MANAGING TECHNOLOGY DUE DILIGENCE: PACKAGING AND COMMUNICATIONS

by Dr. Steve Andriole, Senior Consultant, Cutter Consortium

While it may seem a little strange to acknowledge the primacy of style over substance and form over content, the reality is that style, form, and sizzle sell. Product and service descriptions and promotional materials should read well and look good, and those who present these materials should be professional, articulate, and sincere. Companies that fail to appreciate the importance of form, content, and sizzle will have harder climbs than those who embrace and exploit this reality.

What are the pieces of a good technology marketing strategy?

First, consider what's being sold: hardware, software, services, image, and perception. When everything goes well, everyone thinks that the technology people are really pretty good, that things work reasonably well, and that the price is fair. If the hardware and software work well but the image is poor, technology is perceived to be a failure, just as bad hardware and software but good perceptions will buy you some time. Like everything else, we're selling hard and soft stuff -- tangible and intangible assets and processes.

Next, consider who you are selling to, noting from the outset that we sell different things to very different people. Yes, we're selling hardware, software, and services (along with image and perception) to everyone, but the relative importance of the pieces of the repertoire shifts as we move from office to office. Senior management really doesn't care about how cool the network is or how we've finally achieved the nirvana five-9s for the reliability of the infrastructure. They care about the 20% lopped off the acquisition project just launched, or how company data is finally integrated and that the company is now able to cross-sell its products. Yes, the content and form of the message is important.

What's the brand of the technology organization? If it were a professional sports team, what would be a good name for it? Would it be the Innovators? The Terminators? Put another way, if you asked the analysts who cover a stock to word-associate technology and company, what would they say? Disciplined? Strategic? Weak?

Is there a technology road show? A consistent message about the role that technology plays in the company -- how technology is organized, what matters most, the major projects, and technology's contribution to profitable growth, among other key messages -- is essential to running technology like a business.

Clearly, technology vendors must have compelling stories to tell their clients with supporting collateral materials. CIOs expect to see and feel the buzz of their products and services. Vendors spend a lot of money on these materials, and VCs force their companies to have the very best promotional materials. The fact is that the right mix of reality and hype is important to all parties involved in a technology investment decision, regardless of where they sit.

-- Steve Andriole, Senior Consultant, Cutter Consortium