> Hi > Two potentially useful items: > 1 British Telecom has set up two really useful SME support web sites > and poured money into them (still do) to win a name for themselves as the > primary ebusiness enabler in the UK. The sites are www.btconnect.co.uk > and www.bt.com/getstarted - the first has heaps of resources for both > start-up and growth (look particularly at the excellent content under > personnel, legal, finance, export and startup). The second site is simpler > and geared for small business startups but also has good content - which > is as relevant to NZ as UK except the govt web contacts. > 2 Also a useful article from Marty Gruhn on the need for software > companies to up their game. It's a bit strategic but worth reading. � > 2001 TechRepublic, Inc. (if in a hurry jump to the red text) > ***************************************** > Recently, Novell <http://www.novell.com/> announced it would acquire > Cambridge Technology Partners <http://www.ctp.com/> in a stock deal valued > at $266 million. This is only the latest example of the way technology > companies and systems integrators are fusing to capitalize on growing > customer interest in complex e-business solutions. Consider these other > recent announcements: > * On January 29, Compaq Computer <http://www.compaq.com/> announced a > worldwide partnership with Cap Gemini Ernst & Young <http://www.cgey.com/> > to focus on customer relationship management (CRM) and Oracle-powered > e-procurement engagements. > * On January 31, Accenture <http://www.accenture.com/> announced its > partnership with SAP <http://www.sap.com/> to deliver mySAP.com solutions > in the oil, gas, and petrochemical industry. > * On February 13, KPMG Consulting <http://www.kpmg.com/index.asp> > partnered with Microsoft <http://www.microsoft.com/> and Manugistics Group > <http://www.manugistics.com/> to provide supply-chain solutions to Global > 2000 customers. > > Juxtapose these activities against Hewlett-Packard's <http://www.hp.com/> > (HP's) ill-fated bids in 2000 to buy Ernst & Young > <http://www.ey.com/global/gcr.nsf/international/international_home> and > PricewaterhouseCoopers <http://www.pricewaterhousecoopers.com/>, and it > becomes obvious that systems integrators are becoming the cornerstones of > a vendor's future success. > > Why? Because the heyday of selling general-purpose, horizontal e-business > applications is over. CIOs realize that successfully "e-enabling" their > corporations requires more than having the best technologies or the > fastest implementation times. It requires working with suppliers that have > a deep understanding of their specific business or industry-and can help > the customer reinvent its business processes to capitalize on the digital > economy. > > Vendors in this new era, therefore, must quickly deal with realities that > weren't part of the Internet equation last year. At minimum, these > realities are: > * The customer's culture will kill you. Offering great technologies is > table stakes for vendors. The real challenge lies in helping customers > change their organizational and business processes to capitalize on the > opportunities great technologies bring. This means that vendors must > expand their professional-services offerings to help customers strategize, > architect, and then manage organizational change. Changing the customers' > culture will be the key to vendor success in the future. > * The 80/20 rule doesn't work. Vendors have been selling their > products on the theory that one size will fit all for 80 percent of the > time and that they can fake the other 20 percent. Today, customers not > only realize that this is not true, they know it's a recipe for costly > systems-integration bills and dubious long-term success. Vendors must move > from selling horizontal applications to crafting industry-specific-and, in > some cases, segment-specific-solutions. This will require vendors, Web > integrators, and systems integrators to laser-focus on specific > industries, rely less on front-end and Web-development skills, and develop > the skills required to integrate back-end systems that represent the key > to success. > * Baby steps pay off. Few organizations are ready or able to transform > their entire business processes in one fell swoop. Given tight budgets and > more scrutiny on the bottom line, customers realize they must solve > absorbable parts of their business problems and show a clear return on > investment (ROI)-not deploy large, complex projects with payoffs somewhere > out in the distant future. This means that vendors must move from focusing > on transforming complete business processes to delivering discrete > processes that can show a payoff-fast. > * KISS counts. Crafting an e-business solution is complex at best, and > integrating different technologies and inventing new business processes is > a messy business. Successful vendors will follow the KISS (keep it simple, > stupid) principle by offering prepackaged, preintegrated, and benchmarked > technology solutions that encourage fast deployment and ROI. > > So what is the good news in these new scenarios? Every segment of the > industry is mobilizing to adapt to these new realities, albeit in > different ways. Hardware vendors such as Compaq, HP, and IBM > <http://www.ibm.com/> are working overtime to buy, merge, or partner with > systems integrators. Microsoft is addressing these dynamics, at least in > part, through joint ventures such as Avanade > <http://www.avanade.com/global/ground.zero.asp> and Enfrastructure > <http://www.enfrastructure.com/www-home.swf>. > <<...>> > > > Some applications vendors have moved to fill in the gaps themselves. For > example, e-CRM vendors, such as Siebel Systems <http://www.siebel.com/> > and Onyx Software <http://www.onyx.com/default.asp?pular=vai>, are > offering management-consulting services to help customers map their > e-business strategies and change their corporate cultures. > > Meanwhile, Web integrators are mobilizing to become specialists. For > example, iXL <http://www.ixl.com/index.asp> has reorganized to focus on > the travel/transportation, retail, and financial-services verticals. > MarchFIRST has restructured around seven vertical markets to deliver its > services. IconMedialab International > <http://www.iconmedialab.com/default/home/index.asp> is focusing on e-CRM, > content management, and technical implementation. Razorfish > <http://www.razorfish.com/> is trying to change its reputation as a > front-end shop and is touting its roster of 700 back-end technologists. > > Big Five consultants are also moving swiftly to capitalize on this new > climate. Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, for example, intends to tackle the > complexity and time-to-market issues associated with creating B2B trading > exchanges by creating solutions based on prebuilt connectors for > applications, including those from Commerce One > <http://www.commerceone.com/>, Ariba <http://www.ariba.com/>, and Oracle > <http://www.oracle.com/>. Deloitte Consulting <http://www.dc.com/> is also > considering a similar offering, dubbed a preintegrated solution platform, > or PSP. Meanwhile, EDS <http://www.eds.com/>, IBM, and Accenture are > building out customer excellence centers across the United States to > advise customers about the organizational processes and issues that will > be keys to e-business success-and to demonstrate the technologies and > services they offer that can make e-business a reality for customers. > > Which brings me to the $64 billion question: Will this flurry of new > strategies, partnerships, and marriages result in net-new business for > these vendors this year? If Morgan Stanley Dean Witter's > <http://www.morganstanley.com/> recent interviews with Fortune 1000 CIOs > are any indication, it's a good news/bad news scenario. The good news is > that CIOs report that they will increase spending the most for e-commerce, > supply-chain, and application servers in 2001. The bad news is that > consulting tops the list of areas most likely to be cut, given a business > slowdown. > > So what will smart vendors do? Rather than tout their > management-consulting services as new, stand-alone offerings, they will > bundle these costs inside technology-based initiatives. And they will > focus on where the money is: supply chains and e-commerce. > Marty Gruhn is a vice president and practice director for Summit > Strategies. > What are your plans? > What does your e-commerce budget look like? Are consultants a part of it? > Take our quick survey > <http://www.techrepublic.com/popups/survey.jhtml?surveyid=sum63> and tell > us where your organization fits in the good news/bad news scenario > suggested in the article > --> via Canterbury Software email forum: Success through Connections Email your messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Searchable list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] Leave or rejoin the list: http://canterburysoftware.org.nz/forum.htm
