Tuesday, November 11, 2014

GitHub for Enterprises


GitHub for Enterprises
            GitHub is a collaborative coding website allowing many users to publically upload their string of code to a database of previously prepared codes. The large amount of data and codes online is currently a huge help for software developers and individual coders since it could possibly cut a good amount of time needed to build full project—assuming the coder is knowledgeable in adapting them and much of the code can be found online. The interesting route Chris Wanstrath, GitHub’s CEO and co-founder, decided to take is to create the “2.0 version” of social coding platform for businesses where companies will be able to host code on their private cloud environments.
            The codes created and uploaded would only be available to the company itself, using hosting services from Amazon’s Web Service unit and along with extras: various security tools, audit logs, and more. Business project developers and coders now have a cloud-based platform to collaborate and write code from virtually anywhere. Rather than emailing codes back and forth around the business from one IT department to another (in the same business), GitHub’s Enterprise updates allow everyone to get involved in the development process in one online spot.
            One of the first ideas that came to mind was the ease of integration through this process. When Dhananjaya Dvivedi, technologist of Shinsei Bank, was in charge of restructuring IT, he could have use GitHub (with the data of today) to make his integration process even easier. When Bank of New York and Mellon was merging, the technology was widely different in that different people were operating different systems. GitHub Enterprise would have allowed easy collaboration through the cloud to see what works and what doesn’t. Software developers could break down functions of each project, upload them to the company’s private cloud, and tag each code with specific names to represent its function. Integration from that point is just pulling what is necessary, and sometimes even adding codes one previously never knew. Synergy can happen in coding as well when two businesses integrate.
            Software development is becoming of growing importance within companies since the Internet has become such a necessity of many of our lives. We can see the Internet transform many business models throughout many industries time over time. Businesses will strive to develop their technology day in and day out because at the end of the day, technology is cheap, efficient and may give one a competitive advantage. And, with that said, we need to further the experience and knowledge of everyone, including employees; so, this is where GitHub plays a role. By upgrading its Enterprise offering to companies, they can protect their codes, build a more efficient coding team, and grow their software IT division, furthering potential growth opportunities within the business. “The goal is to dramatically increase visibility and communication across projects that traditionally may have fallen into corporate silos” (Norton).[1]


Perre Peraj


[1] http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/11/11/github-collaborative-coding-site-upgrades-enterprise-offering-as-software-development-goes-beyond-it/?mod=ST1

1 comment:

Erica Lattanzio said...

GitHub’s collaborative coding upgrade is an interesting concept that at first glance appears to have significant merits. GitHub, as Perre pointed out, has traditionally provided users the opportunity to publicly upload code. The upgrade GitHub is offering allows companies to upload code into a private cloud available only to their employees. This allows for collaboration within the cloud company-wide with the utmost privacy. Engineers and coders are usually the only ones to have a hand in creating code, but through this upgrade, anyone in the company can view the creation of the code. What GitHub CEO Chris Wanstrath neglects to point out in the Wall Street Journal article is that every person who accesses the private cloud will have to pay for it. Access is paid for per employee, so the view that this new upgrade will allow everyone to view the code whenever they want in whatever capacity the company deems necessary seems somewhat misleading. Company-wide participation or access to the cloud is feasible, but will rarely be implemented because of the huge costs it would rack up. GitHub’s private cloud collaboration on a company by company basis still has its merits for companies who really do need the privacy, but I would disagree with the idea that it will expand who gets access to the code, and in fact may limit it.