“Why buy GeneXus 16 years after it was introduced in the market? There are products and companies that do not last 16 years!” ARTech's President Breogán Gonda started the closing conference of the XVI GeneXus International Meeting with this question.
The truth is, said Gonda, that all the theory that underlies GeneXus is not enough to answer this question.
“From the beginning of the 20th century- explained ARTech's President- we have been in the age of “how”; where there are people who do things just because they know how to do them”. “But for a product to work out and perform successfully there must be a clear, original idea of enduring validity. Once we have the idea, and this idea becomes a product, it is necessary to remain within the virtuous circle that comprises both the product and innovation. But when such product is standardized, it is no longer necessary to innovate, but it is necessary to improve the product instead. The time will come when it becomes a commodity. That is the beginning of the end of our idea”, he said.
According to Gonda, “the lack of innovation is a synonym for death”. And experience appears to confirm this. “In the case of spreadsheets for example, PCcalc was the market leader until 1982. But they did not understand that it was necessary to program for the new IBM operating systems. Lotus did understand it, and by the end of 1983 it was the new leader. Likewise, Lotus stopped innovating and Excel took the lead of the market by designing for the new Microsoft platform: Windows”.
“The fact is that platforms come and go, therefore being conservative in this area means losing” remarked ARTech's President. “It is vital then, not to go against trends and to innovate permanently. Even when it is important to think big, implementation must be gradual, so you must not rush things. You must not lose focus, preserve the magic and exercise economic caution, both in good times and in times of crisis. These rules are part of GeneXus Decalogue.” explained ARTech's founder.
According to Gonda, “if you respect the rules, you win your heaven everyday”, although he pointed out that nobody has anything for granted. In this sense he assured that GeneXus Rocha “is the most important leap of all our history, after the release of the first GeneXus version. It is the opportunity one waits for the whole life. To have clear ideas and the necessary resources. It is a huge leap.” This leap demands to improve the product usability; “a pending issue whose significance increases substantially with the Rocha version”, said GeneXus project co-author.
“We have very good automatic management of business systems knowledge. We know how to do it and we do it well” said ARTech's President almost at the end of the conference. “Diamonds are forever, and so is knowledge”.
The people who have such knowledge are the key of GeneXus, with a community of over 40,000 licenses sold throughout the world and more than 40,000 registered developers. This is the answer to the initial question. Why buy GeneXus? Because knowledge goes beyond technology and that is the key of ARTech. “With faith, joy and generosity and with the synergy of this community we move ahead, always preserving the magic.”