Management of Information

Technology Products and

Services
Meeting 1, 10th August 2020,
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 hasn’t 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 course’s textbooks was even named ‘Marketing IT’
• Many of these stories are immediately accessible to us, they’re not in fantasyland
• Feel that ‘software is eating the world’:
• Is behind decisions, or even mechanical devices
• Think will add some value to the organization you’ll work for
What exactly does this course try to do ?
• It is not a case-based course, though it will solicit solutions
• Course aims to explain spectrum of IT Products, Services
• By products or services we mean software, rarely hardware
• Part of agenda is to dispel the discomfort that PGPs harbour vis-à-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 regular Technology due to convergence
Announcements
• Class timings: Mon-Wed 3.0PM-5.15PM (15m break in between)
• 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 to’ve 1-2 guest speakers (either in person, or via Skype)
• In talks with Product Management Cos.
Announcements
• Tentatively, I plan quizzes at end of each meeting
• Occasionally, also to test uptake of reading material.
• Each class will have reading material uploaded to VC beforehand
• However, simple and easy-to-follow classroom discussion will be basis
• The absentee policy for the class tests is as follows:
• Pre-approved absence for sound reason = ROUNDDOWN(class_average)-1
• Unapproved absence merits lowest_score-1
• Class participation, article discussion, snap-tests count for 20 marks
• <Midterm examination>, Final examination account for 50 marks
• VC will sometimes host comment-style forum discussion – do respond
Special Incentive – who wants Rs 10K ?
• This is an IT Products and Services course, so we have to build one
• You’re 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 (50 marks) to be evaluated against this
• Further leverage from SDP, IIMK Research Project and Conference Grant exists
• Think, write-up your idea on VC forum (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 MBA’s mind to small problems: IIMK Auto Ride, anyone ?
2 Questions on Global IT trends
• We’ll 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 for these 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
• Knowledge, Skills and Intellectual Property
• The tangible mix of what you’re offering:
• Product
• Services including ‘Solutioning’
• Support
• Complementors and Platform
IT Interoperability: US Healthcare as
example
• How do you see interoperability ?
• Background: US’ HIPPAA and HITECH Acts:
• Meaningful Use of EHRs,
• “Vendors are charging Interface fees despite using $30B Govt subsidy”
• 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 Business 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.
Unit:
How to deliver IT’s Value-Proposition to customers ?
• Product
• Solution
• Service:
• Remote
• In-Product
• On-Site
• Support:
• Ticket, Troubleshoot, Helpdesk
• Enhancement
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. Microsoft’s 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. It’s
more focused on engaging the audience in a conversation, at least at first”
• http://www.siriusdecisions.com/blog/whats-really-the-difference-between-s
olution-and-product-content/
(Marisa Kopec, GTM VP)
Product Vs Solution
• 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
• Don’t ask for solution if you’re replacing a broken piece of equipment
• Don’t ask for a product when you know not what’ll fix your problems
• Solutions organizations are true problem solvers
Smart Cos. are the bane of Solutions’ sellers
• HBR 2012: “customers didn’t 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.
• http
://www.iei.liu.se/externt/mba-proma/course-information/txpr16-industrial-mark
eting-and-pruduct-developmen/filearchive/Handouts/1.134770/A-ROliva-Kallenb
erg-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’ ?