James Higginbotham

API Architect

GlueCon 2013 Notes: Keynote: The New Kingmakers – Stephen O’Grady, Redmonk (@sogrady)

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Keynote: The New Kingmakers – Stephen O’Grady, Redmonk (@sogrady)

  • In the past, software was just an enabler
  • The Share user group and IBM built a community to sell more hardware by allowing developers to craft software on shared equip
  • A few perceived the opportunity of software – Bill Gates and Microsoft did
  • The era of Enterprise Software: 1975-1998
  • Microsoft sales peaked in 1998, here is why:
  • At that time, software was built to sell to those with the money (CIOs, etc), not to those that use it (it was built to be bought, not to be used)
  • Linux was created in 1991
  • Netscape Navigator created in 1994, causing us to rethink the definition of an application
  • Apache created 1995, many vendors gave up as they couldn’t make theirs better than Apache
  • MySQL created in 1995, most popular database on the planet (simple, easy to use)
  • PHP created in 1995
  • Google founded in 1998, a company that made money with software rather than from software
  • This transitioned software from being built to be bought to being built to be used
  • They were using the open source software that was being built and not beholden to the enterprise for software
  • Now we have access to computer hardware with a credit card
  • This allows us to build things and collaborate easily:
    • Education/Training (e.g. Coursera, Stack Overflow)
    • Collaboration Mechanisms (e.g. github, Apache)
    • Marketplaces for Goods and Services (e.g. Elance, Craigslist, Apple store)
  • Developers still needed access to capital
  • The total number of deals went up while deal sizes declined – at the same time AWS became available
  • There is now more overlap between what developers want to use and what is being used than what IT decision makers think is being used
  • The reality is that developers have more access to the things they need
  • Developers have never been more empowered than they are today
    • More languages for choice and project fit
    • Standards and styles, such as REST, caused a simple alternative for web services and increased avail APIs
    • Oracle and other enterprises are facing more competition due to a change in procurement (more developers, less CIOs)
  • Stephen’s book: The New Kingmakers
  • http://thenewkingmakers.com

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