Software has been “eating the world,” as entrepreneur Marc Andreessen famously stated, for some time now. It is no longer surprising to see traditional OEM companies making massive investments into building software expertise and competencies for the future.
Beyond obvious transformations driven by global connectivity and digitization, there are underlying factors that drive our infrastructure to be software-defined, software-deployed, and software-managed. Software is now the maestro that conducts the complex infrastructure orchestra running the world.
- Super-human responsiveness — With so many disparate elements and potential sources of vulnerability and opportunity, modern infrastructure requires systems and humans to be hyper-responsive to changing needs and circumstances. As automation and systems become more pervasive, traditional responses where all possible actions are known ahead are becoming obsolete. The sheer number of available paths for resolution and analysis makes rapid reactions by humans untenable. New approaches that utilize pattern recognition and process hundreds of parameters simultaneously can make systems highly responsive and accurate. Stock market algorithms, cancer diagnoses and security breaches are just a few examples of where power software will outdo human capabilities. Future software, in addition to following a prescribed set of actions to ensure fast reaction, will be able to devise new paths on the fly as new situations arise.
- Interactive ecosystems – The siloed world of isolated ecosystems is coming to an end. Systems increasingly affect each other and need to work together. The job falls on software to ensure that complex systems such as operational technology (control systems, MRP systems, etc.) and IT systems (ERP, CRM, etc.) seamlessly integrate not only with each other but also with other systems (such as consumer applications). Software is the glue that makes the interfaces between these systems work. As the complexity of each individual system multiplies, there is a corresponding need for that glue to increase in sophistication and capability. Despite significant consolidation, variants in hardware and software platforms will continue to exist, and businesses need to ensure compatibility. Interactions between edge devices, cloud platforms, and intermediary communication gateways will continue to increase and require coordination, provisioning and ongoing management. Software will be key to homogenizing the management and deployment of future networked infrastructure.
- Complex Orchestration – Often competing business and technological objectives need to be traded off to arrive at the best strategic decision. Cost and availability, growth and profitability, and relative risk and reward are a few examples of the trade-offs business stakeholders face. Inputs to these decisions are increasingly diverse and constantly changing. Orchestrating outcomes to maximize stakeholder goals will be no easy feat in the future. Stakeholders need to rely on hardware and software systems proficient in game theory and scenario planning to make decisions that strike the right balance of risk and reward.
All the above are converging rapidly to create an environment where winners in business will be determined by their software capabilities. Having said this, it is naive to think hardware design expertise is no longer needed. As I frequently say, “We have yet to figure out how to run software without hardware.” While software skills close to the core business can be nurtured inside organizations, the hardware and ecosystem expertise that is required will be difficult to build in-house.
Furthermore, many companies, rightfully so, are becoming more deliberate and measured in how they prioritize the use of highly valued internal resources toward software development, while using external resources to help them create, make and manage their full solution. Leveraging an external resource, in this case, makes a ton of sense as it can help speed up your time to market, expand your scale, and reduce cost and complexity.
There is no doubt that our world is a software-oriented one. The winners will focus on the unique value that software can bring, while relying on the expertise of a company, such as Arrow Intelligent Solutions, to take on the other aspects of the technology lifecycle that are non-core, but still strategic to the company’s mission.
