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SMEs, Steer Clear of Microservices!

April 15, 2024

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Entwicklungspraxis February 29, 2024

Survivorship Bias in Tech

Hi, Do you know what Survivorship Bias is? […] According to Survivorship Bias, the probabilities of success are systematically overestimated because successful individuals or states are more visible than unsuccessful ones. ~ Wikipedia This cognitive bias is interesting because it affects us in development as well. For 15 years, I have been working mainly in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are companies with up to 250 employees. Clearly, these are not large corporations.

Marcus Held

Softwareentwicklung im Mittelstand February 23, 2024

Challenges in SMEs Are Similar

Hi, Currently, I am writing a new article for Golem.de. In this context, I have been reflecting on the similarities in software development in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The German Federal Statistical Office defines SMEs as companies with 10 to 250 employees and a turnover of less than 50 million euros. At first glance, this range seems very wide. Intuitively, one would expect the challenges and solutions to be very different as a result. And to some extent, this is true. However, this does not align with my experience over the last 15 years, during which I have worked exclusively in SMEs. On closer inspection, it turns out that the number of developers is not that different after all.

Marcus Held

Entwicklungspraxis February 21, 2024

Three Topics

Hi, This year, I’m a bit behind with the newsletters. For one, I’m deeply involved in client projects – and the client always comes first. Additionally, since the beginning of the year, I’ve been battling pneumonia. It only started to improve this week. The symptoms were mild - after all, I continued to work - but I noticed a lack of energy for tasks beyond my duties. To get back into the swing of things: Today, I have three short topics for you.

Marcus Held

Softwareentwicklung im Mittelstand February 8, 2024

The #1 Problem in SMEs

Hi, As written on Monday : Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have no problem with performance. However, that’s not entirely true. Over the past few years, I’ve worked on many products that were slow. Improving performance would have been positive for the business. In certain areas, like the gaming industry, it was inevitable to be performant. Retention is one of the most important metrics in the industry. But that’s the exception, not the rule.

Marcus Held

Softwareentwicklung im Mittelstand February 5, 2024

I Never Sold The Performance Workshop

Hi, I haven’t sold my Spring Performance Workshop even once. Instead, I sold my Architecture Discovery Workshop four times . In 6 months. And I don’t even promote it 🤷 What does this mean for me? My positioning as a performance expert has failed. But not because I can’t deliver. There’s simply no demand from my customers. In hindsight, it makes sense. But let me explain: Ever since I’ve been developing software, I’ve been working in small and medium-sized enterprises, known as SMEs. These companies have between 5 and 50 developers, occasionally a few more.

Marcus Held