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Winter 2002
Welcome!
We are pleased to present the Winter/Spring 2002 issue of The Apex,
the quarterly newsletter of Cambridge Consulting. Our work with a variety
of emerging technology leaders gives us a unique vantage point on the
industry's rugged landscape. We hope The Apex will provide a perspective
that helps you navigate this rocky terrain safely and successfully.
Cambridge Consulting is a leading provider of high-tech marketing and business development expertise for Fortune 500 and top-tier technology clients. From initial strategy through tactical implementation, Cambridge Consulting delivers customized solutions that help you expand existing markets and launch new products and services – right now, in real time. By bringing together innovative companies and high-performance professionals, we're building relationships that build success.
To find out how we can help build your success, visit us at
www.cambridgeconsultant.com or for immediate response please
call us at 800-816-8006 and ask to speak with a client representative.
Storage Virtualization: Meeting Customer Requirements
Storage Virtualization (SV) is arguably neither a new market segment nor new product category in a storage network market besieged by new emerging storage technologies and standards. A senior analyst at the Enterprise Storage Group, a leading data storage industry research firm based in Milford MA, says SV is "one of the five key elements that will become a part of any comprehensive enterprise storage network." We at Cambridge agree that SV is a necessary storage network requirement, and that it represents just one element in a more complex environment. We also believe there are a multitude of solution alternatives that deserve consideration based on customer requirements.
What is Storage Virtualization?
Looking at its history and meaning, SV was initially a mainframe storage subsystem capability, and later became a feature of new storage hardware systems introduced by EMC and Network Appliance. VERITAS pioneered SV as a software solution with its VxVM volume manager and today, companies like FalconStor, Datacore, and HP StorageApps are pioneering a network-based approach to SV solutions.
Essentially, an SV solution allows you to present a logical view of the total physical storage that's been pooled from interconnected devices for transparent access by any
application resident on these interconnects.
The most common DAS (Direct Attached Storage)
interconnections are direct connects to an I/O backplane, while SAN (Storage Area Network) and NAS (Network Attached Storage) interconnects use more proprietary Fibre and IP (Internet Protocol) based networks. However, if you are targeting your SV product at discrete DAS, SAN or NAS protocols, those separations of church and state will soon fade, as more multi-protocol switches and directors mature, and IP-based interconnects become the fabric of choice blending both iSCSI (SAN) and Ethernet-based (NAS) networks and devices.
Which Way to Go?
Approximately 80% of the enterprise storage solutions on the market today are DAS based, so I/O based interconnection will be the primary market for pooling physical storage. That means existing vendors like VERITAS, and even newcomers like Trellisoft, should not lose sight of this opportunity and the requirement within this space. However, SAN and NAS-based solutions are expected to grow over time and account for 50% of the market by 2006.
So, as product marketers, we need to focus less on the
individual SAN, NAS and DAS protocols, and focus more on delivering SV capabilities that address the fundamental customer requirements in each enterprise storage solution type we intend to target. If you forgot what those requirements are, just remember what the A, N, and S in SAN, NAS and DAS really stand for.
"A" is for Applications
The customer application environment will be a primary driver for any SV solution. The growth in NAS and SAN solutions will require more complicated approaches that consider both in-band and out-of-band SV solutions, depending upon the customer applications and the performance impact. An in-band SV solution resides right in the data path, and is the most common today. It's relatively easy to install, and generally requires no software or configuration tools on either the target storage device or the originating application server.
"N" is for Network
Whether it's in-band or out-of-band, an SV solution must meet customer requirements for network reliability, availability, security (RAS) and performance. Let's say your customer is running a database application that requires both real-time network-based reading and writing. An in-band SV solution could become a performance bottleneck for the user and RAS issue for the network administrator. That's why new companies like SANlink and TrueSAN, and existing players like Compaq, with its Verastor SV solution now address these network performance and reliability issues with out-of-band solutions.
"S" is for Storage
Remember, it's the storage that really matters. Therefore, customers that build storage networks will undoubtedly look for an SV solution that reduces the total cost of ownership, increases and optimizes their storage capacity, reduces the management complexity, and given today's global economic environment, supports the consolidation of heterogeneous and legacy storage systems.
Anticipate the Future
According to IDC, by 2008, storage will consolidate into network pools and 90% of the market will have a consolidated view of their storage system resources using some form of SV solution.
So, for product marketing professionals, the lesson is: you'd better know your customer requirements and continue to build your SV solution capability to fit a multitude of storage networking environments.
In the post September 11 era, we all know that there is an increased emphasis on data security and disaster recovery. Interestingly, the line between the two is starting to blur as solution providers begin to marry the two previously discrete functions/concepts. So, let's take a look and see if companies are putting their money where there mouth is...
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Proof Point #1
Question: Which of the following IT budget areas are likely to increase this year?
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Proof Point #2
Question: How much will your spending increase in the area of disaster recovery?
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Source: Information Week 1/17/02
(Survey of 300 Business Technology Executives)
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Source: Metricnet / Meta Group (as reported in InfoWorld 1/7/02)
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Is Your Solution Ready for Customers? ProveIT™!
In the rush to grab an early advantage and be first to market with a "real solution", something in a launch timeline has to give. These days, it’s likely to be the beta testing program that takes the fall. But despite compressed launch schedules, companies still need an opportunity to test new products in the real world. Cambridge has the perfect solution.
Cambridge "Real Time" Prove IT™ Service
With our proprietary process, companies now have a nimble alternative to beta testing. Whether it's a hardware, software, or combined solution, ProveIT™ can accelerate product introductions and still provide much needed testing opportunities.
In the ProveIT™ process, pre-production units are loaned to select customers for a predetermined length of time.
The benefits are clear. With ProveIT™, companies can:
- Win strategic accounts
- Reward important customers
- Ramp early sales
- Garner customer testimonials for use in
the product launch
- Demonstrate product flexibility in
various environments and with different applications
- Identify potential manufacturing, logistics, support, and third party issues
Running a Prove IT™ Program
The first thing to do is work with the designated program owner to define objectives, scope, timeline and final deliverables. Next, identify a core team to work with for the duration of the program. While the organizations represented on the core team may vary depending on the company, the functions typically included are marketing, the R & D lab, manufacturing, logistics, sales and sales support.
On the product side, you'll have to determine where the units are coming from, when they'll be available to ship to customers, and what features will be included. Expect to work with marketing and sales to select and qualify customers. Since these will be pre-production units, you'll have to design a support process that will function prior
to the official product release. Finally, plan to spend a lot of time on logistics to ensure that units are delivered to and retrieved from customers in a timely manner.
Potential Pitfalls
- Schedule slippage: With any new product
introduction, schedule slippage is always a possibility. Depending
on the funding situation of the company, this can lead to problems
if the program extension requires additional funding. The key to
managing schedule slippage is to constantly update key
stakeholders.
- Internal pushback: From a consultant's
perspective, this is particularly challenging. You need a lot of
sensitivity to know when to accept the push and when to gracefully
redirect it back to the employees or group you're working with.
- Dealing with field sales: Once they have a unit, it can be difficult to get the field to return phone calls, let alone abide by program agreements. And once a unit
is onsite, both the customer and the account team are likely to ask for more time.
Keys to Prove IT™ Success
- Deal from a power position: Remember that
you have the most power before you assign units, and the least
power when units are in the field. So, if customer testimonials
are a ProveIT™ objective, get the customer's promise to furnish
one before you provide them the unit.
- Document, Document, Document: And get it
in writing! Before you grant anyone a unit, have them fill out a
Customer Qualification Agreement that clearly specifies the roles
and responsibilities of all parties. This is the time to get all
the names and contact info you'll need.
- Have strong backing: There will be times
when you'll need to escalate issues. As an outsider, that can
sometimes be an awkward and challenging pursuit. Your sponsor
needs to be ready to step up and support you when necessary. Build
and nurture that relationship so this resource is available when
needed.
- Track and stay focused: Stay on top of
the logistics — especially important if you're dealing with a
small piece of equipment or are shipping units overseas. Designate
a single point of contact, and keep track of shipping company
information and billing numbers. It's amazing how easily a unit
can be lost or misplaced. Don't let it happen on your watch.
- Communicate: As a ProveIT™ Program Manager, the key to your success is communication. You're serving as a conduit for information flow within and between the organization, the field, and customers. Good communication will result in clearly defined and understood program objectives — resulting in happy customers and a happy client!
Give Your Company the Edge with ProveIT™
It's easy to recognize the benefits of having some type of early market testing program. But not many companies have personnel with the bandwidth to manage such a program. We can handle it for you, with the Cambridge "Real Time" ProveIT™ Service.
ProveIT™ is more than an operational plan. We deploy one of our seasoned marketing
consultants on-site to manage your ProveIT™ program and lead a cross-functional team. With
their expertise and objectivity, Cambridge Consultants provide effective, unbiased leadership
unaffected by interdepartmental politics. They can generate quick decisions that keep your company's
overriding objectives in mind at all times.
When you bring in a Cambridge Consultant to run a ProveIT™ program, you'll free
your employees to focus on their primary objective – introducing the best product possible!
Creating and Developing a High Tech Marketing Organization
The Cambridge Consulting Annual Marketing Practices Survey was designed to identify key marketing resource requirements and organizational trends based on our proprietary five-stage business model.
One of our primary objectives with this market survey is to assist our clients by offering research support that validates their decisions regarding development of their marketing organization. This decision support is enabled by classifying organizations into five distinct stages, and then identifying the organizational elements, functions and roles within each stage.
The bottom-line business value of this information is a more effective and efficient marketing group that is sufficiently resourced to handle the marketing challenges at each stage of organization development.
Preliminary Findings
- The most commonly identified marketing
role across all five stages of business development is Marketing
Director (72% of all respondents report having a role that fits
this description). This suggests that selection of the Marketing
Director is a critical one that can serve as an anchor in the
marketing group, regardless of organization stage.
- Some roles appear in early stages, then
effectively disappear in middle stages, only to reappear
"in-force" in late stages (e.g., Launch Manager, Competitive
Analyst). This suggests that these roles might best be outsourced
to reduce overhead during "non-active" periods.
- Partnerships become increasingly
important as companies move to later business stages. Most of
Stage 1 companies do not have or leverage key partnerships.
However, in Stages 2-4, most companies do leverage partner
marketing at least "sometimes," and almost half of Stage 5
companies say they use partners "often or regularly." This
suggests if you plan to build and grow your company beyond Stage
2, Business Development roles become increasingly more important.
- Some roles often don't appear at all
until later stages (e.g., Event Manager, Technical Marketing
Manager). This suggests that organizational planning should
consider these roles only when the organization can effectively
support the roles.
- As might be expected, when organizations evolve from Stage 1 through Stage 5, the number of discreet marketing functions and roles grows. What's interesting
to note is the significant jump in roles from Stage 4
to Stage 5. This suggests the possibility that Stage 5 companies may go overboard in role specialization and discreet activities undertaken. This leads to redundancy and inefficiency that can bloat overhead costs.
Cambridge Consulting takes pride in providing
research-driven marketing decision support for its client roster.
If you'd like further information about the complete survey results,
or about how Cambridge Consulting might assist with your own organization's
marketing decisions, please contact us at 800-436-7185.
Survey Details
- Survey conducted September to November
2001
- 165 respondents completed the survey
- All respondents were high tech marketing
professionals from emerging to Fortune 500 companies
- 27% were CEOs or Presidents
- 44% were VPs or Directors of Marketing,
- 29% were other marketing managers with decision-making authority.
- Company classification
- 53% software
- 23% hardware
- 24% IT services
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