Read That Post

“Experiments are only revealed in retrospect to be turning points”.

I strongly recommend to anyone working in media, or classifieds, or publishing of any kind to read this post.

And now, back to thinking about Aldus Manutius, the Elder.

Good night!

Not Invented Here, Yes Invented Here

I normally get very edgy with people trying to persuade me that standardising is not possible blah, blah, blah or that cultural and national differences provide strong barriers to deployment of certain product groups blah, blah, blah, especially in software or services targeted to some very specific industries (automotive dealers, official ones; real estate agency networks, and so forth).

However, there is always a fine grain and some extra reading gave me some fresh perspective. I think it’s fair to remember that the Not Invented Here Syndrome, first of all, sort of came out of the perceived hard-headiness of software development teams thinking that they must do everything themselves. On the other hand, when looking into reducing fixed costs and passing “out” parts of your key business processes, I find the following quote not just fair but probably quite wise:

If it’s a core business function — do it yourself, no matter what.

Pick your core business competencies and goals, and do those in house. If you’re a software company, writing excellent code is how you’re going to succeed. Go ahead and outsource the company cafeteria and the CD-ROM duplication. If you’re a pharmaceutical company, write software for drug research, but don’t write your own accounting package. If you’re a web accounting service, write your own accounting package, but don’t try to create your own magazine ads. If you have customers, never outsource customer service.

Don’t ask me why I liked this whole post. But I did. Thanks Joel. On the other hand, I recommend reading The Power of Dynamic Value Chains for better and deeper insights.