In the first part of our series, we examined the implications of IT buyers negotiating positions rather than interests and neglecting to examine seller motivations and organizational structures that may give them an edge. In this installment, we take a look at sales missteps that stem from an ignorance of the organizational pressures on buyers. … Continued
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A little over a month ago, on a hot and sunny day at a coffee shop in Santa Monica, I bumped into Tony Greenberg, CEO of RampRate Sourcing Advisors, as I was waiting for my double espresso. I’ve known Tony from years ago, when I was running marketing for one of the world’s first Managed … Continued
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Rigged Managed Services RFPs Harm Suppliers and Buyers Alike As a seller of IT managed services, you may spend hundreds of hours on a quote only to find that you really had no chance because the game was rigged. It can be obvious and heavy handed: The RFP ignores your strengths, but itemizes your competitor’s advantages; You’re … Continued
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A friend of mine in the research industry used to give out little post-it-notes to trainee analysts that said “be wrong boldly.” Her reasoning – if you are bold and right, you will be hailed as a prophet. If you’re wrong, most likely the crowd will have moved on by the time your prediction fizzles. … Continued
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CEO
The key question is cloud service is the right fit for your specific jobs, whether today or in a few years, and what you should do to prepare. by Alex Veytsel, Steve Lerner and Tony Greenberg As published by Microsoft TechNet In the 10+ years that RampRate has advised buyers of IT infrastructure services, few … Continued
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Last week Google formally launched its Page Speed Service, the latest in a long line of Content Delivery Network (CDN) services from dozens of suppliers from big and small to hit the market over the last 15 years. In the case of Google though, I see a few novel changes that could not only materially … Continued
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(Prove me wrong or shut the heck up.) As pondered by Tony Greenberg and Alex Veytsel 1. Everything that’s old will be new again. Last year brought us the return of 3D from the 1950s, cloud (a.k.a. the new and improved mainframe), thin client (the dumb terminals for said mainframe), and iPad, the new and … Continued
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2011 was a very busy year for us at RampRate. I’ve spent nearly 20 years, on many sides, of the technology business and I enjoy reflecting across large swaths of time to see if there are patterns, lessons, and advice, so let’s see what we get from 2011. Cloud Computing Won’t Whisk Us Away to … Continued
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