Unit 1 Overview of IT Industry

Concept Learning

IT Industry Outlook

The term technology commonly refers to society’s application of scientific knowledge to solve practical problems in industry or commerce. Technological innovation, or the application of technology, takes many forms and often involves the interplay of expertise across multiple disciplines and industry verticals. One framework for categorizing technology entails the use of five distinct groupings, namely, information technology (IT), life sciences, advanced manufacturing, advanced materials, and energy & environmental sciences.

Each segment of this technology framework has contributed to economic growth and the well-being of society. The magnitude of advances in medicine, transportation, safety, manufacturing, agriculture, media and communication are almost difficult to comprehend. Since the turn of the millennium through, the one segment that arguably has had the greatest impact on businesses, consumers and other industry sectors is information technology (IT).

Information Technology (IT) can be defined as the utilization of computing via hardware, software and infrastructure to create, store, exchange and leverage information in its various forms to accomplish any number of objectives. Additionally, the term encompasses the workers that develop, implement, maintain and utilize information technology directly or indirectly.

At a macro level, the year ahead will once again feature the usual mix of optimism, progress, uncertainty and regressions. The amazing pace of innovation over the past five years will deliver new benefits to untapped users around the world, small businesses and other non-early adopter segments. Businesses and users of all types will continue to seek value from technology in the form of capabilities, but also in its ability to reduce complexity rather than add to it. In the backdrop sits the ever-present hand of government policymakers. In an increasingly inter-connected world the stakes have never been higher for tech policy.

From a technology standpoint, many of the trends from previous years will enter a new phase of maturity in 2015. Business will begin using cloud and mobile to build advanced systems. The ability to manage data will become a critical and highly demanded skill. The potential of many connected devices and sensors will lead to new areas of opportunity. And over it all, security will have to change as technology evolves to drive new business prospects.?

For the IT channel, 2015 stands to be the year to really up its game. Business transformation will remain the buzz word of the moment as channel firms of all stripes continue to assess the direction of their companies in the age of cloud computing, mobility, managed services, big data, social media and other market and technology forces. Navigating new routes to market and evolving customer buying habits will challenge channel firms to focus just as much on their own branding and marketing as they will on elevating their tech skills.

Globalization, driven largely by technology, becomes ever more pervasive and influential with each passing year. The number of people with access to the Internet recently crossed the 3 billion threshold, represent 42% of the global population, according to Internet World Stats. Less than two years ago, U.S. websites accounted for 9 of the top 10 slots worldwide. Estimates now suggest the list includes far more international representation with sites such Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent capturing huge market shares. Similarly, U.S. technology companies maintain a hold on many of the top slots in hardware, software and IT services. Although this too may change as new generations of global-minded entrepreneurs seek to make their mark.

Since the Great Recession, the “do more with less” mentality has dominated corporate strategy. This undoubtedly led executives to pursue strategies such as simplification with the end goal of cost cutting in mind. It should be noted that while simplification often goes hand-in-hand with cost cutting and the elimination of waste, it is not always the case. Simple, elegant solutions that are embraced by workers and customers alike typically require much more than trimming fat at the margins. Another factor driving the renewed push to simplify stems from innovations, such as cloud computing, mobility, business process automation (BPA), managed services, big data and other developments that have given businesses unprecedented access to tools to support simplification efforts. For IT companies, opportunities lie not only with implementation, but also with providing a true consultative experience to their customers. Simplification may take the form of helping CIOs shift from maintenance mode to innovation mode, helping to balance the security needs of the organization and the needs of workers or helping customers navigate the sometimes overwhelming number of technology options.

Words and Expressions

information technology (IT)????? ???信息技術(shù)

life sciences????????????????????????????? ? 生命科學(xué)

advanced manufacturing ?????????? 先進(jìn)制造

advanced materials? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 先進(jìn)材料

energy & environmental science 能源與環(huán)境科學(xué)

cloud computing? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? 云計(jì)算

managed services? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?托管

big data? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?大數(shù)據(jù)

social media? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ??社交媒體

business process automation? ? ?業(yè)務(wù)流程自動(dòng)化

參考譯文

IT行業(yè)展望

　　“技術(shù)”這一術(shù)語一般是指為了解決工業(yè)或商業(yè)中的實(shí)際問題對(duì)科學(xué)知識(shí)的應(yīng)用。技術(shù)創(chuàng)新或技術(shù)的應(yīng)用呈現(xiàn)出不同的形式，經(jīng)常包含了跨越多學(xué)科和行業(yè)的專業(yè)知識(shí)的相互作用。有一種框架將技術(shù)分為具有各自特點(diǎn)的五類：信息技術(shù)、生命科學(xué)、高級(jí)制造、高級(jí)材料以及能源與環(huán)境科學(xué)。

　　這一技術(shù)框架中的每一個(gè)部分都為經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展和社會(huì)福利做出各自的貢獻(xiàn)。醫(yī)藥、交通、安全、制造、農(nóng)業(yè)以及媒體與通訊方面的極大進(jìn)步已超越人類的理解。而從千禧之交以來，其中的一個(gè)方面，盡管仍存在爭(zhēng)議，但對(duì)商業(yè)、消費(fèi)者以及其他產(chǎn)業(yè)帶來最大的沖擊，這就是信息技術(shù)（IT）。

　　信息技術(shù)的定義是：通過硬件、軟件、服務(wù)以及基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施實(shí)現(xiàn)的計(jì)算的應(yīng)用來產(chǎn)生、存儲(chǔ)、交換和平衡不同形式的信息以實(shí)現(xiàn)各種目的。同時(shí)，這一術(shù)語還包含了直接或間接的開發(fā)、執(zhí)行、維護(hù)以及應(yīng)用信息技術(shù)的工作者。從宏觀的層面上來看，未來的一年仍具有以往的特點(diǎn)：樂觀、進(jìn)步、不確定性以及回歸的交錯(cuò)。過去五年里技術(shù)革新的驚人速度將會(huì)為全球的潛在使用者、小公司以及其他非早期技術(shù)使用者帶來新的利益。各類公司和個(gè)人使用者會(huì)繼續(xù)從技術(shù)中尋求功能方面的價(jià)值以及降低復(fù)雜性的能力方面的價(jià)值。背后，政府決策者的手仍在發(fā)揮作用。在世界不斷交織的環(huán)境下，技術(shù)政策的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)從未如此之高。

　　從技術(shù)的角度來看，之前數(shù)年的發(fā)展趨勢(shì)將會(huì)在 2015 年進(jìn)入一個(gè)新的成熟期。企業(yè)將開始使用云技術(shù)與移動(dòng)技術(shù)來建立高級(jí)系統(tǒng)。數(shù)據(jù)管理能力將成為一種決定性的高需求的技能。許多互聯(lián)的裝置和傳感器的潛力會(huì)開拓新的機(jī)遇。同時(shí)，隨著技術(shù)的進(jìn)步而產(chǎn)生的新的業(yè)務(wù)要求安全性必須進(jìn)行改變。

　　對(duì) IT 銷售渠道來說，2015 年注定是不平凡的一年。企業(yè)轉(zhuǎn)型仍然是這一時(shí)期的中心。各類 IT 銷售企業(yè)將在云計(jì)算、移動(dòng)技術(shù)、大數(shù)據(jù)、社交媒體以及其他市場(chǎng)和技術(shù)力量共同作用的時(shí)代繼續(xù)評(píng)估企業(yè)的發(fā)展方向。建立新的銷售渠道，改善顧客購(gòu)買習(xí)慣是銷售企業(yè)要面對(duì)的挑戰(zhàn)，他們不僅要關(guān)注技術(shù)的提升，還要同樣關(guān)注自身的品牌和營(yíng)銷策略。

　　全球化很大程度上受技術(shù)的驅(qū)使，其普遍性和影響力隨著時(shí)間在增長(zhǎng)?；ヂ?lián)網(wǎng)應(yīng)用統(tǒng)計(jì)網(wǎng)站的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，使用互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的人口數(shù)量最近已經(jīng)突破 30 億大關(guān)，占世界人口的 42%。不到兩年之前，美國(guó)網(wǎng)站在全球 10 大網(wǎng)站中占了9 個(gè)席位。估計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)顯示這一名單包括了國(guó)際性的網(wǎng)站，如阿里巴巴、百度以及騰訊。他們擁有巨大的市場(chǎng)份額。同時(shí)，美國(guó)的科技公司掌控了許多排在前列的硬件、軟件以及信息技術(shù)服務(wù)公司。當(dāng)然，新生代具有全球視野的企業(yè)家在尋求成功的時(shí)候，這一切都可能發(fā)生變化。

　　從經(jīng)濟(jì)大蕭條開始，“少花錢多辦事”的思維方式就已經(jīng)支配著企業(yè)策略。這無疑會(huì)是管理者尋求諸如簡(jiǎn)化流程等策略，已達(dá)到削減成本的最終目的。值得注意的是，簡(jiǎn)化流程雖然能夠降低成本，消除浪費(fèi)，但并非時(shí)時(shí)如此。既受工人歡迎又受讓顧客滿意的簡(jiǎn)潔的解決問題方案一般來說需要的不僅僅是降低利潤(rùn)。另一個(gè)推動(dòng)簡(jiǎn)化的因素來自于革新，如云計(jì)算、移動(dòng)技術(shù)、業(yè)務(wù)流程自動(dòng)化、大數(shù)據(jù)以及其他發(fā)展等，為企業(yè)提供了前所未有的簡(jiǎn)化支持手段。對(duì)于信息技術(shù)企業(yè)來說，機(jī)遇不僅僅在于技術(shù)的應(yīng)用，還來自于為顧客提供真實(shí)的咨詢經(jīng)驗(yàn)。簡(jiǎn)化的形式可以使幫助首席信息官?gòu)木S護(hù)模式轉(zhuǎn)向革新模式，幫助平衡企業(yè)安全需求和工人需求之間的關(guān)系，在數(shù)量多的讓人崩潰技術(shù)選擇面前，幫助顧客選擇。

Case Learning

Defining the IT Workforce

There are two distinct elements of the IT workforce: 1) Employment within information technology companies, and 2) IT occupations.

IT Occupation Employment

? Includes technical occupations, such as software developers, network engineers, computer support specialists, etc. working in a range of industry verticals, such as healthcare, education, manufacturing, professional services and others.

? Beyond core IT occupations, there are a range of technology- intense positions on the periphery, typically referred to as knowledge workers.

IT Industry Employment

? Includes technical occupations, such as software developers, network engineers, computer support specialists, etc.

? Includes non-technical professions, such as sales, marketing, HR, finance, operations and general management that support and facilitate the operation of IT companies.

? Typically, technical positions account for 25% to 75% of an IT company’s workforce. There are a number of factors that affect this rate. For example, a start-up may initially be comprised of nearly all software architects, programmers and other technical workers. When the firm scales, it may begin to add sales and marketing staff, thereby reducing the percentage of technical workers.

IT Occupation Employment – this segment of the IT workforce employs approximately 4.88 million workers as of year-end 2014. This translates to job growth of 2.4%, or nearly 116,000 additional IT jobs. The 2014 IT job growth rate is up slightly over the 2013 rate of 2.1%. To further put into context, 2.1%, or nearly 100,000 additional IT jobs. In contrast, total job growth across the U.S. economy in 2013 will likely end up in the 1.5% to 1.8% range.

IT occupation employment spans every industry vertical. For example, the IT department within a hospital will employ a range of senior-, mid- and staff-level IT workers to ensure physicians, nurses and administrators have reliable access to computers, networks, applications and so on.

?

Top IT Growth Occupations in 2014 (Percent Change)

1. Web Developers

2. Information Security Analysts

3. Computer Systems Analysts

4. Software Developers, Applications

5. Software Developers, Systems Software

6. Computer User Support Specialists

7. Computer and Information Systems Managers

8. Database Administrators

In addition to core IT positions, there are many technology--‐intense occupations on the periphery. For example, occupations such as IT project management, health information technicians, audio/video technicians, technical sales, technical writers, automated manufacturing computer operators and IT training positions, all require significant expertise and experience with various aspects of technology. While these positions are not typically found in an “IT Department” they are an important component of the IT workforce. Depending on the criteria used, peripheral or knowledge worker--‐type positions may number between 1 million and several million additional workers.

Because the need for technology is so pervasive among businesses of all types, it follows that IT jobs are spread across every region of the country. While tech clusters do exist – think Silicon Valley or Silicon Alley, with high concentrations of IT workers, many unassuming regions have large numbers of IT workers as well. For example, more than 325,000 IT workers can be found in the Mountain states region.

On a percent change basis, the states with the fastest IT job growth in 2014 include: Nevada, Texas, Montana, Florida, North Carolina, North Dakota, Delaware, Utah and West Virginia. Each of these states experienced job growth of 4.0% or higher. In comparison, overall core IT job growth reached 2.4%.

IT Employment Outlook

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the national unemployment rate stood at 5.5% as of December 2014, down from 6.6% during? the same period in 2013. The U.S. employment situation has slowly and steadily improved over the past 36 months. The official BLS unemployment rate does not include discouraged workers – those that have stopped looking for work, as well as those working part-time but seeking full-time employment. When considering these segments, the more expansive unemployment and underemployment rate portrays a less rosy job landscape.

The unemployment rate for the BLS computer and mathematical occupation category, a reasonable approximation of IT occupations, continues to remain far lower than the national rate. For November 2014, the category recorded an employment rate of 2.0%, less than half the national rate. This recent percentage is down from the already low rates of 3.3% in 2013 and 2012.

The low unemployment rate for IT workers combined with strong demand for certain skill sets can make for a challenging hiring environment. 68% of IT company executives say they expect to face a challenging or very challenging hiring environment for technical positions in 2015.

According to Burning Glass Technologies Labor Insights, U.S. businesses posted job notices for approximately 580,000 core IT jobs during Q4 of 2014, a slight increase over Q3.

As indicated previously, the total core IT occupation workforce increased by 116,000 jobs in 2014. This explains a portion of the job posting data. Companies may be expanding or moving into new areas and need to employ more workers.

The other factor at play is workforce churn, also referred to as labor turnover. This may include separations due to workers that retire, leave to pursue over employment opportunities, leave to pursue additional education, leave for family reasons, or are fired or laid-off. This helps explain why the number of job postings exceeds the number of new IT jobs created.

參考譯文

什么是 IT 勞動(dòng)力

IT 勞動(dòng)力來自兩個(gè)不同的方面：1 是 IT 公司，2 是 IT 職業(yè)。

IT 職業(yè)勞動(dòng)者

? 包括技術(shù)職業(yè)，例如軟件開發(fā)人員、網(wǎng)絡(luò)工程師、計(jì)算機(jī)支持專家等等。他們工作在各類垂直門戶行業(yè)，如醫(yī)療、教育、制造、專業(yè)服務(wù)等。

? 除了核心 IT 職業(yè)，還有一系列的技術(shù)密集型的外圍崗位，通常稱為知識(shí)型工人。

IT 行業(yè)勞動(dòng)者

? 包括技術(shù)職業(yè)，例如軟件開發(fā)人員、網(wǎng)絡(luò)工程師，計(jì)算機(jī)支持專家等。

? 包括非技術(shù)崗位，如銷售、市場(chǎng)營(yíng)銷、人力資源、財(cái)務(wù)、以及運(yùn)營(yíng)與管理等支持和促進(jìn) IT 公司運(yùn)作的崗位。

? 其特點(diǎn)是，技術(shù)職位在 IT 公司所有崗位中占的比例從 25%到 75%不等。影響這一比例的因素有很多。例如，新成立的公司中的首批員工幾乎都是與軟件工程師、程序員以及其他技術(shù)人員構(gòu)成。隨著公司規(guī)模的擴(kuò)大，可能開始增加銷售以及營(yíng)銷人員從而降低技術(shù)職位的比例。

IT 職業(yè)勞動(dòng)者--- 這一部分到 2014 年底共雇傭大約 488 萬人，增加了 11.6 萬個(gè)崗位，職位增長(zhǎng) 2.4%。2014 年職位增長(zhǎng)略高于 2013年的 2.1%，即 10 萬個(gè)崗位的增加。對(duì)比而言，美國(guó)整個(gè) 2013 年的所有行業(yè)的職位增長(zhǎng)在 1.5%到 1.8 之間。

IT 職業(yè)勞動(dòng)者遍布各個(gè)垂直門戶行業(yè)。例如，某家醫(yī)院的 IT 技術(shù)部門會(huì)雇傭各類高級(jí)、中級(jí)以及初級(jí) IT 技術(shù)人員以保障醫(yī)生、護(hù)士和醫(yī)院的行政人員對(duì)計(jì)算機(jī)、網(wǎng)絡(luò)以及應(yīng)用軟件的使用。

2014 年 IT 職業(yè)崗位增長(zhǎng)排名（按百分比排序）

1. 網(wǎng)頁開發(fā)工程師

2. 信息安全分析師

3. 計(jì)算機(jī)系統(tǒng)分析師

4. 軟件開發(fā)師（應(yīng)用軟件）

5. 軟件開發(fā)師（系統(tǒng)軟件）

6. 計(jì)算機(jī)用戶支持專家

7. 計(jì)算機(jī)及信息系統(tǒng)管理者

8. 數(shù)據(jù)庫管理

除了核心 IT 職位，還有許多周邊技術(shù)密集型職位。例如 IT 項(xiàng)目管理、醫(yī)療信息技術(shù)人員、音視頻技術(shù)人員、技術(shù)相關(guān)銷售、文員、計(jì)算機(jī)自動(dòng)化制造操作員以及 IT 培訓(xùn)職位等，都需要不同技術(shù)方面的專業(yè)知識(shí)和經(jīng)驗(yàn)。雖然這些職位不屬于“IT 技術(shù)部門”，但確是 IT 勞動(dòng)力的重要組成部分。由于標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的不同，外圍和知識(shí)密集型崗位還會(huì)有 100 萬到幾百萬不等。

由于各個(gè)行業(yè)對(duì)技術(shù)的需求不斷增長(zhǎng)，IT 技術(shù)崗位已遍布全國(guó)各個(gè)地區(qū)。 雖說存在技術(shù)扎堆的情況，如硅谷集中了大量的技術(shù)工人，但很多不知名的地區(qū)也有數(shù)量龐大的技術(shù)工人。例如在美國(guó)的山脈州地區(qū)就有著超過 32.5 萬名 IT 工人。根據(jù)百分比排序，2014 年 IT 職位增長(zhǎng)最快的州包括內(nèi)華達(dá)州、德克薩斯州、蒙大拿州、佛羅里達(dá)州、北卡羅來州、北達(dá)科他州、特拉華州、猶他州以及西弗吉尼亞州。這些州中，每個(gè)州的崗位增長(zhǎng)都在 4%及以上。對(duì)比而言，整體 IT 技術(shù)職位增長(zhǎng)達(dá)到 2.4%。

?

IT 就業(yè)前景

美國(guó)勞工統(tǒng)計(jì)局?jǐn)?shù)據(jù)顯示，截止到 2014 年 12 月，全國(guó)失業(yè)率為 5.5%，與 2013年同期的 6.6%相比有所下降。在過去的 36 個(gè)月里，美國(guó)的就業(yè)形勢(shì)出現(xiàn)緩慢而持續(xù)的好轉(zhuǎn)。勞工局的官方失業(yè)率并沒有包括怯志工作者（不想就業(yè)的人）以及一邊做兼職一邊尋求全職職位的人。若考慮到這些因素，失業(yè)和未充分就業(yè)率會(huì)更高，這使得整個(gè)就業(yè)情況不容客觀。

勞工局對(duì)計(jì)算機(jī)和數(shù)學(xué)行業(yè)（基本上等同于 IT 職業(yè)）類別職業(yè)統(tǒng)計(jì)的失業(yè)率仍然遠(yuǎn)低于全國(guó)失業(yè)率。2014 年 11 月，這一類別的失業(yè)率為 2.0%，比全國(guó)失業(yè)率的一半還要低。這一最新數(shù)據(jù)低于 2013 年和 2012 年的 3.3%。

IT 技術(shù)工人的低失業(yè)率以及對(duì)某些技術(shù)類型工人的強(qiáng)烈需求使得雇用環(huán)境相當(dāng)具有挑戰(zhàn)性。68%的 IT 企業(yè)主管認(rèn)為在 2015 年技術(shù)崗位的招聘將相當(dāng)具有挑戰(zhàn)性。

根據(jù)美國(guó) BGTLI 的統(tǒng)計(jì)，2014 年第四季度，美國(guó)企業(yè)發(fā)布大約 58 萬個(gè)核心 IT 技術(shù)職位招聘信息，比第三季度略有增長(zhǎng)。

如前所述，2014 年，核心技術(shù)職業(yè)勞動(dòng)力增長(zhǎng)了 11.6 萬。這也說明了職位招聘數(shù)據(jù)的一部分內(nèi)容。公司規(guī)模可能在擴(kuò)大或轉(zhuǎn)行，因此需要雇傭大量員工。

另外一個(gè)作用因素是勞動(dòng)力流失，也叫勞動(dòng)力流轉(zhuǎn)。包括退休、跳槽以及進(jìn)修、家庭原因的離職或開除、下崗等。這也說明為什么崗位招聘的數(shù)量超過了新增崗位的數(shù)量。

發(fā)音訓(xùn)練（一）

1. information technology (IT)

2. infrastructure

3. advanced manufacturing

4. cloud computing

5. branding and marketing

6. big data

7. social media

8. business process automation

發(fā)音訓(xùn)練（二）

1. Web Developers

2. Information Security Analysts

3. Computer Systems Analysts

4. Software Developers, Application

5. Software Developers, System Software

6. Computer User Support Specialists

7. Computer and Information Systems Managers

8. Database Administrators

發(fā)音訓(xùn)練（三）

Information Technology (IT) can be defined as the utilization of computing via hardware, software and infrastructure to create, store, exchange and leverage information in its various forms to accomplish any number of objectives.

其他閱讀材料

How the Software Industry Redefines Product Management

Quick, name a product that was developed without using software. It’s difficult, if not impossible. Software has become a crucial part of almost all goods and services. It’s used to design and develop just about any product you can think of, from consumer goods to industrial equipment – or any service or experience ranging from retail customer service interactions to luxury hotel stays. Likewise it’s central to buying most anything these days, and is a growing part of the customer and business experience generally.

But have you thought about the implications of this trend for management practices? The rapid pace of change in software (e.g., new product releases every day, not every year), has caused an increasing pressure on product development in other areas, and on management in general, to change more continuously as well. Indeed, software is emerging as the proving ground for the future of management practices, the way auto manufacturing used to be the proving ground for new management practices (think of the Toyota Production System).

For an example, I spoke with Andy Singleton, CEO of Assembla, a firm that helps software development teams build software faster. He told me the story of Staples vs. Amazon. As you might expect, Staples has a big web application for online ordering. Multi-function teams build software enhancements that are rolled up into “releases” which are deployed every six weeks. The developers then pass the releases to the operations group, where the software is tested for three weeks to make sure the complete system is stable, for a total cycle of nine weeks. This approach would be considered by most IT experts as “best practice.”

But Amazon has a completely different architecture and management process, which Singleton calls a “matrix of services.” Amazon has divided their big online ordering application into thousands of smaller “services.” For example, one service might display a web page, or get information about a product. A service development team maintains a small number of services, and releases changes as they become ready. Amazon will release a change about once every 11 seconds, adding up to about 8,000 changes per day. In the time it takes Staples to make one new release, Amazon has made 300,000 changes. This represents a truly disruptive management and operating model. Just as Southwest Airlines, for instance, has a low cost, point-to-point operating model that disrupted its hub-and-spoke competitors, Amazon has a radically different and better operating model that will crush any competitors who are making one change in nine weeks, while it is making changes every eleven seconds.

Amazon’s approach of continuous product changes opens new possibilities for sensing and responding to the market. Singleton told me that in his industry, they call this “data-driven product management.” He explains, “Product management is transitioning from a process that involves setting strategy and forecasting response, to a much simpler process where we can experiment and directly measure the response of customers to product changes.” In traditional product management, smart people (marketing, engineering, strategy, product managers, R&D) come up with new products and lob them over the wall to operations to put into production. The functional silos and serial process breed miscommunication, slowness, and make it hard to fix problems. Continuous delivery of new software enables experimentation and direct measurement of the response of customers to product changes, creating integrated teamwork, speed, closeness to customers, and facilitating quick fixing of problems in real time.

But the implications of this approach clearly go beyond the process changes for product management (what Singleton calls “Continuous Agile“). The approach naturally entails a faster management system that will increasingly disrupt traditional management systems based on hierarchies and command-and-control, which are inherently internally focused and slow. As Singleton told me, “The technology world is a cult of innovation. We see that innovation drives success in business, and in the larger economy. Software is an almost-pure form of innovation. We call it ‘soft’ because we can change it and reshape it easily.”

The software management practice of continuously releasing new product changes is opening up revolutionary new possibilities for management generally, pointing to a future in which organizations in almost any industry can deliver a steady stream of breakthrough innovations.

By Brad Power

June 13, 2014