Research commissioned by Quest Software (News - Alert) reveals that databases require more bespoke code -- the British way of referring to code developed in-house for a specific purpose -- than other enterprise applications.


Thirty-three per cent of senior IT decision makers cited databases as requiring the most amount of new code, compared to 22 per cent each for CRM and ERP applications modifications. A further 19 per cent felt middleware applications required the most.

IT decision makers are evenly split as to where the responsibility for bug-ridden bespoke code lies, Quest's study found: "Whilst [the British way of saying "while"] 45 per cent percent of those questioned felt the most bugs in code written in-house, a close 41 per cent believe code written by out-sourced parties was responsible," the study reported. Just 14 per cent pointed to code written as part of the original product.

"Bespoke code locks human error into software. Yet organisations [the British way of writing "organizations"] have to customize vanilla applications to get the most out of them, especially around databases where the need for additional development work is greatest,” says Graeme Nash [the British way of writing Stephen Stills and David Crosby's songs], UK Compliance Program Manager, Quest Software.

“It’s one of the reasons we’re seeing a rising demand for application development tools to improve the customization of packaged software without running the risks of introducing bugs,” Nash said.

One reason for the poor quality of bespoke code, study officials think, could be that when it comes to application development only 15 per cent of senior decision makers regard reviewing the quality of the code as their primary concern. Instead, 32 per cent of those interviewed, cited analyzing the impact of changes to applications.

Recently industry observer Niall Byrne reported on a survey from Really Simple Systems finding that "four fifths of senior executives cite employee resistance to using customer relationship management (CRM) software as the biggest hurdle they face when implementing the technology."

Really Simple Systems, which sells hosted CRM software, surveyed 500 users of this technology in the United Kingdom "encompassing SME owners, directors and sales, marketing and IT managers." Fully 83 percent said getting the staff to use the software was their biggest challenge, Byrne reports:

"The survey also found that 72 percent of the respondents said they would be prepared to trade functionality in their CRM systems for ease of use."

"Too often companies make purchasing decisions for applications based on features, not ease of use, and then find that those extra features get in the way of usability," he quotes John Paterson, CEO, Really Simple Systems as saying. "CRM adoption has always been an issue and the solution is to make the software easy to use, not more complex. Companies need to make sure that simplicity is as important a factor as functionality when choosing CRM systems."

That nearly three quarters of the people surveyed are prepared to trade functionality in their CRM systems for ease of use is "indicative of an increasing desire for CRM products to provide core functionality in an easy-to-use package rather than solutions which in their attempts to tick all the boxes become unwieldy," Paterson said.

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David Sims is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To see more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.