You might be interested in reading "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion" by Cialdini. In the first chapter, he describes a souvenir shop in New Mexico that had trouble selling inventory. The owner just couldn't sell her jewel necklaces. The owner went on vacation, and told the clerk to cut all the prices in half (far below their value). When she came back, she learned the clerk misheard her and doubled all the prices... and all of them sold out! Tourists at the stop didn't know how to recognize necklace quality on their own, so they used the price as the next most reliable indicator of quality.
I imagine it's similar with companies that see software as beyond their expertise.
You might be interested in reading "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion" by Cialdini. In the first chapter, he describes a souvenir shop in New Mexico that had trouble selling inventory. The owner just couldn't sell her jewel necklaces. The owner went on vacation, and told the clerk to cut all the prices in half (far below their value). When she came back, she learned the clerk misheard her and doubled all the prices... and all of them sold out! Tourists at the stop didn't know how to recognize necklace quality on their own, so they used the price as the next most reliable indicator of quality.
I imagine it's similar with companies that see software as beyond their expertise.