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in my experience mid-market companies are extremely price sensitive. Current versions of utilities (phone, electric, etc) work for this customer base because the they enjoy the fruits of scale of economies. I predict that the costs associated with Grid computing will keep most if not all Mid-market customers out of the game. I offer as jusftification for my opinion, Internet connectivity costs and the failure of ASP's. The ASP business model offers similar benefits as Grid computing, however connectitiy costs over 5 years justify the continued implementation of internal systems. Besides how many of these companies have unsized and over-used Internet connections because they view the associated costs as unneeded.
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IBM's Strategy for Mid-Market Organizations: Part 8
Much of the IBM strategy that has been expressed in Lee's article series echos what I too hear in the hallways of IBM, and in the planning sessions in which I've participated over the last several years. What's interesting is that this "big-iron", "centrally-located" server scenario is precisely the strategy that IBM was following back in the late '70s and '80s when the so called 'client-server revolution' and the PC upheaval commenced. IBM saw the world draped in blue bunting, and laid out its plans without regard to the dynamics of the personal computer. It also dismissed the impact that so-called personal computing appliances would play, and the rigorous anti-centralization sentiments that typified the gurus of the PC movement. Remember the famous Macintosh ad in which a ballpeen hammer is thrown through the screen into the room of gray computer executives? Remember the "Think Different" ads? Though we don't know what specific upset of the future will be, we can count on the fact that there will be enough resistance to IBM's centralized vision to cause a groundswell of disruption. Or so I believe. Corporation executives will be more than happy to follow IBM's direction because computing has become too complex and too resource intensive. IBM is showing them a different way through that complexity that requires them to martial corporate resources into a single strategy. However, in the real world of business, corporate executives are less in control of their IT infrastructure than they might believe. And as computing appliances become less expensive, I predict that users -- who are tired of waiting for solutions that have the blessings of executives -- will bring these appliances into the workplace and develop the ad hoc systems that they require. This is precisely what happened in the '70s and '80s as IT execs waited for the delivery of the Systems Application Architecture that IBM had promised -- a single pan-platform solution to corporate computing requirements. Users rebelled quietly by bringing in low cost PCs with spreadsheets to solve their day-to-day problems, and the PC revolution -- the revolution that created the need for pc-to-pc and pc-to-host networking, servers, client-server technology, etc -- was given legs. I believe this same scenario will more or less play out against IBM's grand scheme. Yes, IBM will have the resources behind the scenes, but it will never catch up with the momentum that users will create to facilitate their jobs. Of course, no corporation can adequately predict or control a user rebellion such as happened in '70s and '80s. And no large corporation can embrace "revolution" as a way of doing business. (Apple tried and, for a time, carried that banner of "information revolution." But ultimately, it was absorbed by the needs to make a predictable profit.) So, regardless of IBM's plans, we as consumers of technology will be constantly challenging the assumptions and the technologies that emanate from companies like Big Blue. All of which is simply to say that IBM's grand scheme looks great on paper, but will be put to the test as the market evolves. Users will, of necessity, challenge it, force it to change, or for IBM to abandon it. That's just my humble opinion. -
IBM's Strategy for Mid-Market Organizations: Part 8
This is a discussion about IBM's Strategy for Mid-Market Organizations: Part 8.Comment
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IBM's Strategy for Mid-Market Organizations: Part 8
Many midmarket organizations exist because they offer a slightly different approach to what are essentially commodity services, such as banking. Their market niche is made possible by software. Why would midmarkets, or anyone else, surrender their edge and subscribe to monolith-provided vanilla? The service bureau concept is alive and well in many circumstances, but it is certainly not for everyone.Comment
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