A lot of rhetoric is circulating the web regarding Microsoft LightSwitch. So far only a beta version of LightSwitch has been released for vetting by the developer community. Even at the currently released beta version, LightSwitch has certainly stirred up some discussion on how and where this new software development tool will fit into the grand scheme of things.

By releasing the beta version of LightSwitch to the software developer community, Microsoft is soliciting feedback in the hopes that when released, LightSwitch will add significant value (and more sales) to the Microsoft Visual Studio line of software development tools. The value proposition to developers is that LightSwitch will dramatically decrease the amount of time it takes to create professional quality software.

So how can my business make money with LightSwitch?

Last summer I wrote an article (see here) that talked to how LightSwitch could provide value to an organization by empowering the organization with a tool that can deliver an enterprise class solution in a substantially shorter period of time. Can you say, “Quicker ROI”?

In the 9 months since that article I have poked and prodded LightSwitch (beta 1). I have created numerous silly applications that are meaningless but, none the less, have provided me some insight that has been invaluable.

So here it is…

LightSwitch will help your business make more money when LightSwitch is used for creating software solutions.

Here is how…

The three main risks, or constraints, of a typical project include; the scope (the requirements) of the project, the amount of time available to complete the project, and the amount of money available to pay for the project. Each of these constraints impacts each other and ultimately provides the inputs that measure the success of a project.

The Project Risk Triangle

LightSwitch offers value in a number of ways that mitigates each of these risks mentioned above. Most remarkable will be in decreasing the costs and time required to create and write a software solution.

LightSwitch is a development tool that uses point and click style dialogs to configure a data centric software application, without the need to right any software development code. Using this data centric approach to development, information about the types of data being used is entered into simple dialog windows within LightSwitch. User interface screens are configured and generated using point and click interactions. Similar point and click interactions means that a developer can create and deploy a software solution to desktop or the web.

Anyone Can Use It (well, almost)

This means that the developer does not necessarily need to be a “developer”. A person with a little knowledge of data design will have the necessary knowhow to create an application using LightSwitch.

Yes, LightSwitch will give those who “know enough to be dangerous” the ammunition needed to create something for their organization. LightSwitch, however, has been designed to mitigate the risks associated with those type users. LightSwitch constrains most of the design and generated output to baked-in software best practices. Using Silverlight and RIA based service technology; even the simplest designs can churn out a quality solution.

Some developer pundits liken LightSwitch to a code generation tool. Others suggest opinions that LightSwitch is a glorified Microsoft Access. Subjective as it may seem, it’s my opinion that LightSwitch is simply a tool and should not be looked upon as a replacement for anything. Regardless at what way you look at it, LightSwitch is a development tool, plain and simple.

Using LightSwitch, I can create a web ready Silverlight based solution in less than an hour. Using the traditional approach would have meant several days of combined coding and database development efforts, not to mention the time it would take to deploy the solution.

Albeit LightSwitch constrains a generated solution to things like user interface design, but the tradeoff is huge. As long as the scope of function points are met, the project sponsors are happy and are more than confortable with the graphical user interface that LightSwitch produces. As long as it does the job and helps them make money.

Notwithstanding, By design LightSwitch is “extendable” meaning that the baseline solution that gets created will be easily enabled to leverage other requirements such as all kinds of data sources, user interface elements, and various other extension points.

Having said that, LightSwitch is currently released as a beta 1 version of a product. Beta 2 is expected soon and with the developer community’s continued involvement, the official release of LightSwitch will be piggy backed with extensions that will make for a very attractive and community supported product.

Been There, Done That

My years of experience in business analyst and project management roles has given me a perspective that I believe most software developers have not had an opportunity to experience and learn from. That perspective is one from a greater organizational view, and how an organization measures the value of a (custom) developed software solution.

When presenting a business case to the key stakeholders of a business, it is the answers to the, “how will it make me money?” questions that they want to here. If I show each of them that I can deliver on a quality solution faster than the competitors. And if a project sponsor wants to know, “How quickly will I see my ROI?”, what do you think is going to have a greater success of being championed and approved; something that gets created with lots of bells and whistles, or something that simply gets the job done?

You tell me…

- Cheers