[LRUG] Action

[Vahagn Hayrapetyan]

I hope we can all agree that the picture painted by Murray Steele is fairly
bleak:

So software quality (both as end product and as process) is hard to sell
these days! We, developers, are at the forefront of the technical revolution
that permeates EVERY aspect of peoples' lives but those who buy our services
are deaf to what we have to say about HOW it should be done.

To me, this is paradoxical; it is backwards. In no other industry is the
message of quality and robustness so un-marketable as in ours; yet these
very qualities are what must drive demand, create differentiation, and
ensure the long-term health of the ecosystem of any industry.

Let me dwell on this for a minute. In marketing, they say that when we buy
something we are influenced by the AIDA model (Attention, Interest, Desire,
Action). It is a step-wise process by which we become buyers of a certain
product or service.

Now Murray writes that the stakeholders, the buyers, do not understand us
when we talk to them about following certain best practices with regard to
development. This means that we are not even on the first step of the AIDA
model: there is no Attention / Awareness for what we offer.

This is grave stuff. Think about it: we are in a market that does not exist.
(If people are not aware of it, it does not exist). And being in a market
that does not exist can occasionally mean no bread to go with our Nutella
(or was it the other way round?)

My prediction is that unless we take some unprecedented action, the industry
will suffer even further. Everything that can be offshored, will be
(shareholders must see increased returns, especially in shitty times like
these!). The rest of the jobs will (with rare exceptions) by default belong
to the bozos and the drones, as Murray calls them. And our message of
quality, standards, and best practices will be as inexplicable and unwelcome
as ever.

What do we do with that? I want to be in a market of software done right.
How do we create that market and win market share from the bozos and the
drones, and the corporate assholes / suites that rule them?

How do we create a web that is standardized and professional as a
programming platform, so more of the right people can become web developers
for the right reasons and thus swell our ranks?
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