The application configuration conundrum

Where does all the money go when you install a line-of-business software
application? Obviously there is the cost of the software product and
perhaps the other software and hardware pieces required to make it
function. There is the ongoing cost of system management and perhaps
there are training costs for staff. What else is there?

In an ideal world, that should be just about it. However, as we all
know, unless the product is very simple or very commoditized, or both,
there is one big outstanding cost.

I speak of the potentially long and potentially costly exercise known as
"configuration".

Application configuration cost is something an Einstein-like thinker
should take a close look at. Just as the speed of light is constant no
matter what, it appears that application configuration costs (at least
in terms of elapsed time) are constant no matter what. In particular,
the time taken to configure an application appears to be independent of
how much money you spent on it.

Let me try and express that in more concrete terms. Imagine that two
identical twins set off in opposite directions to run identical business
ventures.

The first twin installs a set of open source components to make up the
required software application. The software cost is zero or so close to
zero that it is zero for all practical purposes. It then takes two
months (at X dollars a day) to configure the software to the needs of
the business.

The second twin installs a group of best of breed, commercial
applications. The capital cost is significant. It then takes two months
(at Y dollars a day) to configure the software to the needs of the
business.

Odd, don't you think?

Then there is the nature of application configuration itself. An
endlessly fascinating and eclectic activity! At one end of the spectrum
we have configuration by modifying a few parameter files. At the other
end of the spectrum we have fully blown custom programming to effect the
required configuration. When does configuration stop and custom
application development start?

Perhaps it is my imagination but I get the impression that as
applications get more and more flexible and complex and abstract, the
need for configuration is growing apace. So much so, that I have seen
examples where the distinction between "product" and "collection of more
or less re-usable bits and bobs plus a Java/c# compiler" blurs
significantly.

Furthermore, the growing use of powerful scripting technologies like
Javascript, Python, Tcl and so on make it possible to do at
configuration time, effectively anything you could do back in the
development shop.

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