In an earlier post I highlighted Geoffrey A. Moore’s book “Dealing with Darwin”. I’ve added two resources to my links in the right column - Geoff’s blog on the book and site explaining the book. It is a call to action for technology companies on how to handle the effects of globalisation and the current technology disruptions. He says:
“In business in particular, the competition for scarce resources creates a natural selection based on strategy and execution. When business environments change, previously successful strategies fall out of favour, something no amount of execution focus can fix, forcing evolution. Companies that are unable or unwilling to change, like endangered species, become marginalized or extinct.”
Elsewhere, Dennis Howlett has been posing questions about the Living Dead. Those companies, like Sage, who don’t appear to be evolving to tackle the new technology landscape. Dennis has some positive things to say about how SAP have handled themselves over the years to remain successful. I see that one of the endorsements of the book is from them:
“Globalization is driving everyone to rethink their innovation strategies, and that not only includes SAP but most of our customers as well. For some time we have been using the models and vocabulary outlined in this book to help chart our own future and to better understand our customers’ changing needs. Geoff’s experience and insight have made him a valued advisor during a time of critical transition in our industry.” - Henning Kagerman, CEO, SAP
In my case the focus is the Software as a Service based solutions we sell versus traditional, on-premise software. I was talking to a reseller/accounting practice of one of my competitors only yesterday on this. We both believe that the switch from traditional software will increase rapidly during 2006, and that there is plenty of opportunity for both of us, so we shouldn’t be frightened by each other as competition. However, I’m reading Geoff’s book and learning some interesting lessons about how we should be applying our innovation and differentiating ourselves. I’d urge you to take a good look.
Technorati Tags : Moore, TCG, strategy, globalisation, SaaS, Darwin, SAP, Sage, AccManPro
