The importance of 'Doing the right things right'

Software development is not a standard subject. It is a craft in which specialist knowledge, insight, intuition and creativity come together. A complex interplay that requires high-quality craftsmanship on many fronts and cooperation between a wide variety of people. A profession that deserves more credit than it sometimes gets.

That's why a blog series about how we at Blis Digital look at the profession. As an ode to all developers who are busy making valuable things for their users every day. To the people who come up with solutions 'from scratch' to complicated problems that no one in the world has ever tackled before and for which there are therefore no examples available.

This is part 1: how to do the right things, the right way.

Doing the right things...

Creating maximum business value in the most efficient way - that's what software development is all about. And by business value, we mean 'a direct contribution to the primary goals of our customer or partner'. Concretely, this means:

• Increase in turnover: through faster processes, better user experience and new functionalities that attract and retain customers. We often see that well-designed software leads to higher conversion and better user retention.

• Cost reduction: not only by automating manual tasks, but also through smarter work processes and better data insights. Software that does exactly what is necessary (and preferably not more than that) saves on personnel costs and reduces errors that take time to repair.

• Managing risks: through secure systems, reliable backups and thorough monitoring. Modern software must compliant are compliant with legislation, scalable with growth and resistant to cyber threats. So that companies and other organizations can operate and grow safely, without unexpected costs and problems.

• Improving competitiveness: innovative solutions distinguish you in the market. This goes beyond features — it's about creating an advantage that's hard to copy. This requires speed of innovation, but above all vision.

This value is reflected in concrete results. More paying users on your platform because they get a superior experience. Or processes that change from manual administration to automated workflows. AI-based systems are also playing an increasingly important role in creating a distinctive character in the market.

Product ownership that works

Much of the responsibility for optimizing the value of software lies with the product owner. A good product owner combines a deep understanding of the business and end users, technical insight, experience in managing stakeholders and extensive knowledge of development processes and methodologies.

A PO uses that knowledge to make the decision: what are we going to build and (also very important) what not?

Some of our customers have experienced product owners who have all this in-house and therefore know very well how to manage a development team. For the most part, they decide what “the right things” are. We see that this works particularly well for organizations that already have experience with software development. They understand the complexity and know how to set priorities. In such a case, we would be happy to join as an architect, designer and developer.

But we also work with customers, for example startups and scale-ups, who assume the product owner role with us. This can also work great, especially when speed and innovation expertise are crucial.

Of course, there are also intermediate forms. In those cases, we offer where necessary product owner support or training on. Anyway, the position of the PO is so crucial that fulfilling this role properly should be the first priority when starting a software project.

(By the way, the product owner's role in bringing digital products to market is far too interesting and complex to be discussed here in 1 paragraph. Fortunately, colleague Ton van Dijk already wrote a white paper about it with the challenging title “Why you don't want to become a product owner” — download it here)

... in the right way

Deciding what to make is only valuable if you also know how to make it. That is the developer's domain. And developing a software solution is more than coding. We combine all kinds of disciplines and expertise. There are many ways to create it for each function, module and component. A small selection:

• Write code: still the basis for customization and unique functionality. Our developers combine craftsmanship with creativity to build elegant solutions in 'clean code'.

• Cloud components: why reinvent the wheel? Modern development is about smartly combining existing services. This accelerates development and reduces maintenance costs.

• AI-assisted development: we use AI to generate code where it is efficient. This speeds up the development process without sacrificing quality. The trick lies in knowing where and how to use these tools (and yes, about that too). we have a white paper).

• No code/low code: for certain components, no-code and low-code platforms such as Microsoft Power Platform offer a fast and cost-effective solution. But it takes expertise to know when it's the right choice and, contrary to what many believe, no-code and low-code solutions are not free of management and maintenance and need to be tested just as thoroughly as others.

Each choice of tools affects development costs, management, maintenance, security and performance differently. It therefore requires experience and insight to make the right choices.

Solution design as a basis

The what and how come together in a 'solution design'. In our approach, the solution architect that at the start of the project, together with the product owner. The solution design determines which tools we use for which modules and components. This is done with an eye for:

• The business values of the customer or partner: not only what is needed now, but also what we need to be ready for future growth and change

• Budget: we want to keep a grip on both the initial investment and long-term operational costs

• Technical options and limitations: including integrations with existing systems, which can quickly throw a spanner in the works if you don't map them out in advance

• Existing Technology Preferences or Technical Policies: connecting to the organization's IT strategy, with the available knowledge and experience and with existing supplier contracts means that the solution will soon land better in the organization

• Planning requirements: phasing and prioritizing functionality, so that we can go live quickly but can continue to innovate afterwards

This solution design is therefore the blueprint for the software, and partly also for the project. It also shows the impact on costs in various scenarios and the impact on planning and risks of setbacks. But the solution design is not fixed. It is a “living document” that we adapt when insights or circumstances change.

A profession of extremes

With this approach, we ensure that we not only do the right things, but also approach them in the right way. Because software development is a profession of extremes: precision and flexibility, technology and creativity, standards and customization... Sometimes we have to choose between those things, but often we also have to do them all at the same time.

No one said it would be easy.

In the following blogs, I'll delve deeper into how we put this craftsmanship into practice - from preventing budget overruns to building the perfect team.

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