[cfaussie] Re: CF vs ...

Tue, 08 Aug 2006 16:18:25 -0700

Probably because someone like Darren sold them on it?
 
I get pitches thrown at me weekly from some xyz supplier touting xyz technology and i always seem to stop them in their tracks by asking the following:
 
What are you trying to do? change my business process or implement software?
 
If you combine for example Coldfusion + FLEX 2 + Flex Builder, all know how easy it is to have a top-down RIA solution in a matter of minutes. The reason you all know, is because someone beside you told you so or you saw the presentations on it online/WebDU etc. You were informed because it was preaching to the choir.
 
Take that exact same concept and now apply it to a seasoned .NET house and convince them of the power. If you succeed, you're quite the salesperson.
 
Microsoft.NET has large marketing budgets, which strategically focus on the middle management tier, to sell them on _level0 concepts about the .NET eco-system. They see it and immediately relate to it, as typically most .NET applications (client-side) look and feel like the Outlook client they are used to or a typical windows application.
 
ASP, CFM + ASP appear as hygiene - some wouldn't even know the separation of what the difference between HTML and Server-side is? they see a web page and that's enough.
 
So, sell to the developers then? Yet (look above) the only reason you have another developers attention is simply because they have a yearning to move onto the next step in their career or they heard from a friend that "FLASH/FLEX/CF/APOLLO" is awesome. Word of mouth sells software, not RAD thorium's. The RAD approach simply is the final nail in convincing someone who's on the fence, but I dare say that it would be a small % of cases where a company switches direction based on a comparison matrix done between CF + other?
 
At QR, we have a centralised approach to a decentralised problem. Discussions about which technology to adopt is futile effort, simply put "who gives a rats whats ticking underneath.." A lot of the time we are blindsided by adopting a technology we probably shouldn't have, and as a result we hit the panic buttons, outsource and look for someone to draw from this legacy and create a different perspective for end-users to use. I've lost count of the number of seeds I've planted around the place (from the Chief level down to the coalface) on the power of Adobe. It goes un-noticed, probably because I suck at selling but more so because I'm not solving an immediate need. All i am telling them is there is a different flavour to the problem they are having, it may be faster to fix but in the end the problem doesn't go away.
 
Robin touted sell CF Solutions to the business, which is true (ahh I'm agreeing with Robin hehe). If you were to walk up to me tomorrow and say "Scott, I have a CRM solution that will allow you to get an insight into both your customers and their habits amongst your various sales channels" the first question i'd ask (and I would) "How much an when". Once you've answered those two questions and you succeed in getting my interest, i'll then defer you to the IT Dept for further pre-sale checks. In the event they flag you down with "can't be done, we luv ASP and this is built in CF so it goes against our grain" - my response:
 
"..I don't care, that's your problem, I'm running a business here, so here's what we are going to do. You're now going to go find me an alternative to the problem this company can solve in ASP. You have until Friday next week to come back with at least 1. If you can't, then get on board the CF train and lets keep moving.."
 
 
 


 
On 8/9/06, Barry Beattie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

y'know I worked there for nearly two years and still don't know why
Alphabus chose CF.

by rights they wouldn't have known what it meant, esp since it was CF5
at the time. their expertise was in a propriatary 4GL language for
desktop-based client/server apps.

I wonder what part of CF sold them? why not PHP? ASP (classic)? was it
the RAD? was it the Macromedia parentage and aligning with their
"Vision"?

Darren, Gareth, Ben, Barnsey... any of you guys know?



On 8/9/06, Charlie Arehart <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
>
> That's a GREAT takeaway--and indeed mantra--for us, Robin:
>
>
>
>     Don't try to sell the CF Platform to business.  Sell CF Solutions to
> business.
>
>
>
> /charlie
> http://www.carehart.org/blog/
>
>
>  ________________________________
>  From: cfaussie@googlegroups.com [mailto:cfaussie@googlegroups.com] On
> Behalf Of Robin Hilliard
> Sent: Tuesday, August 08, 2006 9:20 AM
>
> To: cfaussie@googlegroups.com
> Subject: [cfaussie] Re: CF vs ...
>
>
>
> On 08/08/2006, at 10:30 PM, Scott Barnes wrote:
>
> Robin,
>
> You assume there is rational conversations taking place at the management
> level along with Cost benefit realisation? Who here actively has had
> conversations about the two with management?
>
> Well, that was actually my job for a while, and it seemed to work (Telstra
> for example). Most of the stuff at that level is still FUD, and plenty of
> Microsoft partners (e.g. Accenture in Canberra) have a full time occupation
> sowing it - they want to sell their services just as much as we do, and
> they're very good at it.  But once you cut through the FUD people are pretty
> receptive to the CF RAD message.
>
>
> Actually I'm really just banging the same old drum about selling business
> solutions instead of technologies.  If what you sell is a person who can
> code in CF, you're not really talking to management at a level that they can
> connect with - much as I wouldn't connect with a plumber who sold themselves
> as a specialist fusion welder (Hmm, the other plumber told me that ".TIG" is
> a better welding method, and he was going to do my office for me as well in
> a bundle) rather than someone who could stop my pipes leaking in 20 minutes
> for a hundred bucks.
>
>
> Don't try to sell the CF Platform to business.  Sell CF Solutions to
> business.
>
>
> Robin
>
>
>
>
> ______________
>
>
> Robin Hilliard
> Director - RocketBoots Pty Ltd
> Consulting . Software Licensing . Recruitment . Training
> http://www.rocketboots.com.au
>
>
> For schedule/availability call Pamela Higgins:
> w    +61 7 5451 0362
>
> m    +61 419 677 151
> f    +61 3 9923 6261
> e     [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
> or Direct:
> m    +61 418 414 341
> e    [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
>
>  *** Worldwide Adobe Licensing - Volume discounts now start at one point ***
>
>
>  >
>
>


--
Regards,
Scott Barnes
http://www.mossyblog.com
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