. If you are relying on analysts and third party market studies then good luck. Analysts are reactive by nature and influenced by resonance. If analysts had insight into the future they would be product vendors as the margins are a lot better. You can always outsource your road map development to a third party, but do they understand your dream the way you do? Will they change the world? If you don’t have a life altering vision then why are you developing products in any case? The worlds full of substitutes… we need life altering!
