Enterprise: Four-Letter Word · 9 June 2007, 21:11
The more I work with costly “Enterprise” software packages, the more I get a sense of FUD when I hear that term in the name of a piece of software.
My idea of what “Enterprise” is supposed to mean with regards to software is “able to work in a heterogeneus, networked environment and integrate with a wide variety of other software packages and SNMP monitoring systems.” The reality I am seeing with any package that uses the term “Enterprise” as part of its’ name is:
- Difficult to manage
- Licensing is expensive
- Managing licenses is a painful experience
- Support technicians are nice but generally suffer the “we read scripts” support desk anti-pattern.
- Most packages do not have open APIs for integration with other products; instead they encourage the use of “professional support” a.k.a consulting time at hefty rates (for example, $2k/hour for an EMC consultant).
- The “Enterprise” software company maintains a wide range of software products that work together wonderfully, but surprise (!) .. third party products do not integrate as well. Why would that be? Hmm.
- Add two months of time to a rollout over an open source package or over software from a smaller company
If I ever use the word “Enterprise” in a software package I develop or manage the development of I will know it is time to take me out into the field and shoot me.
— Max Schubert
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