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| Subject: | RE: GISList: Sum: How does GIS add value? |
| Date: |
06/10/2002 07:58:36 AM |
| From: |
Dimitri Rotow |
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> to ascertain that knowledge. Having reps show you the specific
> attributes of
> their GIS is a necessary starting point. References are a good way to
It's only a necessary starting point if the GIS company does not provide
full information on their web site. Most tech companies these days publish
all pertinant info on their web sites. Many of the GIS companies do the
same as well. You should be able to read the complete user manual, check
pricing and otherwise get key information online with a few mouse clicks.
Open discussion with actual users is also very good. As far as I know, all
of the main GIS packages have active Internet discussion lists.
Of course, there's no end of IT managers too lazy to read a web site,
participate in gislist or do any research on the products they source other
than listen to competing sales presentations. I assume all of us listers
know that's no way to get the highest value.
> explore the validly of claims being made by sales people. Although very
> little is free in this world, the fact remains (and it is indeed a fact)
> that more money , time and energy has been wasted internally in
> organizations trying to create their own GIS application than has been
> wasted through the purchase of existing GIS software.
>
Well, the alternative to buying minicomputer-style is certainly *not* just
launching your own software R&D project... it's purchasing software the
modern way, dealing direct via Internet with the vendor. As Dell says, "be
direct." You don't need a salesman to help you buy a cool new Dell computer
at a far better deal than any national account salesman from DEC or Data
General could ever give you, and you sure don't need a salesman at your
elbow to buy a zillion types of other software over the net. Why not take
advantage of the same purchasing efficiencies in GIS as well?
> I applaud your excitement surrounding GIS - as the efficiencies created by
> utilizing a GIS are indeed exciting and can provide great value to an
> organization.
>
> It sounds to me that Dimitri has been burned by a sales person and is
> allowing that experience to taint his objectivity - on the whole, I have
> found sales people in this field to be reasonably knowledgeable and
> respectable.
I didn't say they weren't knowledgeable and respectable. I said they
weren't the best way to get the highest value out of GIS because they cost
lots of money that could be better spent on the GIS software itself.
People who aren't knowledgeable and trustworthy don't last long in national
account sales. You've got to be alert and responsive, dress cleanly, show
up on time, give a good presentation and follow through to close deals. You
have to have good business skills and good technical skills. Such people
are *very* expensive in a small niche business like legacy GIS, and the
sales and marketing infrastructure that surrounds them is even more
expensive.
If you look at companies who sell GIS products through personal sales calls
executed by a national sales and marketing infrastructure, they are all
technology laggards. Why? Because their cash flow isn't focussed onto
improving the techology. It's being skimmed off to pay for a very expensive
sales and marketing methodology that modern vendors no longer use. That
puts them in a risky position as markets become so competitive that people
who have a direct sales force overhead cannot compete with vendors who cut
out the overhead and sell direct.
This same effect helped wipe out old-fashioned computer companies. They
simply could not compete with the likes of Dell when they were saddled with
the high overhead of an old-fashioned, direct sales force and Dell could put
all of its revenue dollars into building and delivering better product. The
only ones who are still in the game (like IBM) are those who have adopted
the direct sales tactics of companies like Dell along with the mass-market
standardization on Wintel machine architectures. The same thing will happen
in GIS, don't you think?
Cheers,
Dimitri
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