Boring Systems Build Badass Businesses
I can easily see how this post could be mis interpreted, so i'll add my personnal experience :I had the occasion of building the same system in two different companies : one was a start up, the other a huge company.For the start up i could choose the tech i wanted, and decided to go for python + app engine + backbone ( new at that time ). Those tech were "hype" yet not absolutely brand new. I took some risks by choosing them but thought it could be worth it.For the big company i had to go with java spring mvc + sencha, they didn't want to hear of any new tech that would be different from what they were used to. They deployed it in their own infra.Now, the start up project took 3 man month, the big company took more than 7, and a year total before being deployed.
The startup only paid an intern to maintain the software,and almost nothing in infrastructure fees. The big company outsourced maintenance to a software service company that proved unable to do even the most basic troubleshooting.I designed and coded the two systems, and i wasn't a guru of any specific tech, so it's not an issue with the people. Sometimes, under the right circumstance new technologies are way better.