ARCHIVE
ID Number: G00138877



This research is provided for historical perspective;
portions of this document may not reflect current conditions.





Childhood Ends: Liability and the IT Industry
25 July 2006
 
Richard Hunter   John Bace   French Caldwell   Jane B. Disbrow   Helen Huntley   Ken McGee   Nigel Rayner   Christine Adams   Nicholas Gall  

By 2015 in the U.S. and 2018 in the European Union, software products and related services with potential for high-impact failures will be subject to external or self-regulation. Vendors and internal application development organizations must consider their strategies now.




Price: US$995.00

Pages: 33











Contact Gartner





Purchasing this document is fast, easy and secure, but you must be registered with gartner.com so we can track your order. Please select your status from these three choices:
Registration is required to purchase this document.
Or, you can register for gartner.com only.
 You or your organization may already own this document. Register now to find out. Your Gartner Membership Administrator can supply the needed License Key(s).
You will not lose your document during registration.
Sign in here:
Username:

Password:
Forgot your username
or password?







For more information about purchasing this or other documents, contact Gartner at one of the telephone numbers below:
North America:    +1 203-316-3010 7:30 am - 8:00 pm Stamford, CT
Europe:    +44 1784 267770 9:00 am - 5:00 pm London
Asia/Pacific:    +65 6879 2785 9:00 am - 6:00 pm Singapore
Japan:    +81 3 3481 3552 9:00 am - 5:30 pm Tokyo

This document is not available as part of your current Gartner subscription. For pricing and availability of the full document, please contact your Gartner account representative. Your account representative can also give you more information about your current subscription and other access options that may be available to you. If you do not have a Gartner account representative, call +1 203 316 1200 for assistance.

Table of Contents

Contents
  • Analysis
    • 1.0 Introduction: Childhood Ends, Sooner or Later
      • 1.1 The IT Industry Does Not Assume That Freedom From Liability Is a Given
      • 1.2 Gaps in Information Liability Are Growing, Especially for Businesses
      • 1.3 As the Costs of Failure Increase
      • 1.4 IT Industry Immunity From Liability Will End: The Question Is How
    • 2.0 IT Vendors Are Free From Nearly All Liability
      • 2.1 In the U.S., Technology Users, Not Producers, Are Regulated
      • 2.2 U.S. IT Vendors Dominate in Software Liability and Warranty
      • 2.3 Vendor Negotiating Positions Have Weakened Slightly, but Only for Large Customers
      • 2.4 EU Regulation Is Consumer and Antitrust-Oriented
      • 2.5 EU Data Collectors Are at Risk; Software Producers Are Not
    • 3.0 Strong Drivers to Change Are Present
      • 3.1 The Chase Curve Describes the Life Cycle of a Public Policy Issue
      • 3.2 We Are Well Along the Chase Curve Where Privacy Is Concerned
      • 3.3 A Dangerous Condition: Technology Is Ubiquitous and Quality Remains an Issue
      • 3.4 Impact, if Not Frequency, of IT Failure Is Apparently Increasing
      • 3.5 Software Is Applied to Problems It Was Not Designed to Solve
      • 3.6 Crime Is Not the Main Issue
      • 3.7 Other Destabilizing Forces Are Present
      • 3.8 The Y2K Crisis Offers a Look Over the Brink
      • 3.9 A Crisis Big Enough to Produce Change Is Imaginable, but Unpredictable
    • 4.0 Strong Inhibitors to Change Are Present
      • 4.1 Insulation of Consumers From Direct Effects of IT Is a Change Inhibitor
      • 4.2 Regulation of Privacy Does Not Equal Regulation of Software
      • 4.3 Courts Are an Inhibitor to Change in Enterprise Markets
      • 4.4 The Installed Base Is an Inhibitor to Change in Enterprise Markets
      • 4.5 Isolation Is an Inhibitor to Change in Enterprise Markets
      • 4.6 Self-Regulation and Market Regulation Are Inhibitors to External Regulation
      • 4.7 The Relative Harmlessness of Much Software Is an Inhibitor to External Regulation
      • 4.8 Consumers Drive All
    • 5.0 Scenarios for Regulation and Liability
      • 5.1 The Status Quo Is Profitable for Industry Players, but Unlikely to Continue
      • 5.2 Full-On Regulation Is Complex
      • 5.3 Full-On Regulation Is Unlikely Barring Utter Disaster — And Even With It
      • 5.4 Targeted Regulation — Internal and External — Is the Likeliest Scenario
    • 6.0 Features of a Targeted Regulation Model for the IT Industry
      • 6.1 Industry Self-Regulation Is an Effective Solution for Most Aspects of the Model
      • 6.2 The Targeted Model Creates Markets for Vendors
      • 6.3 The Targeted Model Creates Opportunities and Liabilities for Enterprise Users
      • 6.4 The Targeted Model Will Raise Awareness of IT Constraints Among Consumers
    • 7.0 The Economic Impact of Targeted Regulation
      • 7.1 Software and Services Have a Nontrivial Impact on GDP
      • 7.2 Software Sales and Marketing Practices Will Change — Completely
      • 7.3 Software Development Costs and Processes Will Be Impacted — In the Long Term, Favorably
      • 7.4 Consolidation Increases — Within and Outside the IT Industry
      • 7.5 Impacts on IT Services Providers Produce Big Winners and Big Losers
      • 7.6 The Impact on the Open-Source Movement Is Uncertain and Potentially Deadly
    • 8.0 Gartner's Advice: Get Ready
      • 8.1 Software Vendors: Prepare for Transparency and Product Differentiation Based on Quality
      • 8.2 Service Vendors: Do All the Above, And …
      • 8.3 Enterprise Users: Demand Vendor Transparency, and Fix Your Own House
      • 8.4 Conclusion: When Childhood Ends, Tools Replace Toys
  • Recommended Reading
Figures
Figure 1.
The Chase Curve
Figure 2.
Privacy and the Chase Curve
Figure 3.
Chase Curve for Y2K — Disaster Avoided
Figure 4.
Chase Curve for Y2K: Disaster Occurs
Figure 5.
Characteristics of an IT Regulatory "Trigger Event"




© 2006 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction and distribution of this publication in any form without prior written permission is forbidden. The information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. Gartner disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information. Although Gartner's research may discuss legal issues related to the information technology business, Gartner does not provide legal advice or services and its research should not be construed or used as such. Gartner shall have no liability for errors, omissions or inadequacies in the information contained herein or for interpretations thereof. The opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice.




Resource Id: 494345