Software development is agile, not transactional
The dangers of considering software development as a transactional and commoditized business
Transactional relationships
In today’s world, we usually exchange money for solid, tangible goods or well-defined services. That’s how material transactions work. As an example, we might buy a t-shirt for $50. That means you give someone $50, and they immediately give you the t-shirt. Or you pay a plumber $15 and hour. Then the plumber spends some time fixing your leak. In this case, there’s a high level of certainty that the problem will be solved.
Paying for software
Most people have had transactional software experience. You might have exchanged $399 for a box that contained the amazing Office ’97. Or you paid $59 and received a CD with the latest game. And these days, you might pay for a subscription and get access to software in the cloud.
Why software development is different
When you pay for custom software development, you’re not buying a material product…
