Follow the Money

I've been involved in countless projects over the years involving millions of dollars and companies of all sizes in many verticals - as a vendor, as a buyer, and as a consultant. Rarely have I encountered a vendor, who truly knew how the client was evaluating the options. Sure, sometimes that is intentional. Probably more often, it's because he/she never asked. Customers too, are naive about how decisions work within their vendor's world. What can be negotiated? What is sacred? The result is often a contentious contract dialog that ends up with hurt feelings and bruised egos on both sides. Not a great way to enter into a relationship.
Let's make it even more real. Many client and vendor teams don't really know how or why decisions are made in their own organizations. Who seeks to benefit from the decision one way or another? Who takes on more responsibility? What politics and relationship dynamics are in play?
One more progression. If it's commonplace that neither the vendor nor client representatives really understand the decision-making process, they certainly aren't following the budget choices that created the opportunity in the first place.
Allow me to help - very succinctly. Follow the money. I know it's basic, but it's true. The entity reaping the benefit - will almost always (read should) pay the bill. Is there any mystery here? Is this some great and wise truth - of course not.
And yet... many Washington are ignoring this. Yes - I could go a hundred ways from here but I will restrain - and focus on just one.
President Obama plans to make electronic health records a priority in his first term. He plans to invest upward of $10B per year for 5 years. If it's anything like every other initiative out of Washington - that number is just the ante. More importantly who will get the money? How will the money flow thru the marketplace? It's like these so-called Stimulus bills Congress is passing. Has that money actually been used to impact individual taxpayers - or just pay bonuses and refill the coffers? (Sorry, I digress)
EMR/EHR - who is the beneficiary? Who is paying for it? To whom is the money going? Is there any tracking to show that the funding actually went where it was supposed to? How and when are the returns expected?
Don't get me wrong - I am a huge advocate for getting healthcare into the information age. But there are many questions, and I worry that those providing answers have an agenda. Privacy issues aside - the money trail here needs to be closely monitored or we'll have another Fannie and Freddie crisis.

Think Globally, Act Locally

My last post dealt with the idea that the little guys would drive innovation and technology in the new economy. I think there is sufficient evidence to support that claim. But one of the great challenges to any new technology or service is the ability not only to market and sell the solution but to implement and ultimately support the solution throughout it's lifecycle.
Certainly I am an advocate of SaaS, ASP, Wed 2.0, Cloud Computing... based largely on the fact that support moves away from the user and into an environment where the expertise is abundant and available. As we move further down the road of the large companies retreating from direct local support of customers, the issues around implementation and support will only become more apparent.
How does an enterprise respond? It doesn't look like adding staff is going to happen if you look at the job reports. Calling a contact center and struggling with language barriers may be acceptable for minor issues, but I'm convinced that the best way to deal with these kinds of issues is to find a trusted local VAR, Integrator... These folks can essentially be part of your staff. But they get paid by the vendor of the solution you are acquiring.
What about the manufacturer, software company, or service provider? I can tell you from the many client I have in this arena - they realize that they too need these local VARs and Integrators. An example is SIP Trunking. A very cool VoIP service that can save clients a ton of money. Think Vonage for Business. The problem is how do the SIP Trunking providers get the solution implemented? Who can do that? One of my clients tried to implement it on their own, only to spend as much engineering time implementing and supporting the solution that the costs advantages disappeared.
So let's look at the latest craze - getting everyone's medical records available online. There are obvious cost benefits to the entire health system from providers to payers to consumers. President-Elect Obama would like this to happen in the next 5 years - with staggering costs to implement these EMR/EHR systems.
There are some tremendous solutions out there to help facilitate this move. The ones who can maneuver through the implementation and support barrier will have a great advantage. Obviously, those platforms that are supported in the cloud, will lead the way. But EMR/EHR systems can be very complex and almost certainly will necessitate the need for local expertise.
My Take:
if your an enterprise, a clinic, practice - start asking around and searching for a local resource you can trust. Meanwhile there are some great web-based solutions out there to help bridge the gap.
If you’re a solution provider, make sure you have a network of partners to support your business plan.
If you’re a VAR or Integrator - get up to speed and recruit best in class solution providers.

A Collection of Little Guys

As I research various technologies and companies for my clients, it becomes more clear to me that we are far from the days where the corporate giants will lead the way into the future.  Remember the days of "no one ever got fired for buying IBM".  Or when you had network issues it was a simple call to your local (read not 800# in who knows where) AT&T team.

I'll save the support and impact for another day.  Don't get me wrong, the new world is exciting and dynamic.  It allows all of us that contagious energy of a start-up.  It means that a 14 year old can create a leading browser.  It means a guy in his basement can beat a $50M company to the punch.  Most of all, it means that the little guy can compete.

In his book The Innovator's Dilemma, Christensen demonstrates how disruptive technology can cause "great firms to fail".  That book came out 12 years ago.  I think the next evolution of this idea is being played out today.  Not only are new technologies changing the landscape, but they are being created not just by other large companies leapfrogging, but by small businesses, or start-ups - individuals even.  How cool is that?

Go to your local Panera, or Atlanta Bread, Starbucks - on any given morning and you will see the folks driving the bus in the new economy.  They are the entrepreneurs, idea guys, and have a passion and hunger to make things happen.  And for each one of these morning capitalists there is  an army of creative types online late into the night.

Will the large companies fail?  Many will.  Do they still have a tremendous advantage in sheer size, funding, and talent?  Absolutely.  Can they recover from being late by throwing resources at a problem?  They do every day.

But the little guys have no boat anchor to drag around.  No ship to change course.  No meetings to have meetings to put together a committee to study to change.

People talk about President-Elect Obama and his agenda and worry about the redistribution of wealth a la Joe the Plumber.  I think the combination of the economic crisis we face today, coupled with the ever-increasing speed new technology development  - will impact our corporate world more than any socialist agenda or any other government action.

Never has there been so many, highly talented folks working outside of the "big companies" our parents worked for, or that we started out in.

I'd love to hear stories you know about these "little guys" changing our world.