Simple Is a Scam

As humans, we try to simplify the world around us. We love to think in simple casual relationships, like “A caused B which caused C”, because we are able to understand cause and effects without much energy spent on thinking and analysing. But the world is not simple. The world is non-linear. There is seldom a single cause for things. 

Most relations are non linear and not simple to understand. We need tools for analysing and understanding these kinds of relations.

Almost all IT companies promise ‘simple’  solutions for complex business problems. 

However in reality simple solutions for complex business IT problems never exist.

The advertisements and shiny cool websites of many IT companies often look like a scam.

Think about it: There are a lot of similarities between IT companies that promise simple IT solutions with criminals and fraudsters that offer ‘Get-rich-quick’ schemes. Like new crypto coins, time sharing property, startup stocks etc. 

Some similarities between IT companies and criminals are:

• You lose a lot of money and time, but your problem still exists.
• The promised financial benefits never exist.
• No transparency and clarity on how the solution works. If some software is published as FOSS, this is only done for branding and earning trust. The SaaS service is always kept private. And if you try to host the FOSS software yourself you find out that the software could never have worked since crucial components are not there or code lines are simply removed. 
• A lot of effort is put into a shiny web site to gain trust. Including testimonies of well known institutions or companies, conference videos and accompanied with only positive reviews. 
• Financial transparency of the company and who has invested into the company is lacking. 
• Upfront payments are needed, or if you choose the “free” trial, you’ll find you’re directly legally bound and must enter your credit card information. This “free” account isn’t really free, as you’re agreeing to the Terms of Service.
• A sense of urgency and exclusivity is created. Access to the beta release for the “new holy grail” solution is of course, like scammers do, very limited and only for a select group. 

So simple solutions for complex business problems must always be treated with the cynicism it deserves. There are no simple solutions to IT without drawbacks.

But be aware: Some hard and complex problems that were impossible to solve with the use of traditional software IT  technologies can now be solved with the use of AI/ML technology. However complex business IT problems seldom fall into this domain! 

So if a company or a consultant offers a solution that sounds too good to be true, it’s because it probably is.

Python Code Audit is a local first FOSS solution.