Our CEO Bob Allard was quoted in the Boston Globe today in an article about the current economic challenges.

Bob met the author at the most recent Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council’s UN-Conference, an amazing event set up to facilitate innovation and collaboration in the Boston hightech community.

ExtensionEngine has spent the past 14 years thinking about platforms. Building, adapting, scaling, rebuilding… it is a difficult challenge - perhaps the most difficult in all of software. Few companies have done this successfully: Adobe, with its plug-in methodology and Microsoft, are two of the biggest, and our client PHT Corporation is a smaller, niche example. They’ve created a platform for designing and releasing highly configured Electronic Patient Recorded Outcome devices for use in global clinical trials, and ExtensionEngine is their development partner.

The best metaphor I’ve heard about platforms was told to me (as most of my technology knowledge has been!) by our CTO Niksa: ‘a software system is like a building. You need to create it from the foundation up, with the foundation being the database architecture. A platform is like a city. If you do it wrong, you can create lots of dead-end roads that essentially eliminate the opportunity for expansion in that direction without great effort.’

If your company relies on smart engineers who understand the difference between a system and a platform, give us a call.

Great article about Spiritual Capitalism, a new-ish catchphrase that tries to speak to the need to live an integrated life as regards to ones values and ones work-life.
Not just nice to do, but really the only way to do (”live”) it

well

.

The Gospel according to Adam Smith.

Have a great, successful day.

bob

What, you ask, is a GSD? EE prides itself on bringing the best talent to the task at hand, communicating intelligently about the issues around the task, and working smart and hard on getting closer to the goal, whether it’s designing the first version of a system, architecting the database, creating the features, testing, debugging, or whatever else relates to building and supporting great software. To do this, we obviously need smart engineers - but we make sure that our people have more than just smarts. We also test and filter for people with a GSD. It stands for Gets Stuff Done. Own the problem. don’t just work, WANT to work. Get excited, energized about taking on the bigger problem. More important than an MA, PhD, MBA. I recommend hiring people with a GSD.

A good friend, Andreas Widmer, with the help of the Templeton Foundation, founded a really clever organization whose mission is to promote free market capitalism. That is nice, but the clever part is how they’re doing it: by setting up essay contests that undergrads and grad students can enter which ask questions regarding the benefits of ownership, entrepreneurism, innovation and other elements that make up the most successful economic models. By asking students to think hard about the benefits of a bottom-up, self-motivated, carrot-driven system (ironically by offering them a carrot!), this organization can play a unique role in changing the tenor of our education system with regards to economics. A much-needed role, indeed.