November 5, 2008
BI Market, BI Strategy
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There are those who believe that business intelligence driven selling and marketing is leading towards a more depersonalised style of selling – yet in reality, the opposite is true.
The old mode of selling was very much a tactical pipeline of script speak designed to lead a prospect into firstly feeling discomfort with the status quo, framing up a mental solution, aligning that solution to a product the sales person wishes to sell, overcoming objections and closing the sale. The script was very much crafted around raising the needs that directly aligned with the solution proffered, rather than the real needs of the client.
Business intelligence provides evidence of actual needs of the client, often before the client actually recognises that need themselves. It then provides a basis of configuring customised solutions for individuals, rather than whole market sectors. In this way, BI technology provides a more interactive and collaborative style of selling focused on the customer, rather than the product.
This is more in line with the current market values of participation and collaboration, rather than the more confrontational modes of selling used in the past. BI provides revolutionary insight into the lifestyles and buying habits of individual customers. It helps businesses integrate into the customers’ mode, rather than expecting the customer to align with the business mode.
The outcome of this change of focus from the solution to the customer provides far more value to the customer than ever before. And that increases personalisation rather than depersonalises the sales process.
October 17, 2008
BI Infrastructure, BI Market, Cloud Computing, IT Strategy
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Gartner has released its Top Tech list for 2009, and BI sits at #9. This years top strategic technology is very much based at the infrastructure, rather than the application level with Virtualization, cloud computing, computing fabric, web-oriented architecture and unified communications. This has somewhat overpowered the strategic value of BI, but is significant to BI in that it focuses attention to the underlying capability that BI requires to perform at its best.
To be included on Gartners list, the technology must possess more than just inherent features and funcitonality. It must be capable of being applied across multiple platforms and have real value to business.
Virtualization – is transforming corporate IT infrastructure at both the server and desktop level.
Cloud Computing - is the buzz phrase in IT today, so it is no wonder that it hit the strategic list at number two. Cloud computing will have a signficant impact on the way technology is deployed in organizations and will add support to SaaS models in all application fields.
Comuting Fabrics – at number 3, [#8 in 2008] server technology ‘Computing Fabrics’ combines server technology resources to enable them to be dispensed with their underlying pools of small, medium and large servers. Blade servers have some computing fabric capability – being able to move memory and processor capability.
Following the top three are:
4. Web-oriented Architecture – impacting the SOA model for services delivery, this architecture uses Web standards, identifiers, formats and protocols.
5. Enterprise Mashups - up from #6, applies the wizardary of contentmashups to allow users to employ public APIs to quickly combine various services and capabilities; extending the flexibility business users have to combine data inside and outside the enterprise.
6. Specialized Systems - new to the list, includes all those specialized appliances for Java, data warehousing and other processes. Not quite sure where this one will end as it is a dumping ground for all the less significant technologies, that when applied together become significant.
7. Social Software and Social Networking – up from #10, these tools extend collaboration efforts across organizations.
8. Unified Communications – aligned to number 7 above, and down from the second spot last year, Gartner anticipates a major consolidation of communications vendors through unified communications.
9. Business intelligence – new to the list, although surprising it hasn’t made it in the past. However, the reality of BI has dawned with the increase in computing power making BI tools more effective and efficient. The focus on BI has moved from core analytics as a distinct function to operational BI, embedded into business processes supporting automated decision making and exception management.
10. Green IT – the top contender in 2008 has lost ground to the bottom spot but has not diminished in importance. Sustainability is now woven into the fabric of IT strategy and as such is no longer seen as a separate capability but an inherent requirement of all corporate operations and technology.
April 24, 2008
BI Market
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Microsoft is expanding its channel activities in three key moves:
- Hosting of Dynamics CRM
- The bundling of software and services by other large providers – Comcast will bundle services from Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 and Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 for free to its business Internet customers.
- Hosting of Exchange Online and SharePoint Online – marketing them directly to “businesses of all sizes.”
This move is causing some concern amongst many channel managers, many seeing the move as Microsoft encroaching on their territory. Having spent many years building strong understanding and relationships within the small and medium-sized business (SMB) environment, MS could be seen as undermining their superior customer:product knowledge. This is something that large software vendors don’t and can’t do.
Microsoft’s role in the past as been one of a ‘tools provider’, whereas partners work with the customer’s needs to provide a ‘solution’.
Is this a real concern, or are channel partners pre-empting problems that just will not arise. It is no secret that the entire software industry is moving towards an on-demand SaaS environment, where current channel vendors will need to adapt their cultures and sales models to suit anyway.
Microsoft could be seen as doing no more than most other large software vendors are doing, and making a splash in the Software as a Service market. As they are unlikely to want to build the one on one relationships as established between channel partners and vendors, there is little to suggest that channels have any more to concern themselves with than natural evolution.
The big bang enterprise solutions pay out is dying under the pressure of ‘pay as you go’ models…in 2004, it was guestimated that by 2010 80% of software will be sold on this basis.
So just what is Microsoft to do……wait until every other tool provider has made the jump, and risk being a follower rather than leader.
Sorry, but that really isn’t Microsofts culture.
Smart vendors will see these moves for exactly what they are, and no more. A move towards in line with natural technology and commercial evolution.
In the future, the channel game will depend on having a breadth of products and services to offer to an increasing number of clients. This is the only way for channel businesses to grow. This will certainly test the value of a partner-customer relationship.
As for some parting advice:
- Grow
- Continue to demonstrate the value of your company, as trusted advisors.
- Expand your portfolio of products and services.
- Educate yourself in new SaaS commercial and sales models.
Don’t sit back and expect change is not going to happen!
