In a new report titled “Software Must Enrich Your Brand: Software Is A Critical Strategic Asset, Not An Operational Nice-To-Have,” Forrester Research argues that applications are a key part of a company’s interaction with its customers. Those firms that do a good job with their software will enrich their brands; those that do not will soon find themselves in trouble.
The report predicts that many enterprise application development groups involved in creating customer applications will operate outside the IT department. In addition, the firm believes that there will be an increase in traditional companies buying software development firms in order to bolster their in-house development expertise. Forrester also says that tech managers will need to think and operate more like software development firms do in order to succeed.