For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Targeting Small Business Tech Buyers: The Power Of Owner Personalities

Factoring For Small Business Market Heterogeneity

by Tim Harmon, October 15, 2009

The siren call of the small business (SB) market's sheer size, along with its propensity to lead technology investment in an economic recovery and its increasingly advanced technology adoption patterns, is a compelling target. But the small business market . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

B2B Channel Incentive Programs In The Technology Industry

A Benchmark Of 11 Technology Vendors' Programs And Operations

by Peter O'Neill, Tim Harmon, October 13, 2009

One of the most important business processes for technology industry (TI) vendors is to manage an indirect sales channel, which some vendors see as only an augmentation to their direct sales efforts. Forrester interviewed 11 leading TI vendors about their . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

The Seven Deadly Sins Of B2B Channel Enablement

Channel Partners Sound Off

by Tim Harmon, July 17, 2009

Current economic conditions are laying bare what's not working for channel partners, exposing issues ranging from channel conflict, to the "channel usability" of technologies, to community disenfranchisement. As companies try to move more volume through . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

The Changing Yin And Yang Of Tech Vendors And Channel Partners

Business Model Changes Call For Realigning The Demand Chain

by Tim Harmon, July 10, 2009

For years, channel partners have based their businesses around specific offerings sold into specific geographies or verticals. Today, channel partners are making dramatic adjustments to business models to cope with new levels of complexity, software-as-a-service/platform-as-a-service . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

Demand Insights: The SMB Software Market

Where Small And Medium-Size Businesses Are Investing

by Tim Harmon, June 15, 2009

Small and medium-size businesses' (SMBs') software priorities, investment levels, vendor relationships, buying processes, and use of IT differ significantly from large enterprises'. Technology marketers must hone their product portfolios and go-to-market . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Road Map: Workforce Resource Management — A New Market For Project Portfolio Management

PPM, BPM, And Web 2.0 Collaboration Are On A Collision Course

by Tim Harmon, May 4, 2009

Users have to employ a plethora of software tools to effect a comprehensive workforce resource management capability, including project portfolio management (PPM), business process management (BPM), and human capital management (HCM) products. PPM vendors, . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

A New SMB Market Phoenix Is Rising

Exploiting A Major Recession-Catalyzed Transition In The Small-Business Market

by Tim Harmon, February 23, 2009

History shows that small and medium-size businesses (SMBs) suffer less and recover faster from recessions than their large enterprise counterparts. This recession will prove to be no different. However, the small businesses that help catalyze the recovery . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

B2B Channel Management In A Down Economy

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

by Tim Harmon, February 2, 2009

Vendors are responding to the economic slowdown with a wide range of channel management and channel marketing initiatives. Economic conditions dictate new approaches, in particular rethinking channel performance management and channel model innovation. . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

A Go-To-Market Prescription For Economic Maladies

Looking At The Market Through SMB-Tinted Lenses

by Tim Harmon, January 30, 2009

During an economic downturn, all companies exhibit conservative technology buying patterns, not just small and medium-size businesses (SMBs). Consequently, many go-to-market models built for SMB tech buyers now apply to larger enterprises as well. Vendors . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Inquiry Insights: Project Portfolio Management

by Tim Harmon, October 30, 2008

In the past 21 months, inquiries on project portfolio management (PPM) have continued to increase and become more sophisticated, exposing issues ranging from organizational models to performance benchmarking to enterprise fit and fitness. These inquiries . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

A New ERP For The 21st Century

The Knowledge Economy Calls For A New Resource Management Perspective

by Tim Harmon, October 3, 2008

Enterprise applications vendors successfully address users' operations objectives in the pursuit of efficiency improvement. But companies' executive and senior managers are focused on business transformation, which is not supported by today's operations-oriented . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Road Map: Corporate Portfolio Management — A New Market For Project Portfolio Management

An Aging But Effective Technology's Rebirth In Corporate Portfolio Management

by Tim Harmon, August 21, 2008

Fifty years into its life as a business tool, project portfolio management (PPM) is a weather-worn but proven asset to IT and sophisticated project managers alike. But growth is beginning to tail off, and more exciting technologies like Web 2.0 collaboration . . .