Updated: July 9, 2020 (June 12, 2006)

  Sidebar

Software Darwinism

My Atlas / Sidebar

369 wordsTime to read: 2 min

With the exception of a relative handful of large, companywide objectives, such as its security efforts under the banner of Trustworthy Computing, Microsoft’s product development groups are typically decentralized and Microsoft is often content to allow multiple groups to attempt to solve the same underlying problem, trusting that eventually it will be able to determine which group has the best combination of talent and technology. In essence, the company practices a form of “software Darwinism” as a management philosophy.

The benefit of this approach is that it lets the company experiment with various ways of solving a problem before settling on one. The chief liability is that it is often difficult for customers to determine which products and technologies will end up on the wrong branch of the evolutionary tree and become deprecated—a term used when the technology is still supported and applications built upon it continue to run, but when future improvements slow to a trickle or are halted completely.

Atlas Members have full access

Get access to this and thousands of other unbiased analyses, roadmaps, decision kits, infographics, reference guides, and more, all included with membership. Comprehensive access to the most in-depth and unbiased expertise for Microsoft enterprise decision-making is waiting.

Membership Options

Already have an account? Login Now

Updated: July 9, 2020 (November 6, 2006)

  Sidebar

Software Darwinism

My Atlas / Sidebar

366 wordsTime to read: 2 min

With the exception of a relative handful of large, companywide objectives, such as its security efforts under the banner of Trustworthy Computing, Microsoft’s product development groups are typically decentralized, and Microsoft is often content to allow multiple groups to attempt to solve the same underlying problem, trusting that it will eventually determine which group has the best combination of talent and technology. In essence, the company practices a form of “software Darwinism” (survival of the fittest) as a management philosophy.

The benefit of this approach is that Microsoft can experiment with various ways of solving a problem before settling on one. The chief liability is the difficulty it causes for customers, who must guess which products and technologies will end up on the wrong branch of the evolutionary tree and become deprecated—a term used when the technology is still supported and applications built upon it continue to run, but when future improvements slow to a trickle or halt completely.

Atlas Members have full access

Get access to this and thousands of other unbiased analyses, roadmaps, decision kits, infographics, reference guides, and more, all included with membership. Comprehensive access to the most in-depth and unbiased expertise for Microsoft enterprise decision-making is waiting.

Membership Options

Already have an account? Login Now

Updated: July 9, 2020 (June 4, 2007)

  Sidebar

Software Darwinism

My Atlas / Sidebar

385 wordsTime to read: 2 min

Except for a handful of large, companywide objectives, such as its security efforts under the banner of Trustworthy Computing, Microsoft’s product development groups operate with little centralized oversight. Microsoft is often content to allow multiple groups to attempt to solve the same underlying problem, trusting that eventually it will be able to determine which group has the best combination of talent and technology. In essence, the company practices a form of “software Darwinism” as a management philosophy.

The benefit of this approach is that it lets the company experiment with various ways of solving a problem before settling on one. The chief liability is that it is often difficult for customers to determine which products and technologies will end up on the wrong branch of the evolutionary tree and become deprecated—a term used when a technology is still supported and applications built upon it continue to run, but improvements slow to a trickle or halt completely.

For developer technologies, the following points should be taken into consideration when evaluating the long-term prospects of a product or technology:

Atlas Members have full access

Get access to this and thousands of other unbiased analyses, roadmaps, decision kits, infographics, reference guides, and more, all included with membership. Comprehensive access to the most in-depth and unbiased expertise for Microsoft enterprise decision-making is waiting.

Membership Options

Already have an account? Login Now

Updated: August 2, 2020 (October 26, 2009)

  Sidebar

Software Darwinism

My Atlas / Sidebar

386 wordsTime to read: 2 min
Rob Sanfilippo by
Rob Sanfilippo

Before joining Directions on Microsoft, Rob worked at Microsoft for 14 years where he designed technologies for Microsoft products and... more

Except for a handful of large, companywide objectives, such as its security efforts under the banner of Trustworthy Computing, Microsoft’s product development groups operate with little centralized oversight. Microsoft is often content to allow multiple groups to attempt to solve the same underlying problem, trusting that eventually it will be able to determine which group has the best combination of talent and technology. In essence, the company practices a form of “software Darwinism” as a management philosophy.

The benefit of this approach is that it lets the company experiment with various ways of solving a problem before settling on one. The chief liability is that it is often difficult for customers to determine which products and technologies will end up on the wrong branch of the evolutionary tree and become deprecated—a term used when a technology is still supported and applications built upon it continue to run, but improvements from Microsoft slow to a trickle or halt completely.

Atlas Members have full access

Get access to this and thousands of other unbiased analyses, roadmaps, decision kits, infographics, reference guides, and more, all included with membership. Comprehensive access to the most in-depth and unbiased expertise for Microsoft enterprise decision-making is waiting.

Membership Options

Already have an account? Login Now