Although I call myself a software architect, it seems I spent most of my time talking to other business people. I guess that could be because I gave myself the sales role in my company, but I digress.

About a month ago I connected two business contacts of mine. One had complained frequently about the lack of contact management software (CRM light) in her company, and the other (you guessed it) owns an entry level contact management web service. I felt good about making that introduction.

This morning I asked my software challenged friend how it was going with the new service. Not so good apparently, as she abandoned it after a brief trial. Her problems revolved around the initial import of her contacts, which surprised me because I’ve heard good thing about this service from others.

Here’s the bigger surprise. Her ‘import’ consisted of the contacts her predecessor created in Outlook. She personally never bothered to add to that list, and tracks newer contacts on paper. She isn’t alone in her situation, but I can’t wrap my head around wishing for a CRM system when you’ve rejected Outlook as a stepping stone. I’m not a fan, but it’s better than nothing.

This is one of the little things that makes my job ‘interesting’. If you can’t embrace a small change, a larger one is that much harder to digest. And the person defending the status quo doesn’t perceive the reward for their temporary discomfort.

As for ‘How many software architects does it take to change a company?’ Well, first the company has to want to change.

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