Management of Information

Technology Products and

Services
Meeting 1, 7th June 2017,
Mohammed Shahid Abdulla
IT and Systems Area
IIM Kozhikode, shahid@iimk.ac.in
So, who cares about MITPS ?
-Or, Why are we met here ?
Participants who:
Know what inroads SW has made
Who hasnt hailed a taxi cab via App ?
Appreciate that SW is not a monolith like before
At the very least, there are multiple business models - Customised Solution, SaaS
Realize that many of the big consumer and technology stories relate to IT
One of our previous courses textbooks is named Marketing IT
Many of these stories are immediately accessible to us, theyre not in fantasyland
Feel that software is eating the world:
Is behind decisions, or even mechanical devices
Think it will add some value to the organization youll work for
Has this course been around for very long ?
3rd year as an elective this year well have a speaker from the 1st !
Course aims to explain spectrum of IT Products, Services
By products or services we mean software, not hardware
Part of agenda is to dispel the discomfort that PGPs harbour vis--vis:
IT Industry Tech Jargon
IT Industry Business Models
And to a lesser extent:
IT deliverables, like SW, Developer/Maintainer Services, Sys-Integration
The Impact IT products/services can have on institutions/organizations
The metamorphosis of IT into Technology due to convergence
Announcements
Class timings: Wed 11.45AM-2PM, Fr 9.15AM-11.30PM
Delays may result in missing any quiz/snap-test no compensation
Textbooks in the course are of a guideline nature:
Reference Marketing of IT is a pure 101 in HW-SW-P/S-Consultancy-IP
The ITIL Foundation textbook is geared towards concepts in IT Services Mgt.
The ability to think, answer, even oppose/object in class is valuable.
We are likely tove 3-4 guest speakers (either in person, or via Skype)
Avik Ranjan Sarkar and Arjun Hari, PGP18 and MITPS Alumni, on Enterprise
Automation/AI, 30 Jun 10.30AM
In talks with Saurabh Mahajan PGP14, Director Prod-Development Olacabs
Announcements
We will have quizzes at end of even numbered 2hr sessions
Occasionally, also to test uptake of reading material.
I could post on VC basic material before that even numbered session
However, simple and easy-to-follow classroom discussion will be basis
The absentee policy for the class tests is as follows:
Pre-approved absence merits ROUNDDOWN(class_average)-1
Unapproved absence merits lowest_score-1
Class participation, caselet discussion, snap-tests count for 20 marks
<Midterm examination>, Final examination account for 30 marks each
Readings (will be many), will be uploaded to Virtual Classroom
Special Incentives
This is an IT Products and Services course:
Youre encouraged to build an IT Product/Service/Solution, however small
Novelty and application of MITPS principles will be fundamental yardstick
A group of 3 may form a team to be associated with an IT Prod/Serv/Soln
Combine your CP and Quiz scores (40 marks) to be evaluated against this
Further leverage for SDP, IIMK Reasearch Project and Conference Grant exists
Think, write-up your idea on VC (publicly), convince me before 1 July.
Example projects ?
Eliminate drudgery: cut Queues, solve Lack of RT Information problems !
Apply AI: see how open-source Facial Recognition can measure attendance
Apply MBAs mind to small problems: Analytics module for Mom-Pop stores
2 Questions on Global IT trends
Well try & answer following questions without benefit of resources:
What trends in Global IT do *not* seem to be a result of corporate
pressures ?
Is there any leverage for the same with respect to enterprise IT ?
Many industries will need newer IT and so will spend in the IT
Marketplace.
From time to time, new industries/models crop up that have the newest IT
already factored into them. Can you name some such industries ?
Just what sort is the Global IT Market ?
Is it mostly retail ? Or is it corporate ? Is hardware included in this ?
Are there any principles to remember while competing in IT market ?
Interoperability
Notion of a Solution
Pricing
Intellectual Property
The tangible mix of what youre offering:
Product
Services including Solutioning
Support
Platform
Discussion on Rossbach and Ng articles
Peter Rossbach: teach B-School grads more technology:
not just navigating a spreadsheet
Andrew Ng: AI as electricity
What is the size of the Global IT Market ?
HBR, 1958, Leavitt and Whisler gave a definition of IT:
"the new technology does not yet have a single established name. We shall call it
information technology (IT)
Spending on IT for 2016 has negative growth, but is in vicinity of USD 3.5
Trillion.
The devices market (PCs, ultramobiles, mobile phones, tablets and printers)
is forecast to decline 1.9 percent in 2016.
IT services spending is up 3.1% from 2015. This is due to accelerating
momentum in cloud infrastructure adoption and buyer acceptance of the
cloud model.
Telecom services spending will decline 1.2% in 2016, impacted by the
abolition of roaming charges in the European Union
IT Interoperability: US Healthcare as example
John Halamka So what is Interoperability anyway ?:
Background: US HIPPAA and HITECH Acts:
Meaningful Use of EHRs,
Vendors charging Interface fees despite using $30B HITECH windfall
CIO.com Is Healthcare IT Interoperability (Almost) Here ?, 2013:
Cut needed on $750B in annual unnecessary healthcare spending
hundreds of standalone systems that create and maintain EHR
Healthcare IT focused on Bus. Process Automation, not care delivery
what patient care quality measures need to appear in a dashboard ?
Three levels of interoperability
Foundational interoperability:
Data, such as clinical image files, can be exchanged from one IT system to
another.
Structural interoperability:
The exchange of data from one system to the next can be interpreted at the data
field level - it is preserved or unaltered. Ideally, this would create a uniform
movement of healthcare data that remains unchanged in its operational and
clinical forms.
Semantic interoperability:
This process would make codified data clear because systems would
use the same vocabulary and there would be no discrepancies
between EMRs.
How to deliver ITs Value-Proposition to
customers ?
Product
Solution
Service:
Remote
In-Product
On-Site
Support
Products Vs Solution
Product companies may have to behave like they are selling solution:
Conceive of an entire ecosystem of services that will support the product
SW Products may not be useful unless suitable Complementors exist
Big companies can ignore the ecosystem (e.g. Microsofts 97% revenues
come from partnerships with vendors/ISVs etc), but not startups (Ashish
Sinha, nextbigwhat.com, 2009)
How do they differ in Messaging ?
Products are Push, Solutions are Pull
Concept story: solution content might not even mention a product. Its
more focused on engaging the audience in a conversation, at least at first
http://www.siriusdecisions.com/blog/whats-really-the-difference-
between-solution-and-product-content/ (Marisa Kopec, GTM VP)
Product Vs Solution
-By Rob Enderle, CIO.com, Aug 2013
Discounted Bundles, Bloatware are not solutions
Solutions usually come from Generalist groups/organizations
Example of Dell: Sell Servers Vs. Server Management SW
Product Organizations may be too focused on what they sell
Solutions organizations have broad set of tools, solutions partnerships
Dont ask for solution if youre replacing a broken piece of equipment
Dont ask for a product when you know not whatll fix your problems
Solutions organizations are true problem solvers
Smart Cos. are the bane of Solutions sellers
HBR 2012: customers didnt know how to solve their own problems
(but now with) increasingly sophisticated procurement teams and
purchasing consultants armed with troves of data, companies can
readily define solutions for themselves
Silver Lining: target agile organizations in a state of flux, find
skeptical change agents rather than friendly informants
Insight Selling and the job of Solution-salespeople as consultants.
Customers come with well-scoped RFPs: get ahead of the RFP.
http://hbr.org/2012/07/the-end-of-solution-sales/
So, solutioning implies Products->Services ?
Many vendors are trying to manage the transition from Products to
Services:
Some are trying to get their Go-To-Market Messaging right.
Solutions are Products combined with Services for a defined outcome
One such service is that of a system integrator
All product organizations seek to transition to:
services on installed base due to better margins.
the product organization thus seeks to increase the Installed Base.
Interestingly, a recommendation to this IB-services profit centre is:
An Information System that manages services
http://www.iei.liu.se/externt/mba-proma/course-information/txpr16-industrial-
marketing-and-pruduct-developmen/filearchive/Handouts/1.134770/A-ROliva-
Kallenberg-Managing_the_transition_from_products_to_services.pdf
Is there any *broadest* classification of IT ?
A good choice is to classify as per this HBR article of Andre McAfee:
A Strategic Information System: A Virtual Company
 Creating a Virtual Company

A virtual company uses IT to link

People
Organizations
Assets
Ideas
Inter-enterprise information systems link
Customers
Suppliers
Subcontractors
Competitors
Buzzword of the Day
SMAC
Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud
Let us discuss the following questions:
Which of these drivers is absolutely the *newest* ?
Satya Nadella 1st mantra is Mobile First, Cloud First. What does it mean ?
Nadella also says Platforms and Productivity. What links SMAC to Platform ?
How is the Social functionality leading to better enterprise software ?
Remember, even Services firms like Infosys are selling a Social angle
How can arbitrary software be integrated with Analytics ?