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Accounting Software
The ERP Evolution
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and accounting software applications have long been regarded as unexciting albeit mission critical business systems which permit organizations to perform their daily processing. Their mission and delivery have largely stood steadfast with incremental advancements providing a slow but steady evolution. More ...
Brands
The Business Case For Brand Building
While much has been written of branding in general, nearly all content and advice are developed around the CPG (consumer packaged goods) industries where branding has enjoyed mind share and measurable success for centuries. Technology branding faces vastly different markets, customers, messages, purchase cycles and challenges than the more traditional CPG industry. More ...
Why Technology Branding Is Different
More so than consumer or other business to business industries, technology companies struggle between the competition of short term product marketing versus long term brand building. While mature technology companies strike a balance as they clearly understand the strong competitive advantages derived from brand initiatives (4 of the world’s top 10 brands are technology brands, including Microsoft, IBM, Intel and Nokia), most other tech companies dilute or forego branding in favor of more tactical technology evolution. More ...
Brand Building Challenges (Know Before You Go)
Designing, developing and achieving successful brands are perhaps the most difficult tasks a marketing professional will ever incur. The primary obstacles faced in building brands include time to value, living the brand and brand messaging. More ...
Crafting a Winning Brand Message
While I use the term brand messaging, many brand managers use the phrase brand positioning as an alternative or a compliment. Irrespective of the term used, the mission is to articulate the brand in a way that infers a specific meaning by consumers. The messaging should communicate the goal or results achieved by the consumer and explain why the brand is superior to competitor solutions. More ...
Brand Design
The most critical prerequisites to effective brand building include extraordinary clear understanding of your target market and the psychology of perception for your targeted consumer. Understanding the demographics of your target market and psychographics of your target consumer require a combination of strong industry experience and methodically executed customer research. More ...
Brand Strategies
Brand strategies are most broadly implemented consistent with relative market position. The most misunderstood or missed all together brand strategy is the pre-market strategy. Pioneers face the challenge of introducing new technology solutions to a conservative IT buying community. For game changing technologies which render existing business models inferior or redefine new value propositions, the challenge is significant and messaging must be reinforced with strong combinations of education and media. Pre-market brand strategies begin the race for mind share in advance of the race for market share. More ...
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
What is Next in the CRM Evolution?
So what’s next in the CRM evolution? Of course the industry will consolidate, new software capabilities (such as mobile CRM and business process automation) will advance, new technologies will emerge and existing products will mature into requirements-driven customer segmentation models. However, these facets occur in all information technology segments and are hardly thought inspiring or interestingly predictive. I’ll use this post to forecast some of the more meaningful CRM industry advancements. More ...
Winning Sales Strategies | Staging The Buy Process
A key solution selling best practice religiously exercised by top technology sales professionals, and missed by the remaining market majority, is staging the buyers’ buy criteria. Contrary to popular opinion, buyer evidence reveals that technology purchasers more often than not do not desire, have the experience, possess the skills or have the time to pursue a methodical technology evaluation process which fairly and systemically evaluates the most relevant market alternatives. More ...
Cloud Computing
Cloud Computing Market Confusion
Cloud computing has become one of the most frequently cited and infrequently understood new technology terms pitched to IT buyers, analysts, media, industry observers and the public at large. More ...
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
The ERP Evolution
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and accounting software applications have long been regarded as unexciting albeit mission critical business systems which permit organizations to perform their daily processing. Their mission and delivery have largely stood steadfast with incremental advancements providing a slow but steady evolution. More ...
Government & Public Sector Technology
Government Technology Comes to the Cloud
With the release of Apps.gov, the GSA and federal CIO Vivek Kundra have demonstrated their undeniable intent to promote both increased utilization and accelerated procurement of cloud computing applications. Apps.gov, which launched September 15, looks like a B2C storefront for the procurement of turnkey cloud computing services. The e-commerce portal delivers shopping cart functionality and a streamlined click-to-order process for business systems, productivity applications, social media tools and cloud-based IT services. More ...
Green Information Technology (IT)
The Dynamic Duo of SaaS and Green IT
The convergence of software as a service (SaaS) and Green IT are creating a symbiotic relationship whereby the market adoption of each new technology contributes to an increased value proposition and accelerated advancement of both technologies. More ...
Information Security
IT Marketing
Reinventing The Marketing Function
A sequence of downhill pressures have resulted in increased marketing turnover. Shareholders hold boards accountable with each quarterly earnings report. Boards step up the pressure on CEOs. CEOs increase demands on sales leaders and sales leaders increase pressure on CMOs for more and better leads. The CMO finds herself on the front-line as the final company resource responsible for increased customer acquisitions. More ...
Global IT Marketing
IT Marketing in China
Despite the difficulties, experience demonstrates that several fundamental strategies which work in the rest of the Asia Pacific region will work for China. Highly focused marketing vehicles, targeted audiences, role sensitive nurture campaigns and remarkable content are even more relevant in China where failing to identify your customer is seen as abusive. More ...
IT Strategy & Management
Creating Real Competitive Advantages
Creating, messaging, positioning and promoting real competitive advantages is a difficult undertaking successfully performed by few organizations. When crafting competitive advantages, the goal is to create clear, relevant, measurable and unique competitive advantages that answer the question “Why should I do business with your company and not your competitor?” More ...
Three Steps to Recruiting Success
I’ve found that by insisting that recruiting be a company core competency and evaluating candidates by comparing them to the characteristics of over-achievers and the behaviors cited by the legendary Jack Welch, you can dramatically improve your ability to hire and retain great talent. Here’s the process that works for me. More ...
New Technology
The Semantic Web
The Semantic Web, or what is sometimes referred to as Web 3.0, is steadily making the transition from theory to practicality. The Semantic Web is a slowly emerging set of standards and technologies designed to improve classification, access and usability of information and software services on the Internet. While the Web 2.0 evolution is largely about connecting people through social media channels such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, blogs and wikis, the next generation will be about connecting information in new ways that people will find more relevant and meaningful. More ...
Open Source Software (OSS)
Outsourcing
Public Relations (PR)
Social Media & Web 2.0
The CEO's Guide to Social Media
Too many CEOs sit on the social media sideline because they lack the understanding in how to align and leverage social media with their existing business objectives. Even within progressive enterprises, more Web 2.0 initiatives are launched from the lunch room than the board room. More ...
Software as a Service (SaaS)
The SaaS Value Proposition
SaaS is a software delivery model which provides web-based application access from a central shared services hosting facility over the Internet based on a subscription pricing model. More ...
The Dynamic Duo of SaaS and Green IT
The convergence of software as a service (SaaS) and Green IT are creating a symbiotic relationship whereby the market adoption of each new technology contributes to an increased value proposition and accelerated advancement of both technologies. More ...
Thought Leadership
Build an Online Community in Four Easy Steps
Sponsoring online communities can offer an outstanding method to promote thought leadership. Thought leaders at both major consumer brands and entrepreneurial start-ups are implementing interactive online communities in order to acquire customer insight, grow customer advocacy and support business development objectives. More ...
Technology Media
Top 10 IT Buyer Information Sources
The Internet has become the go to resource for IT buyers who wish to survey the market, educate themselves and ultimately develop a short list of IT solutions for purchase consideration. This IT buyer shift in the sourcing of information presents proactive IT suppliers with an effective approach to leverage online channels to reach IT buyers. More ...
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