Software Development in the 21st Century

Attended a talk - Software Development in the 21st Century, by Martin Fowler yesterday evening. It was great to catch up on some of the new practices and innovations that are being adopted in the area of IT. One interesting point is the differences in strategic versus utility projects. Typically, packaged software are good for utility projects but does not give an organization a competitive edge. It's basically what "the other guys" have. Custom systems and software are usually more suited to strategic goal and tend to be higher risks but would give an organization a competitive edge. This also reminded me if the blue ocean red ocean strategies. This, the status quo or what "the other guys" are doing is usually not gonna reaping benefits.