Making business software can be creative work, too

Innovators continue to enjoy advancing the field of software engineering. But what about practitioners? Do they have fun, too? Well, folks in the consumer software area don't seem to be complaining. But those who develop business software believe they're not doing creative work. In fact, provider-side practitioners say, "The inventory management system we're currently developing is not very different from the inventory management system we delivered just 3 months ago to another company. Even the code is largely re-used."

The ongoing move from IT to BT (business technology) has raised hopes to turn business software development into creative work. BT's focus on results pushes the team to look for creative ways to achieve business outcomes. One such opportunity emerges from the enterprise CXO's discomfort with the mere "automation" of existing business processes. Reengineering the Corporation was perhaps the first to highlight this wasteful effort that the authors call "paving the cow path." CXOs today would rather innovate to achieve new business results.

Do you think practitioners will exploit BT's creativity potential?

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