FathomDB impressed me with its database as a service offering. Great for startups. You can stage your investments and limit the need for database staff.
Expect larger, established companies to become interested in this kind of product. You see, there's a trend developing.
With each passing year the real outsourcing will be to companies like FathomDB, companies that are reducing the complexity of software and making it easier to focus on development and modeling.
It's true. Take a look at another of the six: Cloudscale.
On any team, we want players who perform at the highest level. In Nikki Stone’s book, When Turtles Fly, she provides a framework that will help you become a champion in your field.
She uses the metaphor of a turtle and stories from successful people to teach seven principles of achievement. So if you want to learn about passion, read Lindsay Vonn’s story, and for confidence read Tommy Hilfiger’s story, and for commitment read Steve Young’s story.
Why are stories important? Well... If a graph about excellence doesn’t grab you, Nikki’s story about Steve Young will.
There Steve Young was, 13 years old and playing on a Little League baseball team. After three games, Steve had struck out every time at bat. He was 0 - 11. He became anxious, dreading going to the next game. He begged his father to let him skip the games. Lucky for Steve, his dad made him stick to his commitment and complete the season. Steve was 0 - 42 with one final game to play, and in the final game he got his first hit. Even though he went 1 for 42 that season, Steve loved the crack of the bat when he connected with that one lone baseball.
In the off-season, Steve practiced hitting every day, cloudburst or shine. The next year, he had one of the best seasons of anyone in the league. He carried this story with him to the National Football League.
In his early years as a quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, no one thought of Steve as a hall of fame quarterback. His seasons in Tampa were dismal. After being traded to San Francisco, he had to wait his turn behind legend Joe Montana. When Steve’s time came, he had some of the best NFL seasons any quarterback has ever had. He was named the Most Valuable Player in the NFL twice and lead the 49ers to a SuperBowl win in 1994. And he holds the record for highest career passer rating.
Steve’s commitment to victory, created one of the most dazzling runs in NFL history:
Note: The stumble at the end of the run, the slight imperfection, only heightens the memory.
Last week I attended a Scrum Master class, a class that teaches the concepts of Scrum Software Development.
There's really nothing new here. We've all been taught about the value of tight feedback loops, a market focus, and periodic prototypes.
Scrum provides a framework for Agile development. Depending on who's implementing the Scrum process in your company, it can lead to improved products or high comedy.
The bottom line? You still need to have people on your staff who know how to design and build great software.