Moving at the Speed of Software

Your company, regardless of industry, is now controlled by software.

People are still the underlying foundation of any company, but the best people can be no better than the software they use to perform their jobs.  You can only move and adapt as fast as your software can move and adapt.  Likewise, if you are building bricks and mortar facilities, they too must be adaptable to the changes in business models that are being driven by the Speed of Software.  In other words, heavy investments in bricks and mortar can inhibit the ability of a company or industry from leveraging the benefits of delivering their products and services through rapidly adaptable software.  I was touring a healthcare organization recently that is building a beautiful new "Cardiology Services Tower" in anticipation of the aging baby boomers and their needs.  The thought that kept running through my mind as I reviewed the plans:  You are building an enormously expensive structure here that will last at least 40-years, but is based upon the old way delivering healthcare, including the relatively new and already outdated notion that a hospital should be a 5-star resort.

The future of all industries is defined by software, not bricks and mortar.  Don't buy software that can't adapt, and don't build buildings that paint you into a corner and that can't leverage the Speed of Software.