How to make Internet of traditional enterprise software

In the author's more than 10 years of it practice, is engaged in software products and services research and development of the old dog. I have experienced the first wave of the Internet, and now this is the golden age of IT technology development, whether traditional enterprise software, or Internet services, its development is particularly rapid. These two forces in parallel development, but also a slow convergence. This paper probes into the internet trend of enterprise software from the perspectives of technology, content, demand and mode, and analyzes how traditional enterprise software vendors deal with such changes in different fields.

What is enterprise software

The concept of enterprise software is not clearly defined in the industry, and it is difficult to distinguish from the technical level. Some viewpoints are divided from the system scale, some from the team size, and some from the development cycle. My personal definition of enterprise software is relatively simple, mainly using software audiences to distinguish between Internet applications and enterprise software. The audience for Internet applications is mostly the general public. and enterprise software audience is generally enterprise customers, users are generally internal and external customers and business associates with the personnel.

Of course, even from this point of view, its positioning is very vague. Many internet companies, while serving individual users, also offer a variety of online services, such as corporate mailboxes, video conferencing, storage, and documentation, for corporate customers. The development of Internet has been out of the category of technology, which makes people's perception and cognition free from the shackles of time and distance, and gets a great extension. Enterprise software in the tide of the internet, it is no longer possible to stick in the enterprise, the internet trend, although slow, but unstoppable. These changes are mainly embodied in technology, network environment, product content, user experience, service mode and equipment extension.

Characteristics of Internet of enterprise software

Does enterprise software begin to feature the Internet? How does enterprise software borrow the Internet? Before answering these questions, let's take a look at the distinctive features of the two applications that remain.

Internet applications are characterized by rapid iterative development, focus on user experience, operational and data driven, more accurate recommendation and search, high capacity concurrency, and dynamic schema expansion.

Enterprise software more emphasis on data consistency (especially financial software), domain-driven design, complex business logic, process management, computing engine, extreme business scenarios. These are still the problems that enterprise software needs to face.

From a technical point of view, enterprise software technology is really not as attractive as Internet service technology. Not everyone wants to use the new technology, but the application scene is different. Also Java, in the Twitter do is back-end search, Taobao do is E-commerce platform, in Ufida do is the application software development platform. Each manufacturer faces different user scenarios, the same technology system, the use of specific technologies and strategies are not the same. At present, the enterprise software technology is relatively stable, closed, the Internet technology is relatively cutting-edge, open, but the enterprise software in the business design and domain-driven accumulation of Internet applications are not available. From the iteration cycle, the industry software needs to be stable, the Internet service by the manufacturer's own hosting, can be short-term iterations, and constantly try.

Since there are so many different, what is the Internet of enterprise software in the end?

Technology

We return to 2000 years or so, when the first wave of internet wind, the use of technology, including HTML4.0, Cgi/perl, ASP and so on. and enterprise software more or C/s structure, using VB, C + +, Delphi mostly. From this point of view, the recognition of the two is still very high. 12 years of time, let's take a look at the technology now.

From the data storage of relational database, NoSQL, Distributed File system, to programming language, parallel computing, asynchronous programming, cloud platform and all kinds of front-end technology, numerous and complex, hundred flowers. These technologies can be constructed into a variety of software products in any combination, regardless of Internet applications or enterprise software. From this point of view, it is meaningless to use technology to rigidly classify the types of software services. Because of the huge ecological environment of the Internet, it is necessary to lead one step in the depth and breadth of the technology, and the enterprise application in keeping the technical characteristics of the foundation on the basis of timely follow-up is the general trend. At the same time, the maturity of Internet technology also provides more opportunities for enterprise software.

Network environment

China's enterprise software is basically from the financial software evolved, security first, so early enterprises will put software in the intranet, even stand-alone operation. With the deepening of enterprise informatization and security technology enhancement, enterprise software is no longer limited to intranet, through VPN, signature authentication and other security technology, enterprise software system began to turn to the Internet, so that enterprise customers can access the company's business system anytime, anywhere. Many companies have proposed "three a strategy"--anytime, anywhere and any Device to cope with the ever-changing market demand. Even a lot of enterprise software systems are facing the Internet audience, such as Enterprise Portal integration, E-commerce platform, corporate community and customer contact. Enterprise software has moved from the infrastructure layer to the foreground, it needs only the enterprise itself and the software manufacturer more cognition and change.

Service Content

The service content of enterprise software is also changing slowly. In addition to the core business system, some of these requirements are emerging: Interactive portal systems, E-commerce platforms, corporate blogs, wikis, microblogs, large-scale file processing, private cloud and enterprise mobile applications.

In addition to functional requirements, customers are increasingly concerned about features such as security, performance, large capacity, and concurrency. Don't think that business customers are still using the IE6 of history, if your enterprise software can not be compatible with a variety of browsers, no supporting mobile terminals, not enough concise UI, then they may turn away, to choose another more Internet software vendors.

User Experience

Because of the rapid development of Internet and mobile applications, user experience has been pushed to a very high position in software system, and it has become an important factor to measure the vitality of software products. A product manager who doesn't know the user experience design can be laughed at. But there are only a handful of software companies that really turn the user experience into a corporate gene, even more so in traditional corporate software companies. Most companies only to the user experience of the shallow mining, to the user experience has a deep excavation, the need for the entire company's industry chain close cooperation, this is not just a front-end engineer things.

A good user experience includes and is not limited to the following.

Clear layered architecture, simple page. There is enough information, while leaving the user with the space to think.

Complete and clear data flow. Data processing can be accomplished without a user manual.

Efficient operation. Refine operations with deep business abstractions, and perform the most common functions with minimal action, such as Amazon's 1-click order (one-click orders).

Make user actions interesting. Many people will think that the enterprise software must be cold, boring, like the cockpit is full of invisible buttons. The fact is that if you can make the software interesting, customers will fall in love with you and your software.

A variety of UI display methods, including PC browser and mobile terminal.

Find a balance between availability and feasibility. If it costs a great deal for a very flashy experience, it's worth the candle. Remember to provide the most valuable and not the most dazzling user experience.

Service mode

When it comes to enterprise software, you first think of the "license+ Upgrade maintenance costs" model. The software is sold to corporate customers at a relatively uniform price and then implemented, maintained, and upgraded. With the development of the Internet, the SaaS model became hot, and many of the online versions of the generic software had been on-line and had achieved good results. For example, Google's mail and doc, hundred Office software, off-line thunder and a variety of cloud anti-virus cloud security, are all online services. To this end, it is asserted that the license of enterprise software will also become a historical product, online enterprise software is the future.

I don't quite agree with that, but the direction is right, but enterprise software is different from Universal software, and its user community, the complexity of application development and implementation, process transformation, security, and local environment can cause customers to not migrate to SaaS as quickly as using common software.

In the future, the license model and the SaaS model will coexist for a long time. If you rashly abandon the traditional software sales model to do SaaS, it will undoubtedly bring great trouble to the software enterprise itself.

For this, software chief Joel Spolsky also described in his book, "The Software's Random book":

Our products offer two modes: one is hosted on its own server, that is, SaaS mode, and the other is to install the product on the customer's server. Of course we like the first model, you don't have to think about dealing with all kinds of hardware, operating systems, and Third-party software, which can be exhausting. But the fact is, the second model has increased our sales by 5 times times.

We certainly want our customers to use online services, we have a lot of free servers, so the cost of services will be reduced to very low. But our money will be very small and we will go bankrupt.

If you want to earn money, don't be afraid of dirty (means to solve various problems for customers).

The Internet Age enterprise software service mode is changing, but this does not mean that the original invoicing software into SaaS on the line. The important thing is not where to deploy, but whether the software is as fun and easy to use as Internet apps. If the SOFTWARE product sells well, continue with your license model and make the product better. At the same time, the appropriate online business through the Internet technology to form their own SaaS, and then the appropriate customer step-by-Step guide to this platform. In China, SaaS is still a market to be nurtured.

The time for enterprise software platform is ripe

I have said a word on Weibo: Ali playing is the platform, by the electric dealer to do, Jing Dong is playing the electric business, conveniently engaged in technology. The response is very numerous, but also by many media references. Of course, now Jingdong has attached great importance to technology, and began to build their own platform. Whether it is an internet company or an enterprise software manufacturer, a first-class enterprise has its own platform-level ecological environment.

The early definition of platform is the operating environment of computer hardware and software. With the development of technology, the meaning of the platform has become rich, far more than the original scope. But one thing that hasn't changed is that the platform is an infrastructure that can help the superstructure of the field in a variety of ways. 2000, the platform is the operating system, Microsoft became the performance overlord, the market value of more than 500 billion, the Linux camp to seize the server market, the two formed an ecological circle. 2005, the platform began to diversify, there are operating systems, search engines, enterprise development platform and E-commerce platform. 2012, the platform is everywhere.

With the Internet of enterprise software, with the requirement of the function, quality, environment and user experience of the software increasing, the software development cost continues to rise, so the application development of the software enterprise must set up the platform-level solution and the ecological environment from the angle of efficiency, quality and software environment. The enterprise software itself has accumulated enough in the business domain. Now the Internet mature technology for enterprise software platform provides a wealth of technology solutions and software and hardware environment. Therefore, for enterprise software vendors, this is an enterprise software application platform to build the best ERA.

Mobile applications will become the basic needs of enterprise users

The mobile Internet market for individual users is booming, and its rapid development is the growth of mobile devices, which also drives the development of enterprise mobility. There are now more than 5 billion mobile phone users worldwide. According to the data provided by Aberdeen Group, 75% of enterprises began to use mobile devices to access the work. VDC Group predicts that by 2013, the total number of mobile devices that support enterprise mobile applications will reach 25 million units, and enterprise mobile applications will affect the overall business of the enterprise in the near future. When all VC and mobile developers in the personal app market shopping, in fact, Enterprise Mobile application is also a huge market, with unlimited possibilities. Mobile apps will change the way we work, as I pointed out in the previous section, anytime, anywhere, any device. There are huge opportunities, including enterprise mobile applications development and lifecycle management, mobile device management, mobile device security, data backup, off-line operation. All enterprise software vendors should now consider what I can offer for mobile apps in the enterprise. In the near future, more than 70% of the business will be transferred from PC to mobile flat and mobile terminals. Imagine what a big market this is.

Speaking of which, we have to mention PeopleSoft's founder, Dave Duffield. After PeopleSoft was maliciously acquired by Oracle, he left and founded a new company called workday--, a typical internet-featured enterprise software company that provides HR and financial software based on the corporate cloud platform. Workday's software terminals, which include PCs, pad and mobile phones, draw on the elements of Internet products in software design, and spend a lot of time researching Facebook and Amazon, not Oracle or SAP, in the design process.

Looking for employees in Workday's ipad version of the software, the employee's photo pops up into the center of the mesh directory-a radiant tissue chart that can be turned around with a finger. Click on the photo to see the employee's direct subordinates, performance evaluations, and LinkedIn pages. "People generally think this kind of software is boring, but we think it should be enjoyable," says Joe Korngiebel, head of Workday laboratories. ”

Workday's HR software even adds a lot of game elements.

Of all the projects Joe Korngiebel was responsible for, one experiment tried to turn some human resources management functions into games. If a co-worker is doing a good job, other employees can reward virtual badges on their pages. Each person scores according to the number of badges he receives. Managers can add points to employees if they offer a number of candidates to hire for a vacant position. There is also a company-wide ranking in the software, where people can view the year-end bonus level as determined by the points.

Many of the original concepts could fall apart when you get an enterprise management software that runs on both the ipad and the iphone. We will find that the original enterprise software can also do so. Not only can the cloud platform, mobile terminals, user experience perfect integration into an enterprise software, and use it is so interesting. There will always be areas of subversion in this world.

Summary

Overall, the current enterprise software is not as good as the internet industry, which is due to enterprise software vendors and enterprise customers inherent robustness, but there is no doubt that the enterprise software market is huge. Tide Rise and Fall, Hedong Hexi, excellent enterprise software will be in the long river of the internet again glow bright light. We have to do is to seize the opportunity to make better products!

Author Chi Jianqiang, whenever programmer, successively in horn software, rocket software appointment. Ninrayo is currently deputy dean of IT Application Research Institute, responsible for the company's basic application platform research and development and technical research work. Focus on enterprise application software platform development, distributed systems, Enterprise mobile interconnection, domain driven design, OSGi and dynamic language applications and other related technologies.