Recently I was confronted again with the idea that every eco-system needs to go through a consolidation phase. Say what? A consolidation phase. You know, diverge first and then converge. Like the phases we follow when brainstorming. The moment in which we do away with the many different (and very narrow/specific) solutions and get your one solution that covers all.
Exactly the idea behind our Sigrid® | Software Assurance platform: to bring together code build quality information from multiple sources at multiple levels in the development organization to give insight and allow time for informed decision making, instead of spending most time gathering data for those decisions. Getting to that single source of truth on the state of your applications and landscape. In our eyes an unavoidable evolution. Like ERP’s are bundling your organizational information. Or password vaults are bundling your personal security repository.
Let me illustrate this with a recent experience. After years of cycling on my trusted racing bike, I allowed myself an upgrade. A new bike, with the corresponding wait of course, as the whole Covid situation has impacted production lead times for every component. Patience is a virtue though, so I sat out my time, savoring those last kilometers on the old bike, while dreaming of the new one.
And then the day finally came. I was lucky enough to get an invite to personally help build/assemble the bike at my trusted local shop. Three hours later I rode out of there the proud owner of my new bike. With one of my main luxury splurges: electronic shifting. For those not into cycling, electronic shifting is where you have a wireless signal to a servo-motor to shift your gears instead of having a physical cable tugging your chain from one gear to the next. As said: luxury.
And here comes the kicker. Servo-motors and wireless connections need power. Power comes from batteries. And these can run out. And apparently, when a bike comes from the production line, these batteries might not be fully charged. And as I of course went out to enjoy my new bike without ‘reading the manual’, I got myself into the situation where shifting stopped. Batteries dead. Luckily I live in the Netherlands, so having a single gear is annoying wind-wise, but there are no mountains to contend with.
Getting home though, I needed to find out what I missed. Was there a ‘low battery’ light I should look at? Nope. It seems that this goes through an app. Another one. I have one for my head unit, one for my power pedals, one for my routes and now one for my shifters… That is a lot of apps for just going out on a ride. As a user, I am waiting for the time for consolidation in this market too. The moment in which all these apps bundle into a single platform that gives me the information I need: am I ready to go cycling, or are preparations in order?
I guess I still need a ‘Sigrid’ for my cycling hobby! In the meanwhile though, at SIG we will keep on extending our own platform. With our new Sigrid® | Software Security launched, we are bundling yet again an important feature into our one-stop-shop: being in control of how secure your code is. Giving you the insight of known vulnerabilities at your finger tips and showing you whether security is in your applications ‘by design’. Let’s hope the cycling community gives me a one-stop platform before I have to download a new app to manage my safety on the bike. Come to think of that… too late, I already have an app for the radar on the back of my bike…