Comments on: Watch out: Top 10 statements by IT vendors http://www.peterkretzman.com/2007/08/16/watch-out-top-10-statements-by-it-vendors/ Intensely practical tips on information technology, by Peter Kretzman Thu, 20 Nov 2008 07:20:48 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2 By: Chris http://www.peterkretzman.com/2007/08/16/watch-out-top-10-statements-by-it-vendors/#comment-21 Chris Thu, 06 Sep 2007 00:13:39 +0000 http://www.peterkretzman.com/2007/08/16/watch-out-top-10-statements-by-it-vendors/#comment-21 I'm am a vendor and in Sales so your prospective is very intersting...love to chat more over several beers about this. My 2 cents the margins are very slim these days. Services are becoming more and more commoditized. My CEO perfers a 40-45% margin, but get the reality we can only get around 35-40%. You've been in this game this doesn't scale. So how I approach this cost model is shy away from hourly rates and PARTNER with my clients, put some skin in the game, carve out scope and provide a fixed-fee. This shifts risk on to my team to deliver. My clients tend to like this model. Where it becomes extremely difficult is having the client clearly define scope. I’m am a vendor and in Sales so your prospective is very intersting…love to chat more over several beers about this.

My 2 cents the margins are very slim these days. Services are becoming more and more commoditized. My CEO perfers a 40-45% margin, but get the reality we can only get around 35-40%. You’ve been in this game this doesn’t scale.

So how I approach this cost model is shy away from hourly rates and PARTNER with my clients, put some skin in the game, carve out scope and provide a fixed-fee. This shifts risk on to my team to deliver. My clients tend to like this model. Where it becomes extremely difficult is having the client clearly define scope.

]]> By: Peter Kretzman http://www.peterkretzman.com/2007/08/16/watch-out-top-10-statements-by-it-vendors/#comment-12 Peter Kretzman Sat, 25 Aug 2007 09:15:31 +0000 http://www.peterkretzman.com/2007/08/16/watch-out-top-10-statements-by-it-vendors/#comment-12 No, I haven't been luckier than you have along these lines, and you bring up a great point that I failed to cover--it's pretty common for vendors selling hammers, as it were, to regard your needs as just another nail. They often have to be encouraged / cajoled / browbeaten to see the important nuances, even in the sales presentations. I had this happen in spades once when looking at workflow solutions. I wanted an engine that could be integrated into other custom software; vendors at that point offered nothing but their own "walled garden" systems and their own user interfaces, most of them awful. Thanks for commenting, Wheatdogg! No, I haven’t been luckier than you have along these lines, and you bring up a great point that I failed to cover–it’s pretty common for vendors selling hammers, as it were, to regard your needs as just another nail. They often have to be encouraged / cajoled / browbeaten to see the important nuances, even in the sales presentations. I had this happen in spades once when looking at workflow solutions. I wanted an engine that could be integrated into other custom software; vendors at that point offered nothing but their own “walled garden” systems and their own user interfaces, most of them awful. Thanks for commenting, Wheatdogg!

]]> By: wheatdogg http://www.peterkretzman.com/2007/08/16/watch-out-top-10-statements-by-it-vendors/#comment-10 wheatdogg Fri, 24 Aug 2007 16:00:42 +0000 http://www.peterkretzman.com/2007/08/16/watch-out-top-10-statements-by-it-vendors/#comment-10 Maybe you've been lucky, but I have had vendors promise us user-friendly and flexible applications which were none of the above. We tried a local portal provider that had a reasonable amount of experience with businesses, but precious little with schools. The requirements of these two user groups are very different, and the vendor (who was charging a ridiculous sum to host the site) never really got it. We then switched to a vendor with a national userbase in education. The capabilities of this portal are more limited than we would prefer, but the price is right and what is there, works. Maybe you’ve been lucky, but I have had vendors promise us user-friendly and flexible applications which were none of the above. We tried a local portal provider that had a reasonable amount of experience with businesses, but precious little with schools. The requirements of these two user groups are very different, and the vendor (who was charging a ridiculous sum to host the site) never really got it. We then switched to a vendor with a national userbase in education. The capabilities of this portal are more limited than we would prefer, but the price is right and what is there, works.

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