Customer Choices for Achieving Growth
Olin Thompson and P.J. Jakovljevic - April 23, 2005

Savvy Customer Has a Choice

Turning towards existing customer bases as a mainstream of revenue can be a gamble. While the odds may be better for the "Big Few," (vendors with over 20,000 customers and revenue of at least $1 billion USD), as some will argue, there is still notable risk involved. After all, these market leaders want to introduce a new product or concept that will directly challenge the model that has made them successful so far. There is certainly no guarantee (or even a strong indication) that a configurable set of process components or Web services will appeal to buyers used to buying broad, pre-packaged enterprise application suites, nor is there any indication of what they will pay for license fees for new add-ons and integrated solutions. Even if the paradigm shift takes place, competition will still exist among the Big Few and smaller vendors, that will also adopt the new model...