Here’s another one of my favourite sayings....and is a reflection of the way software companies sell their portfolio of products. I think this one came from a very sensible man in the storage and security world Jon William Toigo.
Software companies start with a product and, if successful, usually one of two things happen:
- They get bought by a company that likes the look of their product and see it as a complimentary offering.
...or....
- They start buying companies that sell products that they see as complimentary offerings.
Both strategies obviously have exactly the same outcome - a set of products that may look like they are similar but in fact are far from that.
To solve the problem the parent company deconstructs the purchased product and then redevelops the solution into its enterprise application framework and quickly delivers a solution that is fully integrated at all levels.
Oh hang on a minute....that’s wrong....what they actually do is.....
Get the marketing guys in to re-brand the product and ensure that all collateral is consistent with the other products they own. “Thus integrating at the brochure level.”
Once engineering have a good look at the product they usually decide to leave it alone and you then start hearing about consolidation and integration being available in the next version....whenever that might be....
There have been some great stories of products being purchased, and once their design is understood they are then completely re-developed, from the ground up, in order for them to continue providing value for their new owners.
One example that springs to mind would undermine the kudos of a famous kiwi tech entrepreneur so I better not mention him. Especially as I own shares in his company!
Some of the giants of our industry have made millions out of their customers by selling brochure integration, Tivoli and Unicentre are two of the greatest but no area of software is spared from this scourge.
The counter to this is companies who develop fully integrated products from the start and architect them with this in mind. Obviously the problem with this strategy is the need for that rare commodity – strategic vision! There are a few who have done this and they always struggle to sell against the brochure-warers, they become the victims of feature ticking solution selections – not easy!
So when you’re faced with a solution purchase - check out the history of the product and please dig a bit deeper than the brochure!
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I like "at the brochure level": but you mean "complementary" (able to add something and work alongside), not "complimentary" (saying nice things about).
ReplyDeleteBut then, at the brochure level, perhaps compliments is all they're looking for ...