IT directors were left seething this week after major
software suppliers branded them software pirates, while at the same
time producing poor-quality software.
Software industry group the Business Software Alliance has accused
UK industry of mass piracy, claiming that 26% of business software
is used illegally. The allegation was made against a backdrop of
suppliers refusing to be accountable for launching software that
hits users' productivity with the continuous patching it requires.
Senior IT users have questioned the credibility of the BSA's
figures.
IT departments are bombarded with constant updates to the
commercial software they use. In one instance, an IT director in a
manufacturing firm complained to Computer Weekly that he has had to
apply 629 patches to Sun's Solaris operating system in the past six
months.
Last week Microsoft issued a patch to fix a serious flaw affecting
the version of Internet Explorer in Windows 2003, just six weeks
after the new operating system shipped.
Margaret Smith, IT director at Legal & General, called on the
software industry to lengthen product cycles. "Software companies
are closing the cycle from when they release a product to the next
release," she said. "If you are already running the software and
the supplier brings out a version with bugs, you risk a failure in
your production system."
Ben Booth, group IT director at market research firm Mori, said
quality assurance was being skimped on. "I don't see any obvious
signs of it getting better," he said. "I would like to see the IT
industry grow up a bit. Software suppliers should think more about
what their customers need. In a lot of areas they are not crying
out for more functionality."
David Roberts, chief executive of the Corporate IT Forum, Tif, said
suppliers need to create "alternative processes" for improving
software in the development and testing stages. "We need a radical
rethink in the development of software," he said.
Tif is so concerned about the issue of software quality that it is
considering holding a conference on the issue later in the
year.
John Lister, newly appointed IT director at private healthcare
provider Bupa, has been outspoken in the past on the issue of
stiffing - sharp software practices - calling for a value-based
code of conduct to be agreed between software suppliers and IT
users.
"Software maintenance is still a significant part of our costs -
something we do not get value from, which is a continuing theme,"
he said. "Everybody is seeing that the behaviour of suppliers
deteriorates if you let it. But when the business cycle goes into
upturn, suppliers will find that customers have long
memories."
Have your say
Have you experienced problems with software quality? Are there any
suppliers that are particularly good or bad? E-mail us at
computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk