Focus Area: IT Ecosystem

Home \| About Us \| News \| Contact Us \| New User Registration
	Research-based Market Strategy Consulting

Focus Area: IT Ecosystem - Future Vendor and User Scenarios

An ecosystem is a group of organisms, mutually reliant for sustenance, without which they would perish (Source: Webster et al)

Vendor cooperation and partnership have always been key to success in end user sales and support. But the appearance and rapid evolution of vendor ecosystems is a dramatic change that threatens vendor viability.

The importance of the new ecosystem model is emphasized by the powerful shift in user IT buying behaviors away from traditional purchase and licensing to flexible, hybridized solutions that support and enable more flexible business operations and strategies. In short, the growth of the IT utility and on demand strategies means that vendors must do business in new ways - reaching, selling, implementing and supporting their customers through a variety of flexible partnerships that provide customized solutions based on standardized technologies and products.

An IT ecosystem needs to be more than the usual vendor partnership or relationship; it needs to be:

	A mutually-rewarding, extended set of interdependent relationships, managed and coordinated for ecosystem-wide benefit
	Complementary offerings centered around a specific type of solution value proposition (e.g., CPM for business value)
	Working relationships/partnerships (formal and in practice) with clearly-defined responsibilities and rewards

Through at least 2010, the majority of IT markets, offering types, sales, and customer relationships will be dominated by a few key vendors, which will have dominant customer presence and wallet share, and which will act as de facto Master Brands. These Master Brands will control customer access and relationships, and technology standardization within customer organizations. Master Brands will act as relationship managers/brokers for smaller vendors and services providers, following a publisher/distributor model wherein offerings from smaller vendors will become part of Master-branded solutions.

Representative Consulting Engagements

	IT Vendor Ecosystem Strategy, Structure and Partnerships
	Market-specific Master Brand Strategy Development
	User Buying Behavior Analysis
	User business model scenarios and intelligence
	Vendor technology and business model scenarios
	Positioning and messaging

Relevant links to Published Saugatuck Research Topics

	Business Strategy / Mgmt
	IT Ecosystem
	IT Vendors
	Mergers & Acquisitions
	Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
	The IT Utility


	Featured Research Reports *Cloud Infrastructure Services Data Report: Traditional Approaches to New IT* Firms may be deploying Cloud Computing with a lack of understanding and preparation that will cost dearly in lost time, project investment, integration, and management overhead. This report lays out key trends, challenges and needs for users and vendors, and provides guidance to effectively manage the disruptive impacts of Cloud on business and IT. Click here to find out more *Monetizing the Cloud: Assessing Billing and Payment Providers* Effective billing and payment solutions are essential in enabling monetization, providing agility in competitive situations, managing the channel, and reducing operational costs for any Cloud services provider. This study examines and explains the need for, and roles of, billing and payment solutions in all aspects of Cloud Computing. The study also profiles solutions of leading Cloud billing solution providers, assessing each according to eight critical selection and use criteria. Click here to find out more *An Endless Cycle of Innovation: Saugatuck SaaS Scenarios Through 2014* Software-as-a-service (SaaS) is part of a multi-year “loop” that reciprocates between users and providers, with each side influencing the other. Mismanaging this “endless loop of innovation” prevents user firms from being able to derive competitive advantage from SaaS, prevents SaaS providers from competing effectively, and traps ISVs from growing along with the global IT market. Understanding how each side influences the others, and how to manage through changing market scenarios, is the key benefit to readers of this report. Click here to find out more *Bridging the Gap: Achieving the Promise of Enterprise Social Computing* The business potential of enterprise social computing (ESC) delivers quantifiable business value by improving collaboration and business performance within and between user enterprises. This report includes insights, analysis, and recommendations from Saugatuck’s social computing research program, including in-depth guidance to buyers and providers to maximize the business value of ESC. Click here to find out more __________

Home | About Us | Contact Us