Tuesday’s Tip: Putting the Kibosh On ERP Vendor Sales Reps Who Troll For Indirect Access

R "Ray" Wang

Principal Analyst and Founder
Constellation Research

R “Ray” Wang is the CEO of Silicon Valley-based Constellation Research Inc. He co-hosts DisrupTV, a weekly enterprise tech and leadership webcast that averages 50,000 views per episode and blogs at www.raywang.org. His ground-breaking best-selling book on digital transformation, Disrupting Digital Business, was published by Harvard Business Review Press in 2015. Ray's new book about Digital Giants and the future of business, titled, Everybody Wants to Rule The World was released in July 2021. Wang is well-quoted and frequently interviewed by media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, Fox Business, CNBC, Yahoo Finance, Cheddar, and Bloomberg. Short Bio R “Ray” Wang (pronounced WAHNG) is the Founder, Chairman, and Principal Analyst of Silicon Valley-based Constellation Research Inc. He…...

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Constellation Sees An Alarming Increase In Inquiries

Constellation has received an alarming increase in inquiries about an unethical vendor sales practice coined as “trolling for indirect access”. Indirect access is when a vendor claims that a client is accessing their perpetually licensed software in an unintentional manner or inappropriately licensed manner.

One vendor uses a definition of, “any individual or machine that accesses the computing capabilities of the software must be a licensed user”.

Another vendor sees it as “any time a system is accessed by a non-vendor system, a license is required to access that data”

In fact, a rash of inquiries over the past two quarters has raised the alarm bells among software customers.

Unethical Sales Leaders Endorse This Practice To Make Their Numbers

While this practice is nothing new, the pickup by vendors raises serious issues as to why this practice remains in their sales play books. Constellation identifies five reasons why vendors continue this practice:

1. Open up dormant accounts. After pleasant introductions, new sales reps will use this technique to further deals.  Former sales reps agree this is a shake down for cash technique.
2. Drive sales through fear of audits. Audits are used to start the discussion.  Unsuspecting customers who no longer have context about the original contract may fear breach of contract.
3. Scare customers into making additional purchases. Threats are used to set expectations.  The vendorsoften waives the issue if the customer buys additional licenses as a “compromise”
4. Force compliance into new licensing policies. Vendors use this as a way to drive conformity to new license models.  The move from concurrent usage to named users was one example.
5. Meet territory sales goals. Unscrupulous sales managers suggest this technique to meet their numbers.  Sales reps are told they are defending the vendors license rights.

It All Starts With An Innocent Sales Call From A New Sales Rep

The approach often begins when a new and often greener sales rep is assigned to a dormant account or accounts that have stopped paying maintenance. The sales rep appears to be quite friendly and initiates the call with lots of “getting to know you” questions.

What’s really going on, the sales rep is probing on usage and a customer’s install base. After a few weeks the sales rep calls to share news on the latest products. In the next call the sales rep gauges a former client’s interest in buying new products. If the customer shows interest, the sales rep continues through the sales process and remains quite friendly. If the customer shows no interest or the deal comes to halt, the conversation quickly moves to a stern tone and the issue of audits and indirect access is introduced.

Let’s Get Real About What’s Not Indirect Access

While the vendors typically have a tough time proving indirect access, they will fight hard with legal threats and wasted cycles.  However, most buyers and users see the following acceptable usage of data with their existing investment at the time they purchased the product.

• Processing batch data
• Aggregating information into a data warehouse or another source system
• Accessing data for use in another system through data integration
• Entering data from a third party system

The danger is that some vendors have rewritten or updated their software license terms in a very vague way to null the above use cases.  Even worse, many unsuspecting customers have signed addendums.

Recommendations: Stop the Madness On Software Vendor Audits And The Lame Excuses About Indirect Access

Constellation has successfully helped many clients navigate this tricky process with vendors.  Usually the issue is a break down in communications.  Here are three secrets to success:

1. Assert the industry definition of indirect access. Hold to your guns on indirect access.  Keep in mind, you own perpetual software and just because the software vendor’s lawyers say so, it doesn’t meant it’s correct.
2. Counter the indirect access issue. Conduct your own audits on usage and take precautions to make sure access meets industry acceptable definitions.  Escalate to top management. Avoid the sales management chain and go to the CEO office or the CMO office.
3. Shame the vendor into submission. Vendors are gun shy when you take the case public.  Prepare to expose the issue to press, media, user groups, and industry analysts.  The threats work but you better be prepared to go all the way.

A third party approach provides the most effective course of action.  Start with a legal counsel, an industry analyst, or other trusted advisor that can assist without breaking any non-disclosure and confidentiality requirements.  One other suggestion is for the user groups to take on this issue and prevent the vendor from extracting any more damage the vendor client relationship.

Your POV.

Let us know your experiences with SAP or Oracle contract negotiations   Add your comments to the blog or reach me via email: R (at) ConstellationRG (dot) com or R (at) SoftwareInsider (dot) com.

Let Us Help You.

Need help with your software contract or working out the rationale for used software or third party maintenance?  Put the power of experience with over 1500 software contract negotiations to work.  Contact us throughout the vendor selection or negotiation process.  We can help with a quick contract review or even the complete vendor selection.  We provide fix-fee and gain sharing arrangements.

Related Constellation Research

Wang, R. “Best Practices – Three Simple Software Maintenance Strategies That Can Save You Millions” Constellation Research, Inc. March 7, 2012

Wang, R. “Best Practices: Why Every CIO Should Consider Third-Party Maintenance.” Constellation Research, Inc. August 7, 2012.

Wang, R. “Market Overview: The Market For SAP Optimization Options.” Constellation Research, Inc. May 11, 2011.

Wang, R. “Best Practices: The Case for Two-Tier ERP Deployments.” Constellation Research, Inc. February 28, 2011.

Related Resources And Links

20090612, Channel Partner, “Used software – SAP suffers defeat”

20090612 Channel Partner, “UsedSoft obtains a provisional order against Microsoft”

20080602 Federal Judge Approves eBay Auction of Copyrighted Autodesk AutoCAD Design Software”

20120318 Research Summary: Best Practices – Three Simple Software Maintenance Strategies That Can Save You Millions

20100419 Tuesday’s Tip: Dealing With Pesky Software Licensing Audits

20090714 Research Summary: An Enterprise Software Licensee’s Bill of Rights, V2

20101214 Tuesday’s Tip: Dealing With Vendor Offers To Cancel Shelfware And Replace With New Licenses

20100308 Monday’s Musings: Decoupling Support From Maintenance – What Apps Vendors Can Learn From Microsoft Dynamics

20100222 Monday’s Musings: Why Users Should Preserve Their Third Party Maintenance Rights

20100104 News Analysis: SAP Revives Two-Tier Maintenance Options

20090210 Tuesday’s Tip: Software Licensing and Pricing – Do Not Give Away Your Third Party Maintenance And Access Rights

20090709 Tuesday’s Tip: Do Not Bundle Your Support and Maintenance Contracts!

20091222 Tuesday’s Tip: 10 Cloud And SaaS Apps Strategies For 2010

20091208 Tuesday’s Tip: 2010 Apps Strategies Should Start With Business Value

20091102 Best Practices: Lessons Learned In What SMB’s Want From Their ERP Provider

20091006 Tuesday’s Tip: Why Free Software Ain’t Really Free

20090504 News Analysis: Oracle Waives Fees On Extended Support Offerings

20080909 Trends: What Customers Want From Maintenance And Support

20080215 Software Licensing and Pricing: Stop the Anti-Competitive Maintenance Fee Madness

20090405 Monday’s Musings: Total Account Value, True Cost of Ownership, And Software Vendor Business Models

20090324 Tuesday’s Tips: Five Simple Steps To Reduce Your Software Maintenance Costs

20090223 Monday’s Musings: Five Programs Some Vendors Have Implemented To Help Clients In An Economic Recession

20091012 Research Report: Customer Bill of Rights – Software-as-a Service

20090910 Tuesday’s Tip: Note To Self – Start Renegotiating Your Q4 Software Maintenance Contracts Now!

20090721 Tuesday’s Tip: 3 Approaches To Return Shelfware

20090127 Tuesday’s Tip: Software Licensing and Pricing – Now’s The Time To Remove “Gag Rule” Clauses In Your Software Contracts

Reprints

Reprints can be purchased through Constellation Research, Inc. To request official reprints in PDF format, please contact Sales .

Disclosure

Although we work closely with many mega software vendors, we want you to trust us. For the full disclosure policy, stay tuned for the full client list on the Constellation Research website.  Keep in mind, we are not lawyers and do not provide legal advice. We suggest you always check with your legal counsel and your procurement teams to remain in compliance.

* Not responsible for any factual errors or omissions.  However, happy to correct any errors upon email receipt.

Copyright © 2001 – 2013 R Wang and Insider Associates, LLC All rights reserved.
Contact the Sales team to purchase this report on a a la carte basis or join the Constellation Customer Experience!

 

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Preparing for Disruption with WebRTC

Alumni: Constellation Research
Constellation Research

Dr. Brent Kelly is a Vice President and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research and President of KelCor, Inc. He focuses on the unique intersection of unified communications, social business, cloud services, video and mobility.  Dr. Kelly provides strategy and counsel to key clients including Chief Information Officers, Chief Technology Officers, investment analysts, venture capitalists, technology policy executives, sell-side firms and technology buyers. Prior to joining Constellation, Dr. Kelly served for 10 years as a partner at Wainhouse Research where he was the primary author of most of the firm’s unified communications reports and forecasts. Dr. Kelly is a regular presenter at Enterprise Connect (formerly VoiceCon), the communications industry trade show where his well…...

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It is important to understand what WebRTC can do for you, but it is equally important to understand what WebRTC may do to you.

Introduction
WebRTC is an emerging standard that enables real-time voice, video and data sharing in a Web browser without the need for browser plugins. Potentially billions of devices supporting a browser--PCs, laptops, smartphones, tablets and a host of new devices--from a variety of manufacturers will be real-time communications-enabled. Whereas browsers have typically interacted only with one or more Web servers, WebRTC allows browsers to exchange media and data with one another directly and in a secure manner.

Although third-party programs like Skype have been around for a long time, and some browser-based plugins have been available for limited communications interactions, the implications WebRTC brings to organizations of all types and sizes are enormous. Ubiquitous voice, video, and data for gaming, customer service, communications and personal and group engagement opens a new world of possibilities for innovation and disruption.

The transformative power behind WebRTC is that ordinary Web developers using just JavaScript Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) can craft fully functioning voice, video and data collaboration applications or embed these capabilities within other applications with just a few lines of code.

A WebRTC Primer
WebRTC (Web real-time communications) is an effort to create an open framework for embedding real-time communications capabilities into Web browsers. WebRTC allows HTML5 Web programmers, with no telecommunications skills and using simple Javascript APIs, to surface real-time audio and video functionality in Web servers and in browser-based applications running on computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones without the need for browser plugins or third-party applications.

Two standards bodies involved in creating the WebRTC standards include: the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). The W3C is tasked with creating the Web APIs used in WebRTC while the IETF focuses on the underlying communications and data transfer protocols. Together, both groups collaborate on WebRTC specifications.

Powered by a Triangular P2P Architecture
The WebRTC architecture involves Web servers and browser clients. The Web server "serves up" Web applications with embedded Javascript, and the browser clients (PCs, tablets, smartphones) run the Javascript application. Traditionally, Web browsers have communicated only with Web servers. What is unique about WebRTC is that the Web application can now enable peer-to-peer (P2P) communications between two browser clients (See Figure 1).

Figure 1. WebRTC's Triangle Architecture (Adapted from "WebRTC: APIs and RTCWeb Protocols of the HTML5 Real-Time Web", Johnson, Alan B. and Daniel C. Burnett, First Edition, September 2012, Digital Codex LLC)

While the control data flows between the browser client and the Web server, the audio and video streams flow directly between the browsers. Directly transmitting media between browsers is very useful because voice and video are very sensitive to network latency and jitter, and the direct transmission eliminates additional paths for traffic to travel, on which it could encounter additional impairments.

WebRTC enables point-to-point browser communications as well as multipoint communications sessions. In a multipoint session, each browser sends and receives audio, video and data streams to and from every other browser in the session in a fully meshed configuration (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. Fully Meshed Peer Connections in WebRTC Multi-Point Communications Sessions

Keep in mind, WebRTC will not scale particularly well in many-to-many situations due to the processing power and network bandwidth required for all of the individual peer-to-peer connections that must be established. Consequently, audio and video bridging infrastructure may be required for large meetings with numerous endpoints.

The good news is that the majority of multipoint audio or video meetings typically involve only three or four endpoints. But these have typically been room or group endpoints. WebRTC will enable individuals to meet in multipoint video conferences, and recent data indicates that the number of endpoints participating in such conferences is increasing because people no longer congregate in three to four conference rooms for video meetings.

 

WebRTC Requires Directory Services
One of the elements WebRTC does not supply is a directory service. A directory is necessary so that WebRTC users can find one another. This capability could be termed a "rendezvous service".

WebRTC directory services must be supplied by the application developer. In many cases, directory services will be provided by interfacing with a website's authentication mechanism or with an existing enterprise directory.

When a browser connects to a website, the application can ask the user for login credentials. As the user is authenticated, the Web server creates a directory that maps authenticated users to active Web browsing sessions. Directory information can then be pushed down to the browser interface, allowing people to communicate with one another.

An alternative scenario would be a customer service web site that interfaces to a contact center. In this scenario, the user browsing the web site does not authenticate; only the contact center agent requires authentication. The Web server can automatically create the linkage between the customer and a contact center agent through the contact center's routing software.

Directories can be simple or complex, but they will be required in order for users to establish communications sessions using WebRTC.

WebRTC Federates Using a Trapezoid Approach
Although WebRTC capabilities may soon be ubiquitous in the browsers most people use, the ability to reach out and connect to others who may not be connected to the same Web server is an essential capability. Consequently, Web servers running WebRTC may ultimately need to be able to federate with one another. Federating between WebRTC domains results in the trapezoid architecture (see Figure 3).

One of the issues Web developers must pay attention to is how the control data will be exchanged. WebRTC specifies the use of a protocol called Session Description Protocol (SDP) to exchange communications parameters, but it does not specify what those parameters are nor the format that should be used to establish and control the communications session. These details are left up to each individual WebRTC application developer. Thus, developers wishing to federate with other WebRTC domains will need to ensure that they use common session initiation and control mechanisms.

Figure 3. The WebRTC Trapezoid for Federation between Server Domains

WebRTC Voice and Video Protocols
The IETF has standardized on the wideband Opus and the narrowband G.711 codecs for audio in WebRTC. If Opus is used in a WebRTC application, then any interoperability with SIP or the PSTN would require a transcoding border element. If G.711 is used, then audio transcoding between WebRTC and SIP would not be required because almost all SIP systems have G.711 as an available codec .

Video in WebRTC is far from finalized. Google has been pushing the VP8 video codec, and it has spent at least $125 million to make it available royalty-free to any WebRTC implementation. However, most of the existing video infrastructure in the world does not use VP8. Existing infrastructure often supports H.264. Mobile devices also have H.264 capability embedded into their hardware chipsets. Consequently, H.264 is the codec preferred by many IETF members; however, it is not royalty-free.

There has been no vote on which video codecs would be mandatory to implement . Google has made VP8 available to developers, and WebRTC developers using Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox can have video interoperability today using VP8.

A straw poll taken at a recent IETF meeting showed 70 members could live with H.264 as a mandatory-to-implement codec. In the same meeting, 50 members could live with VP8 as a mandatory-to-implement codec (people could raise their hands more than once).

Some are suggesting that the WebRTC standard should push forward without specifying a mandatory video codec, leaving it up to the market to decide which, if any video codecs would be included. There are huge implications for both browser and hardware manufacturers, regardless of where this issue ultimately falls. Use of H.264 may not be such a huge licensing issue because most of the current browser and mobile device vendors have already paid the maximum licensing fee; the issue is that future codecs based on H.264 may have higher licensing costs, and choosing H.264 today as a mandatory codec may require much higher licensing fees in the future as H.265/HEVC become available.

Conclusion
WebRTC is already making headway into our everyday lives. Anyone running the latest version of Google Chrome has WebRTC capability already enabled. The automatic update for Mozilla Firefox (Firefox 22) will soon have WebRTC capabilities as well.

I am personally aware of over 70 companies that are either developing WebRTC browsers, toolkits, service platforms, or that have already created solutions in use by end users. New entrants are appearing nearly every week. WebRTC-based video bridging capability is already available in the services offered by VidTel and Blue Jeans Network. Expect to see WebRTC-enabled customer engagement solutions from some of the big contact center companies later this year and in early 2014.

WebRTC has the potential to turn the communications and collaboration industry on its head over the next few years. Executives and product managers would do well to learn what WebRTC is all about. It is important to understand not only what WebRTC can do for you, but it is equally important to understand what WebRTC may do to you.

This article is an excerpt from Dr. Kelly's recently published report titled, "Ten Things CIOs Should Know About WebRTC."

Future of Work Matrix Commerce New C-Suite Tech Optimization Innovation & Product-led Growth AI ML Machine Learning LLMs Agentic AI Generative AI Robotics Analytics Automation Cloud SaaS PaaS IaaS Quantum Computing Digital Transformation Disruptive Technology Enterprise IT Enterprise Acceleration Enterprise Software Next Gen Apps IoT Blockchain CRM ERP CCaaS UCaaS Collaboration Enterprise Service developer Metaverse VR Healthcare Supply Chain Leadership Chief Customer Officer Chief Executive Officer Chief People Officer Chief Information Officer Chief Technology Officer Chief Information Security Officer Chief Data Officer Chief Digital Officer Chief Analytics Officer Chief Operating Officer

Monday's Musings: Four Elements for A #SharingEconomy Biz Model In #MatrixCommerce

R "Ray" Wang

Principal Analyst and Founder
Constellation Research

R “Ray” Wang is the CEO of Silicon Valley-based Constellation Research Inc. He co-hosts DisrupTV, a weekly enterprise tech and leadership webcast that averages 50,000 views per episode and blogs at www.raywang.org. His ground-breaking best-selling book on digital transformation, Disrupting Digital Business, was published by Harvard Business Review Press in 2015. Ray's new book about Digital Giants and the future of business, titled, Everybody Wants to Rule The World was released in July 2021. Wang is well-quoted and frequently interviewed by media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, Fox Business, CNBC, Yahoo Finance, Cheddar, and Bloomberg. Short Bio R “Ray” Wang (pronounced WAHNG) is the Founder, Chairman, and Principal Analyst of Silicon Valley-based Constellation Research Inc. He…...

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Hard Times And Good Will Drive The Disownership Movement

From car sharing in the late 1990?s, to vacation rentals, to collaborative financing, the sharing economy has been inching it’s way into the forefront of the consumer’s minds.  Since the late 2000?s, thought leaders such as Rachel Botsman, Lisa Gansky, Anne-Sophie Novel, have been chronicling the forces, underlying trends, and players behind the movement. During the past five years, several poster children have emerged including AirBnB, DogVacay, Fon, GetAround, LendingClub, Liquid (Spin Lister), Lyft, Neighborgoods, Poshmark, Relay Rides,  SideCar, Task Rabbit, Zaarly, and ZipCar.

Also known as collaborative consumption, an April 2013 study by SunRunHomes, a solar leasing company, and Harris Interactive shows that more than half (52%) of a 2252 surveyed group of Americans, have rented, leased, or borrowed traditionally owned items in the last two years.   These items include cars, white good appliances, vacation homes, heavy tools, house hold tools, solar panels, books/textbooks, and children’s apparel (see Figure 1).  The survey reveals a uniform view that cuts across age groups and coastal biases.  In fact, the top reasons people rent, lease, or borrow traditionally owned items were saving money (53%) and cutting down on maintenance and/or storage (39%).

Figure 1. Disownership Is Now The New Normal

Source: SunRunHomes and Harris Interactive Study

Future Matrix Commerce Models Must Account For New Mega Trends Such As The Sharing Economy

Matrix Commerce analyzes the disruptive pressures influencing the commerce paradigm. Commerce faces rapidly changing business models, societal norms, and new payment options that are often misunderstood and poorly integrated.   Matrix commerce (TM) means the fusing of demand signals and supply chains in an increasingly complex world of buyers seeking frictionless buying experiences.  Friction in this new world originates from new regulatory requirements such as sustainability, taxation, and privacy.  As the world revolves around the buyer, channels, demand signals, supply chains, payment options, enablers, and big data will converge to create what Constellation coined in 2011 as Matrix Commerce.  Matrix Commerce spans across disciplines as people, process, and technologies continue to transform today’s commerce models.

The mega trend shift for certain market segments to a sharing economy and collaborative consumption will transform many existing business models in the same way the internet and mobility transformed the bricks and mortar world of retail and services.  In accounting for buyer centric behavior, organizations must factor in how these trends impact business models in existing customer segments.

The Bottom Line: Four Elements Required For A Successful Business Model

Preliminary Constellation Research studies identify four key elements required to create a sustainable business model around the sharing economy:

1. Identification of underutilized assets. High value, high capital but underutilized personal assets provide prime opportunities.  Common examples include homes, heavy equipment, motor vehicles, furniture, and solar panels.  Assets utilized for fleeting life events or temporary usage also provide opportunities.  Children’s goods, wedding apparel, and roaming wifi top the lists.
2. Optimization of value through renting, leasing, or borrowing. The sum of the parts will yield much greater value than the whole.  As with fractional ownership of jets, condos, and medical equipment, the goal is to maximize profits and revenues by selling slices of usage.
3. Trading on good will and generosity of others. Social good provides a driving market force.  Economic hardship has created opportunities where individuals wish to share or monetize excess capacity.  In the case of auto, sharing reduces carbon emissions, provides car pool lane access, and reduces commuting costs.  For vacation properties owners pay for their mortgage while leasing out excess capacity. 
4. Building a big data treasure trove for the reputation economy. Trust is the social currency. Transparency is the holy grail.  Data on participants in the sharing economy will emerge as the new credit score in this reputation economy.  Third party data aggregators will pay for this information.  Trust Cloud and Trust You are already jockeying to provide reputation as a service.

In the classic B2B world, cloud computing, equipment leasing, air craft financing, and medical device leasing have already pioneered these business models.
Your POV

Are you ready to support a sharing economy? Will collaborative consumption optimize your profits?  Is this trend just relegated to hipsters in metropolitan markets?   Add your comments to the blog or send us a comment at R (at) SoftwareInsider (dot) org or R (at) ConstellationRG (dot) com

Related Resources

• Tuesday’s Tip: Why Context Matters – Forget Real-Time, Achieve Right-Time
• Monday’s Musings: Balancing The Six S’s In Consumerization Of IT
• Monday’s Musings: A Working Vendor Landscape For Social Business
• Research Report: The Upcoming Battle For The Largest Share Of The Technology Budget Part 1
• Research Report: How The Five Pillars Of Consumer Tech Influence Enterprise Innovation
• Best Practices: Five Simple Rules For Social Business

Reprints

Reprints can be purchased through Constellation Research, Inc. To request official reprints in PDF format, please contact Sales .

Disclosure

Although we work closely with many mega software vendors, we want you to trust us. For the full disclosure policy, stay tuned for the full client list on the Constellation Research website.

* Not responsible for any factual errors or omissions.  However, happy to correct any errors upon email receipt.

Copyright © 2001 -2013 R Wang and Insider Associates, LLC All rights reserved.
Contact the Sales team to purchase this report on a a la carte basis or join the Constellation Customer Experience!

 

Marketing Transformation Matrix Commerce Next-Generation Customer Experience Revenue & Growth Effectiveness Data to Decisions Future of Work Innovation & Product-led Growth New C-Suite Tech Optimization SoftwareInsider AI ML Machine Learning Generative AI Analytics Automation B2B B2C CX EX Employee Experience business Marketing SaaS PaaS Growth Cloud Digital Transformation eCommerce Enterprise Software CRM ERP Leadership Social Customer Service Content Management Collaboration LLMs Agentic AI Robotics IaaS Quantum Computing Disruptive Technology Enterprise IT Enterprise Acceleration Next Gen Apps IoT Blockchain CCaaS UCaaS Enterprise Service developer Metaverse VR Healthcare Supply Chain Chief Customer Officer Chief Information Officer Chief Marketing Officer Chief Executive Officer Chief Technology Officer Chief Data Officer Chief Digital Officer Chief Analytics Officer Chief Financial Officer Chief Operating Officer Chief Revenue Officer Chief Information Security Officer Chief People Officer Chief Human Resources Officer Chief Experience Officer

A Date with Lindsay Lohan. Or How Celebrity Adds Punch to Your Brand

Gavin Heaton

Founder
Disruptors Co

Gavin is the Founder of Disruptors Co, one of Australia’s leading independent strategy and innovation companies. Gavin advises firms on strategy, marketing, product development and innovation. He is also a member of the Orbits program, the influencer network of award winning analyst and advisory firm, Constellation Research. Gavin advises boards and leadership on innovation strategy, marketing, data-driven product development and corporate venturing. Gavin is on the board of Vibewire, a youth-led social enterprise based in Sydney, Australia and on the Technology Advisory Group for Good2Give – the workplace giving platform. ...

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1

If there is one thing I love, its when people are publicly honest. Or self-deprecatingly honest. Or self-deprecatingly honest in public. But I love this even more when the person at the centre of the confession is famous. Or hyper-famous, like Lindsay Lohan.

So, imagine that you are the brand manager for eHarmony, the dating site, and you notice that your social media mentions are going through the roof. What could it be? A crisis? A catastrophe? Another cat picture?

Maybe it’s a parody by Funny or Die. Featuring Lindsay Lohan.

Marketing Transformation Chief Marketing Officer

SuccessConnect – Where Talent and Social Collide at the SuccessFactors Conference

Gavin Heaton

Founder
Disruptors Co

Gavin is the Founder of Disruptors Co, one of Australia’s leading independent strategy and innovation companies. Gavin advises firms on strategy, marketing, product development and innovation. He is also a member of the Orbits program, the influencer network of award winning analyst and advisory firm, Constellation Research. Gavin advises boards and leadership on innovation strategy, marketing, data-driven product development and corporate venturing. Gavin is on the board of Vibewire, a youth-led social enterprise based in Sydney, Australia and on the Technology Advisory Group for Good2Give – the workplace giving platform. ...

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1

Marketing Transformation Future of Work Next-Generation Customer Experience Chief Customer Officer Chief Information Officer Chief Marketing Officer

Passwords – One for the Money, Two for the Show

Gavin Heaton

Founder
Disruptors Co

Gavin is the Founder of Disruptors Co, one of Australia’s leading independent strategy and innovation companies. Gavin advises firms on strategy, marketing, product development and innovation. He is also a member of the Orbits program, the influencer network of award winning analyst and advisory firm, Constellation Research. Gavin advises boards and leadership on innovation strategy, marketing, data-driven product development and corporate venturing. Gavin is on the board of Vibewire, a youth-led social enterprise based in Sydney, Australia and on the Technology Advisory Group for Good2Give – the workplace giving platform. ...

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1

I am always going to love an Elvis quote. We don’t see enough of it in the world of business. And we should. After all, he was “The King”.

So this quick guide to unhackable passwords from McAfee and Intel caught my attention straight away.

The guide points out that you need multiple passwords:

• One password for banking
• A different password for email
• Another password for social media

Unfortunately, we all have more than three needs, right?  So one idea is to add the account information into your password:

• Facebook: your Facebook password can become my_facebook_password
• Twitter: your Twitter password can become my_twitter_password

Or variations on that theme.

HT Lindy Asimus’ pinterest collection.

Marketing Transformation Next-Generation Customer Experience Chief Customer Officer Chief Information Officer Chief Marketing Officer

Ten Things CIOs Need to Know About WebRTC webinar wrapup

Today we presented the webinar "Ten Things CIOs NEED to Know About WebRTC". Here are a few highlights from the event:

WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communications) is a technology that enables point-to-point or multipoint voice, video, and data communications without plugins.

• WebRTC is the next disruption
• WebRTC is native and built into web browsers. Currently being developed by Google, Mozilla, Opera, and a handfull of other communications companies. 
• Voice, video, and data become part of the fabric of the internet; no longer a plugin or application. This technology will be embedded in everything we do on the internet.
• WebRTC is enabled through JavaScript programming 
• WebRTC will be compatible across browsers. 
• WebRTC makes voice, video, and data ubiquitious across the devices we use
• Think of WebRTC as an enabler--like HTML; not a market

WebRTC creates opportunities

• Customer service
• Training
• Conferencing/collaboration
• Maintenance, break/fix services
• Gaming
• more...

Watch the webinar 

Download the deck

Contact Dr. E. Brent Kelly

• Email: Brent[at]ConstellationR[dot]com
• Twitter: @ebkell
   

Constellation Research has published a report about the coming WebRTC revolution, "Ten Things CIOs Should Know About WebRTC". 
Included in this report:

1. Where's the money for me in WebRTC?
2. How WebRTC will disrupt the current communications industry
3. The timing of the WebRTC standard
4. The islands WebRTC will create (for better or for worse)
5. Why offerings like Skype may not go away
6. Why Microsoft opposes WebRTC as it's presently constituted
7. How WebRTC will play into the world of mobile devices including smartphones and tablets
8. Why WebRTC may not disrupt all complex collaboration, only most of it
9. The millions of interfaces that will emerge to invoke WebRTC capabilities
10. Identifying and classifying the WebRTC players
11. Eight recommendations organizations can take now to prepare for WebRTC's disruptive capabilities

Future of Work New C-Suite Next-Generation Customer Experience Tech Optimization Innovation & Product-led Growth AI ML Machine Learning LLMs Agentic AI Generative AI Robotics Analytics Automation Cloud SaaS PaaS IaaS Quantum Computing Digital Transformation Disruptive Technology Enterprise IT Enterprise Acceleration Enterprise Software Next Gen Apps IoT Blockchain CRM ERP CCaaS UCaaS Collaboration Enterprise Service developer Metaverse VR Healthcare Supply Chain Leadership Chief Customer Officer Chief Executive Officer Chief Financial Officer Chief People Officer Chief Information Officer Chief Marketing Officer Chief Technology Officer Chief Information Security Officer Chief Data Officer Chief Digital Officer Chief Analytics Officer Chief Operating Officer

Forget your raison d’être. What’s your raison pour le faire?

Gavin Heaton

Founder
Disruptors Co

Gavin is the Founder of Disruptors Co, one of Australia’s leading independent strategy and innovation companies. Gavin advises firms on strategy, marketing, product development and innovation. He is also a member of the Orbits program, the influencer network of award winning analyst and advisory firm, Constellation Research. Gavin advises boards and leadership on innovation strategy, marketing, data-driven product development and corporate venturing. Gavin is on the board of Vibewire, a youth-led social enterprise based in Sydney, Australia and on the Technology Advisory Group for Good2Give – the workplace giving platform. ...

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I am a fan of deep thinking. Really I am. And I am a fan of long copy advertising. Documentaries. And books. Those old fashioned paper products that immerse you in other worlds. I love them and collect them and will continue to do so.

Each of these sing to my soul. They ground me in a way that other things cannot. And they tap into my sense of self. My sense of purpose. My reason for being.

But while I love ideas and the way that they can inspire others, what happens when the energy of that moment wanes? What happens when the talk stops and you find yourself alone and unguarded. What then?

That’s when your reason for doing takes over.

Where the raison d’être – your reason for being – speaks of life, raison pour le faire- your reason for doing – speaks of action.

On the one hand you have thought. On the other hand, life.

We seem to have plenty of ideas, thought and inspiration. They abound in life, art and work. We attend conferences devoted to them.

But inspiration doesn’t create change. That’s hard work beyond the realm of ideas. It’s the realm of life. And you can only change life through doing.

So stop reading.

 - = Duke One = - via Compfight

Marketing Transformation Future of Work Chief Customer Officer Chief Marketing Officer

Comparing the Various Flickr Account Types

Alan Lepofsky

Vice President & Principal Analyst
Constellation Research

Alan Lepofsky - VP and Principal Analyst, Constellation Research. With almost two decades of experience in the collaboration software industry, Lepofsky helps organizations improve the way their employees work together to get their jobs done. Lepofsky’s primary research area The Future of Work, focuses on: integrating collaboration and business processes (Purposeful Collaboration), structuring work via Social Task Management, leveraging analytics and digital assistants to work more productively, the strategic impact of mobile computing on business transformation, and measuring workforce culture based on Digital Proficiency instead of age. Twitter: @alanlepoLinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/alanlepo     , Title: Big IdeasIntelligent Collaboration: The Intersection of…...

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On May 20th Flickr announced their new design as well as new account plans and storage options. As a long time Flickr Pro user, there are a few things I wanted to understand before making a decision about how I'll use Flickr in the future. Since I was finding it difficult to understand the changes, I created the following spreadsheet and asked the world to help me fill it in. (go crowd-sourcing!)
 
I had always used a Pro account because of the need for more than 300MB of storage, but now with a 1 TB available in the free account I (along with almost everyone I've heard from) will most likely switch to the new free account. Yes, there will be ads, but I live with them in Gmail, Facebook and other free services. What I don't like is that it appears the detailed analytics will be going away. I enjoyed being able to see which of my photos, sets and collections were being viewed, liked and commented on.

I am sure Flickr has been feeling the heat from competitors like 500px, Facebook/Instagram and Google+ Photos (Picasa) so I assume we'll see tight integration between Flickr and Yahoo's recently acquired Tumblr as an attempt to increase usage of Flickr.

Hint: scroll around the table, it is not all displayed in the initial view. If you'd like to edit the chart click here.

New C-Suite Future of Work Chief Customer Officer Chief Marketing Officer

NetSuite Manufacturing Moves on Down the Highway

President, Computer Economics and Strativa, Inc.
Computer Economics and Strativa, Inc.

Frank Scavo is skilled at formulating and communicating IT strategy, developing the business case for new systems, and facilitating the selection of enterprise systems, such as ERP, CRM, and supply chain management. He is also an expert in benchmarking IT spending and staffing levels for end-user IT organizations. Frank was one of the first tech bloggers, beginning in 2002 with his launch of the Enterprise System Spectator providing independent analysis of issues and trends in enterprise applications software and the strengths, weaknesses, advantages, and disadvantages of the vendors that provide them. Frank has been quoted as an IT expert in numerous business and industry publications such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Computerworld, CIO Magazine, ZDnet, eWeek, Datamation,…...

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NetSuite held its annual user conference, Suiteworld, last week, and in his day one keynote, CEO Zach Nelson highlighted "NetSuite for Manufacturing."

I wrote about NetSuite's manufacturing functionality last year in my post, NetSuite Manufacturing: Right Direction, Long Road Ahead. Returning to this subject one year later, it is encouraging to see the progress that NetSuite has made. At the same time, there will be twists and turns that NetSuite will face in continuing down this highway.

If NetSuite is going to continue its growth, reported at 28% last year in its core business, it really has no choice but to pursue manufacturing customers. Manufacturers are the largest market for ERP systems and therefore an attractive target for NetSuite's development efforts. Although manufacturers have been slower to embrace cloud computing than many other sectors have, the situation is rapidly changing. In our ERP vendor selection services at Strativa, we find manufacturing companies increasingly open to cloud ERP. Sometimes, in fact, they only want to look at cloud solutions. In other words, NetSuite is at the right place at the right time.

Balancing New Functionality with Need for Simplicity

To more fully address the needs of manufacturing, NetSuite continues to build out its core functionality, with basic must-have features such as available to promise (ATP) calculations, routings, production orders, and standard costing. In some of the breakout sessions, there were indications of that NetSuite is also exploring functionality that goes well beyond the basics: for example, supply chain management (SCM) and demand-driven MRP (DDMRP).

This leads to the first twist and turn that NetSuite will need to navigate: filling out gaps in manufacturing functionality while not over-engineering the system. Oracle and SAP are famous for having manufacturing systems that are feature-rich, requiring significant time and effort from new customers to decide which features to configure and to implement them. Part of the attraction of NetSuite is its relative simplicity and ease of implementation. If NetSuite wants to remain an attractive option for the likes of small and midsize manufacturers, or small divisions of large companies, it will be wise to pick and choose where to build out the the sophistication of the product.

For example, the availability of multi-books accounting (which I discuss briefly in the video at the top of this post) is a good move, as it has widespread applicability to both small and large companies in the manufacturing industries as well as other sectors. But does DDMRP fall into the same category? Moreover, how much SCM functionality do prospects expect from NetSuite, and where does it make sense to partner with best-of-breed specialists, who can better bridge a variety of SCM data sources?

Netsuite's recent success with manufacturers such as Qualcomm, Memjet (discussed later in this post), and others give it real-world customers to validate its product roadmap. It will do well to prioritize new development efforts to the areas where those customers deem most needed. NetSuite may choose, ultimately, to fully move up-market, to become the manufacturing cloud equivalent of SAP or Oracle. But if it does so, there are already a number of other cloud ERP providers, such as Plex, Rootstock, Kenandy, Acumatica, and Keyed-In Solutions, that will be ready to take NetSuite's place serving small and midsize manufacturers.

NetSuite's PLM/PDM Strategy Needs Openness

NetSuite also announced a new alliance with Autodesk to integrate its PLM 360 offering for product lifecycle management with NetSuite's ERP.

By way of background, PLM systems manage the entire life-cycle of product development, from ideation and requirements gathering, through design and development, to release to manufacturing, service, engineering change, and retirement. PLM systems take an engineering view of the product and are generally under the domain of the client's product engineering function. PLM systems generally include product data management (PDM) systems as a subset, to manage all of the product data, such as drawings, specifications, and documentation, which form the definitions of the company's products.

Over the past 20+ years, the integration of PLM and PDM systems with ERP has been a difficult subject. In organizations where engineering and manufacturing work well together, basic roles and responsibilities can be defined and proper integration of data can be accomplished. In organizations where such cross-functional processes are weak, PLM/PDM and ERP often form separate silos.

Autodesk's PLM 360 shows very well, and the story about its cloud deployment matches well with NetSuite. However, it is my observation that the majority of manufacturers would do well simply to establish simple integration between their engineering bills of material (within their PLM/PDM systems) and their manufacturing bills of material (within their ERP systems). Making engineering documentation within the PLM/PDM system available to manufacturing ERP users is also highly desired. Furthermore, there are few engineering organizations that have not already standardized on a PLM/PDM system (e.g PTC's Windchill, Solidworks, and others), and they will seldom be willing to migrate to Autodesk just because the company is implementing NetSuite's ERP.

This is another turn of the highway that NetSuite must navigate: will it offer standard integration to a variety of PLM/PDM systems, or will its answer to engineering integration be, "Go with Autodesk?" I do not believe that an Autodesk-only, or even an Autodesk-preferred, strategy is the best.

Case Studies Encouraging

To validate its progress in the manufacturing sector, NetSuite reported on several case studies.

• At the large end of the spectrum there was Qualcomm, the $19 billion manufacturer of semiconductors and other communications products. Although Qualcomm has Oracle E-Business Suite running throughout much of its operations worldwide, in 2011 CIO Norm Fjeldheim chose NetSuite for use in smaller divisions, based on the need for implementation speed and agility. As part of that strategy, Qualcomm  has now gone live with NetSuite in a newly launched division in Mexico. This is a nice "existence proof" for a two-tier ERP strategy in a very large company.

• At the smaller end of the spectrum there was Memjet, a manufacturer if high-speed color printer engines. Martin Hambalek, the IT director at Memjet, did a short on-stage interview during Nelson's day one keynote. Although the company has just 350 employees, it has engineering and manufacturing operations in five countries. Unlike Qualcomm, Memjet runs NetSuite as its only ERP system worldwide, showing NetSuite's capabilities for multinational businesses. Notably, Memjet is also a customer of Autodesk for its PLM 360 system, mentioned earlier. In my one-on-one interview with Hambalek later during the conference, I learned that he is the only full-time IT employee at Memjet: evidence that a full or largely cloud-based IT infrastructure requires many fewer IT resources to maintain.

Customer stories are the best way to communicate success, and these two NetSuite customers substantiate NetSuite's progress.

Rethinking the Services and Support Strategy

As much as ERP functionality is important to manufacturers, there is another element of success that is even more important: the quality of a vendor's services and support. It struck me during the keynotes that, apart from an announcement of Capgemini as a new partner, there were no announcements about NetSuite's professional services. 

More ERP implementations fail due to problems with implementation services than because of gaps in functionality. Functional gaps can be identified during the selection process: but problems with the vendor's implementation services are more difficult to discern before the deal is signed. Furthermore, functional gaps can often be remedied through procedural workarounds. But once the implementation is underway, failures in implementation services are difficult to remedy. Sometimes, such failures wind up in litigation.

In this regard, NetSuite's rapid growth has a downside: it stretches and strains the ability of NetSuite's professional services group to spend adequate time and attention on its customers' implementation success. In advising prospective ERP buyers, I have much more concern about what their implementation experience will be than I do about any potential gaps in NetSuite functionality.

One solution is to build a strong partner channel of VARs, resellers, and implementation service providers to complement or even take over responsibility for post-sales service and support.

During the analyst press conference, I asked Zach Nelson about this point. NetSuite is building its partner channel, but how does it decide what work should go to its implementation partners and what part should be retained for NetSuite's own professional services group?  Nelson's answer reflected a traditional view, that whoever brings the sales lead to NetSuite should get the services. In other words, if a lead comes through NetSuite's own sales team, NetSuite should get the services work. If the lead comes through a partner, the partner should get the services.

As an advisor to prospective buyers, my own view is that NetSuite should rethink this strategy. The party that happens to find the prospect may not be the best party to deliver the services. In fact, NetSuite may be better served by passing off implementation services to local partners that are willing to spend more time with the customer on-site than NetSuite's own professional services group may be able to provide.

At the end of his answer, Nelson indicated that he would actually prefer that NetSuite not be in the professional services business. If so, this is good news. Let NetSuite focus on developing and delivering cloud ERP, and let a well-developed partner channel compete to provide hands-on implementation services. What professional services NetSuite does provide would be better focused on providing support to those partners. 

Just before leaving the conference, I gave Dennis Howlett my initial thoughts in this video interview on NetSuite Manufacturing and multi-book accounting.

Disclosure: NetSuite paid my travel expenses to attend its user conference. They also gave me a swag bag.

Related Posts

NetSuite Manufacturing: Right Direction, Long Road Ahead.

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