Hybrid Service Delivery, 2 yrs later...

I posted this vision piece 2 yrs ago. I still think we are a ways from realizing this vision, but I think it still rings true....

Thoughts?

http://www.zdnet.com/news/new-hybrid-delivery-security-architecture/211127

“In the past, CIOs deployed their own self-contained application architectures on their own servers and storage systems. This old model is giving way to a hybrid application architecture that combines hosted functionality with in-house applications running on consolidated and virtualized commodity servers. We believe that this transformation will drive efficiencies across the full stack, from business processes to physical infrastructure, while increasing IT's ability to meet new demands in a rapidly changing business environment.” - Kishore Kanakamedala, Vasantha Krishnakanthan, and Roger Roberts, McKinsey Quarterly, 1
Commentary--Software as a Service (SaaS), virtualization and integrated IT appliances are creating new and powerful service delivery models for IT managers to leverage. One only needs to look at the success of SaaS companies such as Salesforce.com and WebEx, the robust growth of integrated appliances in spaces ranging from security to data warehousing, and the meteoric rise of VMware’s adoption in the enterprise to see that all these models deliver significant “utility-like” benefits and cost savings.....

Built to Last Programs - Great marketing has legs

Quick note...when I was at Actional, I wrote a whitepaper and built a model on Web Services Management ROI that was used for 5 yrs!!! Good content has long shelflife.

At Secure Computing, we launched the SWAT initiative in 2008. This week, McAfee (#mfe) updated the Forrester Research and the core Whitepaper behind this initiative.

Lessons:

1. Do less, but make it impactful
2. Great content has longer than expected shelf life
3. Great content focuses on the customer's needs and challenges
4. Market ahead of the curve (Web 2.0 in 2008) and the market will come to you, creating leverage...

Over and out!
Ken

451 Recognizes Nimsoft's innovative go to market

Nice article from 451 today. You can read it in it's entirety on Gary Read's blog here.

Here's a couple of great quotes:

"In any case, it seems clear that innovation and aggressive channel and product marketing will continue to be hallmarks of Nimsoft’s business strategy going forward. "

and

First came the April release of the Nimsoft On Demand IT management SaaS offering...July brought usage metering that reports on actual usage to facilitate a pay-as-you-go business model across product lines so that Nimsoft can manage customers’ elastic cloud and virtualized workloads.... Then late last month, Nimsoft announced monitoring support for Vblock Infrastructure Packages,"

Nimsoft on Demand, Usage Metering, Vblock monitoring = innovative product marketing = programs managed by KJR Associates! - had to brag a bit!

K

KJR Associates Summer 2010 Update

Dear Friends

Just a quick note to let you know what I've been up to and highlight some of the success of my clients in the market.

Nimsoft continues to roll. Since the CA acquisition, (see my blog on how we drove valuation with killer positioning), I've helped the team drive their killer IT Monitoring solution into the SaaS market, with 2 release in the last 4 months. Nimsoft On Demand is a really amazing market offering and it's been a blast putting it together with the team.

FireEye has also been a great success with the launch and execution of their Modern Malware Exposed marketing campaign and website. See a great BtoB Online article on this initiative, driven by KJR Asssociates.

My most recent client addition is Eccentex, an emerging leader in Case Management Platform as a Service. These guys have the potential to disrupt this enterprise market the same way that Salesforce disrupted CRM. Bookmark these guys in your mind and watch for them over the next few years.

In addition, I've been busy blogging, and have created a new blog focused on the unique challenges of marketing IT Security products - check it out here!

Lastly, thanks to all of you have been generous with your time, advice and referrals, I could not have built this business without you. Please give me a holler if you want to chat or catch up.

Cheers
Ken

"Built to Last" Positioning

Nice article by Bruce Schier today on Nimsoft's latest announcement around their Unified Monitoring strategy and products got me thinking about positioning that lasts.

We launched Unified at Nimsoft 9 months ago, and the message resonates as much now as it did then, and I see no slowing down. What I am wondering makes good positioning last long? Is there good positioning that doesn't have a long life, probably not... Here's a few things I know about positioning that's "built to last"...

1. Built to last positioning leads the customer to solutions to BOTH today's and tomorrow's challenges
2. Built to last positioning puts (positive) internal pressure on the product roadmap, because it accelerates aspects of the product that matter, which probably weren't the focus before the positioning was articulated
3. Built to last positioning is in synch with customer needs, market trends AND brand "permission". If anyone of these is weak, the stool falls down
4. Built to last positioning isn't accidental, it's well thought out and articulated, and takes hard work to get to
5. Built to last positioning becomes part of the DNA of the company, it changes not just messaging, but roadmap, selling strategies, support priorities and investments.
6. Built to last positioning is easy to see in hindsight, but really hard to figure out ahead of time (see #3)
7. The value of built to last positioning is expressed ultimately in increased sales and shareholder value

Nimsoft is a great case study in this, their Unified Monitoring strategy has paid off in product innovation, ramping sales, improved communications, and as is well known, in shareholder value.

What are your thoughts on how to forge built to last positioning???

Positioning from Strength - the Nimsoft Story

(Republished in support of the series on Sramana Mitra's blog interview Series of CEO Gary Read..."From Bootstrap to 350M")

Friday, April 16, 2010

Positioning from Strength

Often I observe that when business is good, positioning gets stale. However, no one cares. As one of my good CFO friends once told me "Top line growth covers a lot of rocks". I think this is a shame, and a real missed opportunity. Positioning from Strength is a HIGHLY leveragable activity, one that has the potential to accelerate both business and valuation.

Take my client Nimsoft, recently acquired by CA for $350M on a very healthy multiple. When I arrived to work with the CEO, Gary Read and his exec team, business was going great. Nimsoft had (and still has) a tremendous product, great sales momentum and was an execution machine. However, to Gary's credit, he was open and receptive to a discussion of positioning, vision and go forward marketing strategy, in a way that was highly unusual for a business going so well.

I think Gary saw that Nimsoft was sitting at the apex of an opportunity to reposition from strength, and to use that strength to build a platform and vision that was forward looking and unique. That's exactly what we did when we launched and implemented the Nimsoft Unified Monitoring strategy, architecture, alliance and .com portal.

The results, well they speak for themselves, great going forward positioning, coupled with continued amazing execution led to continued growth and the CA transaction. But we are not done yet, and this week took the next step with the launch of Nimsoft On Demand, a SaaS delivery of Nimsoft Unified Monitoring. Look for more great things to come from the Nimsoft business now that it is part of CA, this is only the beginning.

So, I think this shows very strongly the value of positioning from strength. CEOs and BODs, don't wait for the crisis, IF YOUR BUSINESS IS GOING GREAT, and you haven't examined your GTM positioning and messaging within the last 12-18 months, there's never been a better time than right now...(Need help, well, I know someone who's pretty good at this :))...

Social media, innovation, B2B Product Marketing

I've been long since posting. I've been busy with clients and at home with the end of school year rush of events. Lots going on...

Been thinking a lot about Social Media, Innovation and B2B Product Marketing and the various intersections of these. I think there's a big change going on in B2B, lot's has been written about the new "Science" of analytical marketing, but at the same time, there is a huge gap on "Strategic Analytics" for B2B product marketers. I think there is a very real oppty to advance the science and tools that product marketers have at their disposal. More thoughts to come.

In addition, I am curious, if you are a product marketing professional, where do you go for help, advise and learning?? How do you find industry best practices when faced with a problem? Where do you advance your "toolkit"?? What role does social media play today, and do you find it worth your time???

More to come on these topics....

Ken