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Down the software rabbit hole

Down the Software Rabbit Hole: Why Business Leaders Should Lean into Technical Deep Dives

Written by STEP Software on . Posted in Blog.

We’ve all been there, you’re in a meeting with stakeholders and technical SMEs and you ask a simple, budget-conscious question: Is it possible to make the app faster for users and cheaper to maintain?” One of your brightest developers enthusiastically leans forward, and says: “Yes… but it depends.” And just like that, you’re in a conversation that includes terms you’re sure are made up, acronyms that you’ve never heard of and concepts you suspect went into the Artemis II launch. You try and keep up but gapped somewhere after they said, ‘quad trees,’ but before ‘performance...

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Linux for Business

Linux for Business: Scalable, Secure, Innovation Foward

Written by STEP Software on . Posted in Blog.

In technology boardrooms and engineering teams alike, a quiet but decisive shift has been underway over the last 25 years. Linux is not just a developer preference; it has become a strategic business choice.  From cloud infrastructure to embedded systems, Linux has  positioned itself as the backbone of modern software development. Have your non-tech teams caught up? For executives evaluating digitalization & technology strategy, understanding why developers prefer Linux offers valuable insight into scalability, security, and long-term innovation. Linux Basics ...

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Spaceships and Software

Software: The Real MVP of the Artemis II Mission

Written by STEP Software on . Posted in Blog.

When most people think about space missions, they picture rockets, astronauts, and dramatic launches. But behind every successful mission, especially one as ambitious as Artemis II, there’s something far less visible doing the heavy lifting: software. For business and technology leaders, Artemis II is more than a space story. It’s a masterclass in how mission-critical software enables complex systems, manages risk, creates competitive advantage, and determines success or failure. Let’s dive into the software that is taking humans around the moon and back. A Mission Half a Century...

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Large Language Model

What Is an LLM (Really)? A Practical Guide for Business and Technology Leaders

Written by STEP Software on . Posted in Blog.

Large Language Models (LLMs) are having a moment. They’re hot topics around boardroom tables, branches of product roadmaps, and part of just about every vendor pitch deck. But behind the buzzword is a concept that’s both simpler and more nuanced than it first appears. For tech and business leaders, understanding what an LLM is (and just as importantly, what it is not) is key to making smart, strategic decisions. This week we dive into LLM’s from the perspective of a software development company who fields questions about with our advisory client’s and uses them to achieve our client’s...

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21 Years of STEP Software

21 Years of STEP Software: Celebrating Change

Written by STEP Software on . Posted in Blog.

March 2026 marks an exciting milestone for STEP Software: 21 years in business. That’s right, STEP is officially old enough to… well, legally drink in the U.S., which feels appropriate given everything the tech industry has put us through over the past two decades. But jokes aside, 21 years in technology isn’t just a milestone, it’s a front-row seat to one of the most transformative periods in business history. From clunky legacy systems to cloud-native platforms and AI-powered tools, the way organizations build and use software has changed dramatically. This anniversary is a...

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User Acceptance Testing

The Importance of User Acceptance Testing

Written by STEP Software on . Posted in Blog.

Custom software development projects involve months of planning, design, coding, and internal testing. When done well, User Acceptance Testing reduces project risk, improves adoption, and helps ensure custom solutions deliver the business outcomes it was designed to achieve, when done poorly is can lead to delays, project confusion and team discourse. For IT leaders and business stakeholders, UAT represents the moment when software moves beyond technical validation and into real-world usability. It is the stage where the people who will rely on the system every day confirm that it...

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System Failure

When Disaster Strikes: What to Do If Your Legacy System Goes Down

Written by STEP Software on . Posted in Blog.

For many organizations, legacy systems are still the backbone of critical business operations. They run billing, logistics, manufacturing systems, financial systems, payroll in many cases and even customer records. When faced with a cyberattack, software defect, or natural disaster, the consequences are immediate for businesses and downstream partners. Over the last five years alone, there have been several high-profile incidents showing how quickly a technology failure can become a business crisis. The lesson is simple: legacy systems don’t fail gracefully; and if you don’t have a...

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AI Literacy

AI Literacy Matters, Now More Than Ever

Written by STEP Software on . Posted in Blog.

AI is touching nearly every role in every industry, from customer service chatbots to automated data workflows to AI-assisted coding. According to recent data, job postings that mention AI skills have more than doubled from 2023 to 2025, showing that employers increasingly value (and require) these competencies in the labour market. AI literacy, even at a basic level, has become a competitive advantage across sectors. However, according to a global study that included Canadian respondents, Canada ranks among the lowest-performing advanced economies in AI literacy and training, with only...

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Out of stock RAM

Got RAM? Not so Fast: What the 2026 RAM Famine Means for Businesses

Written by STEP Software on . Posted in Blog.

As we turn the calendar page to the final month of Q1-2026, one of the tech world’s most surprising supply-chain stories isn’t about the chips we’ve always struggled to source, it’s about memory, RAM (random-access memory) to be precise. A once relatively stable commodity that has suddenly become scarce, expensive, and a central concern around boardroom planning tables across the globe. From skyrocketing server costs to delayed product launches, this ‘memory famine’ is more than a semiconductor blip, it’s shaping up to be one of the defining(and concerning) tech supply trends of the...

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Coding with AI

AI Coding Agents: Yes, Maybe, or No?

Written by STEP Software on . Posted in Blog.

If you have been following anything tech or AI related the past couple of weeks your feeds have likely blown up with headlines about Claude Opus 4.6 and autonomous coding agents. The latest flagship model by AI Research company Anthropic is at the center of the frenzy: 16 Claude AI agents tasked to build a Rust-based C compiler is a milestone that feels straight out of science fiction. What’s the real story here, is this 2026’s version of vibe-coding? This week on our blog we dive into the excitement of coding with AI, the approach with caution areas and the disappointing parts of...

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