Category Archives: Miscellaneous

That’s Right Ariba, CombineNet, Emptoris, Hubwoo, Oracle, and SAP — I Called You Out!

To get right to the point, as far as I’m concerned, unless you have something to hide, there’s no reason not to give SI a demo of your publicly available solution. Because, despite what you may think, or what some misinformed individual might have told you,

  • I’m not going to steal your IP.
    Unless you show me the code, there’s no way I could steal anything. (And since I only need to see the application working to do a review, there’s no reason I’d ever need to see under the hood.)
  • I’m not going to expose your secrets.
    While I’m always interested in what’s coming down the pipe, for the purposes of a product review, I only care about what you have now — (about to be) released in(to) the public domain. There’s not much secret there — and while I may ask about company performance, plans, etc., if they’re still hush-hush, you don’t have to tell me.
  • I’m not biased against you.
    I might think a few select individuals who (used to) work for you aren’t very bright, but I know that one bad apple doesn’t spoil the bunch and even if I think that your marketing or communications team could use an upgrade, I know that these aren’t the people building or deploying the product in your customer sites. Thus, any personal opinions I have about a few marketing or communications people aren’t going to affect my analysis of the product and delivery.
  • I’m not going to give you a bad review
    unless you give me a PowerPoint demo. If you don’t believe me, look through the hundred plus reviews I’ve done over the last four and half years and try to find one bad product review. While it is true that not all of them are glowing, it’s also true that in each and every review I looked for the positives and the differentiators and did my best to give a fair and balanced review to anyone who took the time to give me a demo.  SI’s #1 goal is to inform its readers, and nothing informs them more than a fair, open, review of your solution (that’s totally free to you).
  • It is in your best interest.
    Even if you are an 800lb gorilla, this doesn’t mean that every buyer is going to associate you with best-of-breed in the application category they are looking for or going to invite you to the table without reading some objective analysis. While it’s true you don’t need the exposure as much as a number of other mid-size and smaller vendors in the space need it, and that it’s unlikely I’m going to get a call from you along the lines of “thanks to your post I just got a six figure deal I wouldn’t have known about otherwise as we’d never have been invited to the table or thought to call this company who reached out to us” (and, yes, I have gotten calls and e-mails like this), every product review post contributes to the snowball effect. The more blogs you’re reviewed on, the more likely it is that the larger mid-market companies you want so badly (as the top tier is getting crowded) are going to put you on a short-list.

If you decide to change your mind and give me a demo, I’ll make myself available to the best of my ability through the end of May. It’s up to you.  Just remember that for every company that won’t give SI a demo, there are dozens that will. (So many, in fact, that if I put out an open call, I can get more requests in a short time than I can handle because a fair review takes a significant investment of time on my part.) Plus, I always have something to write about, and, in the worst case scenario, if asked, I can always recommend your competition instead. Your call.

Social Networks Will Change Product Innovation

But not always for the better.

A recent post over on the HBR blogs declared that “social networks will change product innovation” because the new communication channels [will] actually force material changes not just in the way companies market their products but in the strategies and operations they use to develop and build those products.

This will happen because it is very difficult and costly to maintain a unified voice across all channels and to control information flows to the outside world. As a result, companies will need to adust to a 24/7 dialogue with consumers, investors, and other stakeholders.

This, in turn, will require changes in product strategy since the focus will have to be on products that will cut through the noise on the channels the consumers, investors, and other stakeholders are on.

But since products take money, development will be steered towards what developers think investors will want, which will, in turn, be driven by what investors say on the channels the company is following. But just like not all investors are fans of social media (even though most of the tech investors seem to be these days), not all investos are users of social media, so development is going to be steered towards the interests of a sub-group of potential investors who are regular users of social media. And if these investors are not in the target market of the product, who knows if the target market will be served at all.

For example, let’s say the target market is the average joe who makes 40K a year in a blue-collar job. This is not your aveage investor, who’s rich and able to drop 10 times that on an investment on a whim. Thus, they’re not going to be a buyer and should not be driving your development decisions, especially if their preferences add cost as a bule collar Joe making 40K a year doesn’t have a large disposable income after paying the mortgage, the bills, and feeding the family. So while the investor might like to see the intelligent toaster made out of titanium, the average Joe would be happier with more affordable aluminum.

So, at least for now, social networks aren’t the silver bullet that will change product innovation for the better.

Productivity Truths

The McKinsey Quarterly recently ran a great article on “five misconceptions about productivity” (registration required) that is a must read for anyone thinking about not greenlighting an investment in new supply chain technology. As per the article:

  • Productivity IS a priority
    In order for the US to sustain its average historical GDP growth of 3.3% with the projected declines in labor-force growth, productivity growth needs to increase at an annual rate of 2.3% — a rate of growth not achieved since the 1960s. And since the supply chain is the dominant driver of productivity in most organizations, supply chain needs every productivity increase it can get.
  • Productivity IS a job saver
    With a continuing lack of credit and a slow sales rebound in most sectors, your average company can not afford to hire and still has a significant need to do more with less as it first has to grow with the resources it has. Productivity increases help a company keep costs under control, which reduces the chances it will need to layoff.
  • Productivity gains ALSO come from increasing value
    If a new technology will allow the company to identify value or increase value, it’s a must. For example, an analytics system that will help pinpoint key value addes across a product line, new sustainable warehouse technologies (such as hybrid vehicles), or investments in new technologies that reduce plant energy requirements, can increase profit, brand image, and/or sales.
  • Productivity IS AS important to leaders as losers
    How do you think leaders stay leaders? They continue to make gains year after year!
  • There is NO LIMIT to Productivity Gains
    McKinsey’s research estimates that three quarters of the productivity gains required by the US can be achieved simply by applying best practices across the private sector! Imagine what new technology and methodologies could do!

Build a Better Beer Widget? Yes We Can!

A recent article over on CNet, which describes the beer widget as the hollow plastic ball that rattles around the can and is largely responsible for the foamy head on the just-poured brew, highlights how a university mathematician from Limerick, Ireland has discovered a way to create a more efficient, less expensive widget.

The research, which looked into the best way to harness the gas pockets trapped within cellulose fibres as (starting) points for bubbles to grow and release when a can of beer is cracked and poured, built a mathematical model that determined how much cellulose fibre would be needed to create enough bubbles for a head that could compete with a draught poured at a local pub. Precisely, 8.3 x 10-4 square meters of fibre are required, or, a credit-card sized piece of paper added to a can of Guinness, or a layer of paper-like fibres coated on the inside of a can. No widget needed. But the draught will have to be poured slowly as the bubbles are not produced in a quick jolt, as they are with the widget.