04
April
2007
|
06:32 AM
America/Los_Angeles

What's the future for the software industry? Ask academia...

Carnegie Mellon University and the University of California, Berkeley have joined together for a one day conference on April 30th in Mountain View. Academics and industry leaders will discuss issues and trends for "the new software industry."

They promise that there will be no product demos (how about no PowerPoints too...)

"The software industry is consistently in a state of flux, yet developments such as globalization and outsourcing are altering both the tempo and the type of change taking place," said James Morris, dean of Carnegie Mellon West. "We are entering a period of profound change, and we all need to know what's happening and what we can expect going forward. This conference draws on some of the best and brightest minds in academe and the software industry to answer those questions."

Added Jack Grantham, executive director of the Haas School 's Fisher Information Technology Center , "This conference presents a rare opportunity for vendors to check their sales and marketing hats at the door and settle into discussion and debate over the future of the industry with attendees, academics, and other industry thought leaders."

For more information on the conference, visit http://west.cmu.edu/sofcon/5404216.html and at http://west.cmu.edu/west_connect/events_news/news/6731936.html.

It seems clear to me where the software industry is headed:

  •  it is about software as a service.
  •  it is about moving away from running apps on your own hardware.
  • it is about roll your own apps.
  • it is about offshoring as much development as you can get away with.
  • it is about integrating as much open source software as you can.
  • it is about moving away from a database model of software towards a search-based apps type of approach.
  • it is about creating apps for the small and medium business sector.

To register for the "The New Software Industry: Forces at Play, Business in Motion," go to http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=128819. The early registration fee of $395 is available until Friday, April 6, 2007.