From: taterskins@patriot.net Sent: Wednesday, August 25, 1999 9:12 PM To: Info-VAX@Mvb.Saic.Com Subject: Re: Tornadoes, Chasms, and OpenVMS Marketing In article <37c398b6.1999815@news.demon.co.uk>, Jim.Johnson@type62.nospam.demon.co.uk (Jim Johnson) wrote:[the stuff at the bottom - I'm going to put my comments here to save a bit of 'scroll time'] Thanks for the "insider view". IIRC this was beginning of the MicroVAX wave, which certainly did see a lot of machines going out the door, including a few I put my grimy paws on. According to Moore (and he cites a number of examples supporting this view), the things that Digital DIDN'T do that truncated the "tornado" were exactly the things necessary to feed it: 1. Focus on shipping product, not creating warm fuzzies for the customer; 2. Extend your distribution channels like crazy; and 3. Drive the price point just as low as needed to skunk the competition. While they may have toyed a bit with No. 1, my experience with D.E.C. sales about this time period - if extended - would indicate that buying the system you needed was like pulling teeth. Again, distribution channel story seemed to be a mixed bag, where everyone other than Digital appeared to be at some disadvantage. The price point, as has been debated exhaustively here for years, is the true killer, however. Digital just couldn't believe that volume pricing was necessary for volume sales, and the legacy lives on. Anyway, that's the way I see/saw it; I'd be glad to hear some REAL facts, though... :-) > On Tue, 24 Aug 1999 21:52:20 -0400, taterskins@patriot.net (Ramon L. > Tate) wrote: > > >In article <37C29944.D27D6768@world.std.com>, "Terry C. Shannon" > > wrote: > > > >> "Ramon L. Tate" wrote: > >> > > >> > >> > > >> > For the "rest of the story", get a copy of "Inside the Tornado", the > >> > successor to "Crossing the Chasm". While Moore's writings may not be > >> > pioneering, they do succinctly and readably present the basic dynamics at > >> > work in the hi-tech marketplace. What Digital failed to do was what most > >> > hi-tech firms fail to do: take their products from a "niche" market to the > >> > position of market leadership. > >> > >> The irony is that plenty of DEC execs read, or at least possessed, the > >> aforementioned tomes (Palmer, f'rinstance, had copies of both in his > >> office at MS02). Moreover, DEC used the chasm and tornado metaphors in a > >> number of its customer and analyst presentations. > >> > >> Terry Shannon > >> http://www.acersoft.com > > > >Interesting, if not surprising. Just shows that having read the book > >doesn't mean you understood the story, I guess. I don't think it was ever > >possible to actually have created a true "tornado" type of market for any > >Digital product, although the PDP-11 may have qualified for that honor. > >Maybe it was exactly that success that led corporate managment to believe > >they could do the same thing with EVERY platform, VAX/VMS specifically. > > As someone who was "inside" (working in VMS Development) at the time, > and having recently read these books myself, I'd argue that VAX/VMS > did form a tornado around 1985-1987. > > We were growing incredibly quickly, and into many areas that we'd not > had a strong presence before. While not in the sales cycle, I heard > and read enough to make me believe that many customers came to us with > a predisposition to VMS. Furthermore, if you look at the advertising > and marketing of the time, VMS was frequently used as the benchmark of > comparison. All of those taken together sound like a tornado to me. > Why did you discount it? > > However, tornados blow out, and it would be amazing to claim that the > VMS tornado has done anything else. > > > > >I think Nigel Arnot hit the nail on the head with his recent suggestions > >about pricing and concentration on low-end systems targeted at applications > >developers. This approach is precisely what the Technology Adoption Life > >Cycle calls for. VMS/Alpha has fallen back into the chasm (it never really > >got to tornado status, I don't think), and now the only way forward is into > >what Moore calls the bowling alley. Here, the critical elements are [whole] > >product leadership and customer intimacy. Looks like there's plenty of room > >for improvement in both areas.... > > Absolutely (my only quibble is that I'm not sure VMS/Alpha ever > crossed the chasm...). Notice also that the many of the strengths > needed for an organization in the midst of a tornado are contradictory > to those for an organization working its first (few) bowling pins. > > > > >Just my 0.02 Eurodollars.... > > > >-- > >Ramon L. Tate > >Casa Maņa > >taterskins@patriot.net "Skin" that "tater" before replying! > > Jim Johnson > Adamant Software Crafts, Ltd. > (Automating Reuse Analysis) > (remove nospam to reply) -- Ramon L. Tate Casa Maņa taterskins@patriot.net "Skin" that "tater" before replying!