Competitive Analysis
The Problem:
Companies need to know how their products fit into the market and
compare to competitors’ products. Whether it is
finding the right spot on a magic quadrant, or trying to understand the
outcome of a pre-sales bake-off or proof-of-concept, a detailed, honest
assessment helps a company improve its product, enhance marketing, and
optimize the sales cycle through better deal qualification.
Most companies rely on two sources of information for the above
analysis. One is their internal staff, which typically has
the best on-the-ground information, but lacks the objectiveness
needed. The analysis usually results in “I
don’t understand, our stuff is better than theirs”,
or similar outcomes indicating the team cannot see beyond their own
creation. Internal analysis is typically also limited to
comparing the core technology, and not fully considering the needs
evaluated by the customer, which include the solution aspects of
technology, such as fit for purpose, tools, automation,
customizability, administration, etc. The other source of
information is a big IT consultancy defining terms and
quadrants. Are their interest aligned with yours?
Do they have the hands-on, project-delivery experience to offer real
analysis, or are they merely comparing market-ectures and product
documentation to
make their analysis? The answers are disappointing.
Real competitive analysis is a must for companies. Without,
they develop great technology, that just misses becoming a great
product.
The Panoscopix
Solution:
Panoscopix can provide this service off-site, with expert consultants
that have years of experience building and deploying real
solutions. Obviously, all of the information comes from the
public domain, but our unique value is our experience within that vast
domain and understanding of what makes and breaks a technology for a
customer.
The analysis is based one or more application scenarios. This
means the analysis not only considers the core technology, but rather
the whole product, and provides a firm understanding of the following:
- Out-of-the-box-experience:
Will a developer get through the initial learning curve with
confidence, and an ability to create his/her first prototype.
- Tools/Automation:
Given the real-world needs to import/export data, or define integration
points, are there the right tools and automation support in the product.
- Customization:
What customization would benefit the customer, given real-world needs
for integration, business rules, heterogeneous technology, etc.
- Simplicity:
Can the developer do the basics quickly and easily, providing a basis
to layer on additional functionality.
- Completion:
A successful project includes testing, debugging, performance tuning,
administrative support, etc, in addition to the nominal business
logic. How does the technology support existing
tools? How much insight is provided, or is it left to the
user as a difficult problem?
- Lifecycle:
A successful project goes to deployment, and then is enhanced over
time. How does the technology really support this.
- Qualification:
Given the above, insight into kinds of sales situations represent
well-qualified opportunities, and which are long shots.
- Comparison:
How would a similar scenario be handled by a competitor’s
product. Is it one or the other, or a co-existence.
Be prepared for objections and responses in the sales cycle.
Deliverables:
This service provides the following deliverables:
- Description
of the customer scenario(s) being considered.
- Analysis
of the OOTBE (out-of-the-box-experience).
- Analysis
of the customer’s technology along dimensions that matter to
customers.
- Competitive
analysis – how a similar scenario would be handled by a
competitor’s product.
- Sales
analysis – scenario-oriented strengths, weaknesses, and
competitor objections and responses.
