Many writers explore just one tech sector. Brian looks at the entire tech ecosystem to better understand the often conflicted relationships between software vendors, integrators, outsourcers and more.
Brian is currently CEO of TechVentive, a strategy consultancy serving technology providers and other firms. He is also a research analyst with Vital Analysis.
The cost of selling services and softwareBtoB magazine recently posted their Top 100 business-to-business advertiser list. On this list were a couple of firms with distinctly different approaches to advertising.
Are Audited Financial Statements of Value Anymore?Auditors will surely do a lot of head scratching in the coming months as they decide which of their clients’ books are prepared as:- going concerns- breakup basis- going concern but with an expression of doubt as to the firm’s futureI’ve looked at the last audited statement for Bear Stearns and the audit was essentially unqualified and yet Bear Stearns failed.
Weird News of the Week I saw an advertisement in a major magazine where litigators are looking for shareholders of VMWare for a class action lawsuit. A Google search shows several recent results on the same story but here's one that's fairly explanatory.
Workday updateWorkday hosted a conference call for the Enterprise Irregulars bloggers recently. The firm was announcing a number of functional enhancements to their integrated Finance and HR product line.
Staying the (Restrained) CourseFellow ZDNet blogger, Dennis Howlett, and I were treated to a briefing by Jeff Stiles of SAP yesterday. The subject was SAP’s Business ByDesign product line.
Lots of free advice for service firms in a tough economyRecently, I completed a PowerPoint deck on a subject that I’ve lived through a couple of times in my career: how should a services firm navigate a tough economy. I presented that material in a webinar that OpenAir has graciously offered to replay.
The Conference Board publishes an annual report, CEO Challenge, where hundreds of CEOs globally are quizzed as to their firm’s most pressing concerns.This summer, the Conference Board sent out its surveys but as they began to tabulate responses for their report, the stock market, financial firms, retail and other economic sectors began to retrench significantly.
Too Many Cooks Spoil the Livelihoods of Thousands BusinessWeek (12/6/2008) did a great job of dissecting of what went wrong in the collapse of U. S.
83% of cost/benefit analysis supporting IT proposals is a fictionI was reviewing an academic manuscript, Managing the Realization of Business Benefits from IT Investments (published in (MIS Quarterly Executive, March 2007) by Professors Joe Peppard, John Ward and Elizabeth Daniel, when a footnote really caught my attention:This is not a new phenomenon.
A Different and More Optimistic View - Execs Confirm Many Prior AssumptionsLast week, Taleo’s Katy Murray, CFO, and Nate Swanson, Investor Relations, were kind enough to spend a few minutes with me to discuss my recent post on Taleo. The overall tone was positive and not the least bit defensive or confrontational.