Dangers of Software Lobbying

How big tech is influencing your business

Most developers are exposed to a myriad of tools, libraries, and frameworks. Selecting a technology stack is a critical decision that affects the success of your business; however, the decision is often influenced by the loudest voices in the community. These voices are often backed by big tech companies that have a vested interest in promoting their own products - and locking you in (for the long term).

Lobbying and what the industry calls "evangelism" is a dangerous game of influence that can lock your business into a stack that may not be the best fit for your needs today and in the future.

Lobbying that blur ethical lines

It is very expensive to market enterprise software to the right people. Some big companies have learnt that it is cheaper to take a CTO for dinner in the most expensive restaurant in town, than to spend thousands of dollars in advertising. Most senior technical leaders are routinely invited to those events to "learn" about the latest and greatest stack. Given the personal benefits of these events, it is easy to see how the decision-making process can fall into a fuzzy ethical area.

Junior developers are the most vulnerable

Junior developers are often actively learning and are open minded to new stacks and frameworks. Their future job prospects depend on their ability to learn the most popular technologies, and they are the most likely to push for a change in the stack. This is not to say that junior developers are not capable of making good decisions, but they are the most likely to be influenced by the loudest voices in the community.

Dev see, dev do

Ask any junior developer what their favourite stack is, and you will likely hear the name of the most spoken about technology on X (formerly Twitter). Open-source technologies that lack the backing of a big company are not only ignored, but receive a large volume of defamatory comments by the community. For practical examples, just see how many times PHP is attacked in the developer community, whilst being the most used web language in the world.

Snowballing complexity

It is hard to capitalize on simplicity. Simplicity means that vendor lock-in is very weak, and the whole solution can be updated or migrated elsewhere. The more complex a stack is, the more upkeep, infrastructure, skilled developers, and resources are required to maintain it. This level of complexity in the stack leads to vendor lock-in, and effectively enables big companies to profit from simple solutions.

The way forward

It takes an experienced technical leader or a dedicated developer to see through the noise and make the right decision for the business. The stack decision should be based on the needs of the business, the skills of the team, and the long-term vision of the company. If the wind is blowing in the direction of a big tech stack, it is important to ask why, and to consider the alternatives.