Book Review: Open Leadership

30 08 2010

Having seen trends come and go over the years I tend to be deeply (and for good reason) suspicious of marketing hyperbole.  That’s why I really liked the book “Groundswell” by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff.  It was a lucid, practical, and level-headed approach to the coming groundswell of Social Media.

This past weekend, I finished reading Charlene Li’s most recent book, “Open Leadership” and it picks up right where Groundswell left off.  This book takes a deeper, more pragmatic, look at how to build and implement a Social Media strategy.  The key points of the book are all illustrated with real-life examples of major organizations that have gone through the process.

Many social media spokespeople are saying: be open, be transparent, be authentic.  That’s a great mantra and a great beginning. But there is a lot more to a successful social media strategy.  Exactly how does one actually go about implementing a social media strategy, especially in established enterprises that may not have the open culture required?  The devil is always in the details and there is often a lot of organizational resistance to suddenly going open:

  • Employees don’t know what to say or how to act online.
  • “That’s not the way it’s done here!”
  • Opening up is often threatening to middle managers who survive by controlling information.
  • Opening up exposes the company and individuals to criticism from outside

We all want feedback from our customers, but going open and embracing social media can be very scary.  Open Leadership goes into the how of successfully using social media in an enterprise; from giving up control, to building an open strategy, to providing the leadership required for your enterprise to successfully make the transition.

Let’s face it.  Social media is a social phenomenon that is happening in a much broader scale than just in the business world. And, there is no stopping a social phenomenon.  The only real choices are to get on board and figure out how to ride the phenomena or to get run over by it.  Social media is going to happen with or without your company’s involvement.  The question is: Do you want your customers and competitors to frame the online discussion without your presence or do you want to join in on the discussion and build lasting relationships with your customers and potential customers.

This book tells you how to go about it, step-by-step.  Highly recommended.


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Categories : Book Review, Inbound Marketing, Marketing Plan, Social Media, Social Media Marketing

Cloud Computing Software: Value Propositions & Issues

6 08 2010

There is a lot of discussion about software applications that run as a service in the cloud (SaaS) and a lot of effort being put into defining clear value propositions that will motivate customers to move some or all of their internal IT software services to the cloud.  Some example of cloud software service providers include NetSuite, Salesforce.com, Intuit, and SugarCRM.

First, here are some of the compelling business reasons to adopt software services that run in the cloud:

  • No Software (as Salesforce.com says).  Literally, there is no software to install, upgrade or maintain.  It’s all in the cloud, managed by the vendor, and customers access it through a browser.
  • Time savings. Less time spent on IT means more time doing what is core to your business; generating revenue and creating satisfied customers.
  • Anywhere Access.  Most SaaS software these days runs in a browser.  This means that your applications can be accessed anywhere you have a browser, including on your smartphone or at a customer site.
  • Software Updates Don’t Break Your Applications. The vendor has the responsibility to see that the software evolves in a way that does not disrupt business activity.  A nice change.
  • Less Data Integration. Most cloud applications have a common data repository at least within a vendor’s offerings. That means that multiple applications can use the same shared data, breaking up the silos of productivity normally found in backoffice applications.  Of course, the problems remain when doing business or data integration across different vendor’s offerings.
  • Opex, Not Capex. Cloud services are typically billed as a monthly charge that is very predictable for budgeting purposes and can be written off as a business expense.  Purchasing software, installing it on a server and operating it results in significant capital expenses that must be managed and depreciated over time.
  • Lower Up-Front Cost. Typically, cloud applications are offered on a pay for use basis.  With packaged software you pay up front and may go through a substantial development and deployment cycle before you are able to use the application.
  • Predictability. Cloud services are offered for a monthly or per-user charge that is easy to budget for.  There is much less chance of a surprise.

All of these are very compelling business benefits and are generating a lot of interest in the cloud model.  There are also some issues and concerns that need to be considered when moving to the cloud.  The more successful cloud computing vendors will have strong, documented answers to these issues.

Cloud Computing Software Application Issues

  • Data Security.  With cloud computing your data is in the cloud and managed by your cloud vendor.  The question is: Do you trust this vendor with the literal lifeblood of your business? What safeguards and backup procedures do they have to protect your business data?
  • Access Security.  One of the advantages of cloud computing is that you can access your applications anywhere.  The issue is: How secure is the access to your applications and data?  What security measures (Authentication, Access Control, Intrusion Detection) does your vendor offer?
  • Quality of Service: What is the uptime, response time, and latency of the application running on your vendor’s platform?  How well can this service scale as you add users?  What guarantees does your vendor offer?
  • Business Integration.  How easy is it to integrate your existing applications running behind the firewall at your business with the new applications running in the cloud?  There are a number of business and data integration companies out there who are specifically seeking to address this issue.  See SnapLogic.com.
  • Migration to the Cloud.  Most people will be moving applications from in-house to the cloud rather than starting from scratch.  How easy is it to do the migration?  Can you move your data over? Are there tools to assist in the migration? Can you run the two applications in parallel for a period as you get comfortable with the new application?
  • Application Customization. Most cloud applications offer minimal ability to customize the application functionality to your business need.  Serious consideration of cloud computing services is often a trade-off between the compelling economics of cloud computing versus the lack of ability to customize the application. You should look into how much customization is possible with you prospective vendor and if that meets your business objectives.  Obviously, if an application represents core market differentiation for your business, it is probably not a good candidate for moving to the cloud.

There are strong pros and cons to considering cloud software application services.  Some applications are better candidates for moving to the cloud than others.  Also, the value of cloud applications and approach to the issues will vary based on the size of the business, the types of applications, and what industry the company is in.

For Small To Medium Sized Businesses

The economic benefits and freeing up time from IT tasks are significant.  The major barrier with SMB is often the perceived issue of data security.  Vendors should address this concern by:

  • Deliver facts about how often SMBs lose data by managing it themselves.
  • Document the business cost of these losses.
  • Deliver facts about the quality of their service and data protection guarantees.

For Enterprise Customers

The economic, budgetary and access benefits are compelling.  The greater issue here is that most enterprises have dozens to hundreds of in-house enterprise software applications that they run their businesses on.  The major issues with this class of customers will be:

    • Maintaining security levels inside and outside the enterprise firewall.  Approaches for cloud vendors to address these concerns include:
        • Carefully documenting your security capabilities.
        • Carefully documenting your security track record.
        • Providing for some security integration between cloud applications and enterprise applications such that there is single sign-on and consistency of policy between the two environments.
        • Look into security solutions that span applications running in the cloud and in the enterprise.  Example: Okta.com
    • The ability to integrate applications that exist behind the enterprise firewall with applications running in the cloud.
        • Offer consulting services to help with business integration of the applications.
        • Partner with VARs and System Integrators to offer consulting services in this area.
        • Look into startups that are offering solutions aimed specifically at this problem.  An example is SnapLogic.com which build connectors and data filters as reusable and sharable services.

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    Categories : Borderless Networks, Cloud Computing, Technology

    Google Kills Wave

    5 08 2010

    I just read about the demise of Google Wave.  There is lots of talk about why Wave failed but what interests me more is the evolving Google product development model.  Google tries things out in the market, gets feedback, adjusts, and very quickly kills projects that don’t work.  Google has killed several projects this summer including

    The important thing is that Google is listening very closely to these “failures” and learns from them.  They use social media very effectively to listen to their customers.  The power of their brand also means that large industry players will take them seriously and provide input.  The result is that Google is on the cutting edge of sensing what the market is thinking.

    Why didn’t Google Wave catch on?

    • Google Wave was very interesting but it demanded too much change in the way that users go about their work.  The best tools are those that fit naturally.
    • 500 million Facebook users.  The value of social networking is in the size of the community.  Google faces a big “barrier to entry” in jumping this hurdle.

    What we are seeing here is a new style of product development.  Google has already shown itself to be the master of the very long beta.  Now they are going beyond that into product launches that are trials.  If the services don’t stick in the market, they are killed.  In both the betas and trials, Google has the mechanisms in place to listen to the feedback from customers, non-customers and partners.  They have shown that they are very willing to take action based on this input.

    There is already a rumor of a Google Me service that is supposed to take on Facebook directly.  The reasoning goes that Wave was removed from the market to clear space for this new entrant due soon.  When it launches, we will see what Google has learned from listening to its customers and partners.


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    Categories : Business Models, Cloud Computing, Social Media, Social Media Company, Technology

    What Do You Wish You Had Learned in Marketing Class?

    4 08 2010

    I sent out a question to a combination of my contacts and other random people on LinkedIn.  My idea was to use the wisdom of crowds to help guide the subject matter I am going to teach in my intro MBA Marketing class coming up in a couple of weeks.

    The question I sent out was this:

    “I am teaching an intro course to MBA Marketing in August. Question: What do you wish you had learned in your marketing class but didn’t? Or, if you never took Marketing classes, what do you wish the Marketing people you worked with had known but didn’t?”

    There were some great responses.  The overwhelming response was: My marketing classes were a great foundation but too theoretical.  Marketing classes need to be much more practical, hands-on and real-world.

    Other responses received from more than one respondent (in order of number of responses):

    • MBA Marketing needs to cover both B2C and B2B marketing.  B2B is often overlooked.  You also need to cover motivational marketing – what makes these buyers purchase your product?
    • Stakeholder influence.  Nobody gets to just go and implement marketing plans.  The first “sell” that every marketer has to make is either to their own organization or to a client.
    • Measuring the effectiveness of marketing.  Was your marketing program successful or not?  How do you know?
    • How to use Social Media Marketing, Marketing 2.0, and Internet Advertising
    • Driving consensus between Marketing and Product Development on the definition of the product requirements.
    • Driving product requirements based on actual market and customer needs.  Not on the available cool technology.

    Other very useful responses (in no particular order):

    • How to define your target customer.
    • How to define marketing tactics that fit your target customer and the budget of your organization
    • International marketing.  There is a big world there outside the USA.
    • When to use Social Media Marketing and when to use Traditional Marketing.
    • Integrated marketing. How to use multiple marketing programs together in an integrated fashion to achieve an overall marketing goal.
    • How to drive qualified leads to the Sales Funnel.  After all, that is the primary thing marketers are asked to do.
    • How to do cheap but effective market research.
    • How to evaluate the marketing mix in relation to a new product introduction.
    • More case studies.  In other words: Keep it real.
    • More entrepreneurial marketing.  A big trend today is away from big company marketing hires and more towards marketing startups and contracting. Prepare people for this world.
    • How to price your own marketing services.  (See point above)
    • How to adjust marketing strategy and tactics based on where a product is in its lifecycle.  For example: You don’t have the same marketing strategy for a new product intro as you do for a mature product that has steady or slowly declining revenue.

    My sincere thanks to everybody who responded to this question!!  This is some great input from some people with a great deal of real-life experience.  There are real-world stories and experience behind every one of these responses.

    This also proves the value of the Wisdom of Crowds.


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    Categories : Enterprise Marketing, Inbound Marketing, Marketing Plan, Social Media Marketing


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