Many of you will believe that the following scenario defies logic, but this is in fact a global truth. Software providers normally have a very lopsided bias towards either ‘great domain knowledge and terrible technology’ or ‘fantastic technology and infantile business logic’. The reason why? In one of the previous case studies we pointed out that most software solutions offered by ‘Large’ companies had in fact been built by very small teams and the root cause of this pandemic is in the origin of those small teams. It is not at all uncommon to find whole shops of ‘business minds’ who have decided that they can teach themselves C++ and make a buck in the software game. Case in point; in one of the previous case studies we mentioned a vendor who had been paid a princely sum to port and multi-thread its Basel solution, but had no idea how or where to begin. On the business side, that vendor can boast a PhD in Economics from a prestigious university, but as for its technical ability?

Some of the 16 year old code still bears the name of that PhD who taught himself C++, the Chief Technologist is a former Swaps Dealer, also self taught. And not so long ago the COO of the company was under pressure from a customer to hire at least one professionally qualified Technologist. He flatly refused saying, “It would cost the company too much money to get rid of them if the company’s products didn’t sell well. ” Did anyone else spot the irony?

Nor is it uncommon for a shop of very advanced software developers to put their heads together and grossly underestimate the business acumen required to create a meaningful and effective banking application.