This is not a pre-Easter break jibe at Sage or SAP but a provocative title about the definition of ‘enterprise’ and its application to the services we need. Sig Rinde has an excellent post on this topic, asserting:
What about me then, the poor customer? Why must I solve some insolvable puzzles on behalf of some order and structure freaks in some marketing department so they can easily get the statistics they want? Why should I then be limited to some “offers” according to what some marketing department thinks?
Target means push is afoot. Push is yesterday, thank you very much.
Targeting means also one thing – you will miss more often than hit. Definitely when the target was set by some number crunching and boardroom discussions.
That’s us folks. We are used to saying that our ‘sweet spot’ is this or that segment within the economy but is that really true? When we do that are we not at risk of alienating potential clients? There is real advantage in understanding what your customer/client wants, but that should never be on the basis of whether they fit neatly into one category or another. Life is rarely that simple.
When I think about how the software landscape is changing, it seems that the difference between so-called consumer and enterprise software services is becoming increasingly difficult to discern. This is a refrain that James Governor picks up in strident tones:
RedMonk has long called for IBM to abandon the somewhat false distinction between “consumer†and “enterpriseâ€. What’s the main difference? Who pays the bill at the end of the month.
In comments, Al Wood says he is trying to get into the habit of replacing terms like ‘consumer’ and ‘client’ with ‘participant.’ It’s a nice idea because it reflects the participatory nature of some software service development. In recent times I have been engaged with several software service communities of interest. We discuss new features, what we’d like to see, listen to how feature roll out is planned. It helps build loyalty because I am much more likely to continue with relationships where I not only have an investment but where there are clear benefits that leave me feeling I have received genuine value. I can say for instance that in regard to one service, a specific request has become a core feature.
Now compare that with feature requests delivered to most of the incumbent software providers. I know which I prefer. Full calorie fill, not money sucking empty calorie bug fixes.
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