| I recently came across a fascinating book, Regional Advantage—Culture and Competition in Silicon Valley and Route 128.1 The author compares the rise and dominance of Silicon Valley during the 1970s and 1980s with the slow decline of Route 128 during the 1980s and hypothesizes that the contrasts in development were mainly due to the large differences in industrial culture. More specifically, she claims that industrial culture in Silicon Valley is one of dense networks, close collaboration between small and highly innovative companies, low vertical integration where companies instead depend for much of their own products on the skills and expertise of neighboring companies, and companies’ close relationship with their suppliers and industrial customers that ties their own success to the success of the others, and vice versa. The author makes a convincing point that such a culture is particularly capable of coping with global competition fueled by ever-shorter technology cycles.
What bearing can a study of industrial sociology possibly have on technical systems such as database management systems (DBMS)? It seems to me that indeed there are important parallels. Database systems tend to be huge monolithic systems with an internal structure that is reminiscent of tight vertical integration. One suspects that this requires the vendors themselves to follow a strategy of vertical integration. So if the study teaches us any lesson, it is that database systems should be broken up into smaller pieces that can each be procured from the best and most innovative suppliers. Many will benefit: the DBMS vendors who will have a technological edge over their slower competitors, the customers who will get the best technology for their money, and the suppliers who have a dependable partner that allows them to stay ahead of the crowd. |
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