Why did I buy that?
Rushing into purchasing decisions and implementations does not benefit you or the customer long term, notes Nir Feldberg
I don't know about you but when I open the wardrobe in the morning, there are always a couple of items of clothing staring out at me that I have never worn. They seemed like a good idea in the shop.
I often have the same problem with technology purchases: gadgets that looked amazing, were on trend or promised to give me days of my life back with their labour-saving features, for some reason don't get used. Everyone needs an electric bottle opener, right?
It is not only what sort of statement they might make about us but what they promise to deliver, and the same is true of IT projects. Take enterprise mobility. So much is promised in terms of business productivity and efficiency, and, to make it worse, it is often combined with the glitz and 'sex appeal' of the latest smartphone or tablet technology.
The problem is that, like the clothes or electric bottle opener, too often they let us down.
We have spoken to many customers with past failed projects and people in our own partner community who have seen projects lie in the wardrobe, never brought to their potential.
When a project gets going, it is all too easy to immediately start focusing on the end game, the deadline, the live date. This is partly down to human nature; we get excited about the shiny new technology everyone will be using, and this is when projects start to unravel.
With dormant projects, there often seem to be two clear areas where channel companies can demonstrate the value of enterprise mobility and make a name for themselves in the market.
Take a step back, and do the studies that will set expectations about the results in terms of time and money savings.
Customers' internal calculations are often taken at face value – if they've been done at all. Work to get the customer to agree about these figures and the related goals. All parties should agree on what they expect from the project.
Objectives need to be thought through and preferences set. Think about what is more important for the organisation and how the project will achieve these goals.
Once these are defined, the people, processes and technology can be harmonised.
Channel partners that are focused on these areas hold the key to the success of future enterprise mobility technologies. When dealing with customers who have had previous bad experiences it is even more important to prove the value of projects – and then you can shout about it.
It is a powerful marketing tool that will bring more business to successful partners. No one wants his or her project to become the 'cool' gadget that failed to deliver and sits unloved in a drawer.
We've all got a responsibility to prove the real value of technology, and then we'll all benefit.
Nir Feldberg is director of partner marketing at ClickSoftware