In the same vein as “write less software“, this is a great post about ephemeralization. To ephemeralize software is to make it disappear either by pushing it to another provider or just removing the feature. From the post:
Proposals to ephemeralize a component or feature will sometimes be met with emotionally-charged responses from your team. It’s totally reasonable to feel attached to a component everyone has worked hard on and has been important historically. But realize that the component has value because it got you to where you are today, not necessarily because of its ongoing existence in the future.
Path dependence of software is very real. What you’ve done before determines what you can easily do in the future. But you can take large right turns if you are prepared to make the investment. As the above quote notes, it’s not just an investment in time, knowledge and money, it can also be an emotional investment.
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