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Edge Strategies/Strickland LLC Collaboration Announced
Wayland MA - Edge Strategies announced a new collaboration with Strickland Consulting, the IT consultancy founded and led by telecom CIO Rob Strickland. Together the two firms will provide a unique, multi-dimensional value proposition, combining the executive suite perspective with research-grounded insight leveraging Edge Strategies deep analytical capabilities and global reach.
The Strickland/Edge Strategies combined approach focuses on the areas of maximum change and opportunity at the frontier of the convergence of Information Technology, Telecommunications and Content, with a particular focus on Cloud and mobile solutions.
About Edge Strategies:
For over 20 years, Edge Strategies has been a trusted, confidential advisor/consultant to several of most successful global IT and Telecom providers.The firm was founded by Bob Kazarian, PhD, a recognized industry thought leader. He assembled an elite team of senior consultants, each with deep experience in a core practice area. The firm has global reach, encompassing in-depth interviews and surveys with over 10,000 key decision makers worldwide. The result: custom research and analysis that delivers actionable recommendations that deliver unique market advantage.
Edge Strategies / Microsoft 2010 / 2011 Cloud Adoption Study Highlights Available
Microsoft Corp. 2010 global “SMB Cloud Adoption Study 2011,” investigates how cloud computing will impact small and midsize businesses in the next three years.The research designed and conducted in conjunction with Edge Strategies, finds that 39 percent of SMBs expect to be paying for one or more cloud services within three years, an increase of 34 percent from the current 29 percent.
It also finds that the number of cloud services SMBs pay for will nearly double in most countries over the next three years.The findings show an increasing opportunity for hosting service providers to profit in the cloud from offering services such as collaboration, data storage and backup, or business-class email.
Increased Market Share Through Research
Objective:
A global IT firm's product, marketing and sales teams need to understand the market positioning, strengths and weaknesses of competitor Real-Time Charging (RTC,) Data Retention (DR) and Customer Revenue Management (CRM) portfolios.
Edge Strategies’ Response
- Conducted secondary and primary research, including more than 20 in depth interviews with service providers and suppliers responsible for the solution areas.
- Mapped supplier solution framework to customer requirements and analyzed competitor strength, weaknesses and market positions within this framework.
- Provided findings and key differentiators against new solution framework.
- Developed parallel solutions frameworks for RTC, CRM and DR offerings.
- Recommended solutions to address portfolio gaps and highlighted key areas of differentiation.
Result
The project results were distributed through internal Webinars and one-on-one briefings to arm sales and marketing staff with competitive tactics. This enabled account teams to advance sales through improved competitive differentiation. Deliverables were also usd by product marketing managers to strengthen solution value propositions through in marketing collateral.
Retail Channel Partner Strategy
Objective:
A global IT supplier needs to generate insights and approaches for a retail channel go-to-market strategy. Edge Strategies research focused on the following key questions:
- Which retailers have the potential to be the best partners?
- Which products to sell through SMB retailers?
- What retailer programs should our client develop to to help its retail channel become most successful with their products and services?
Method:
Edge Strategies conducted quantitative and qualitative research with customers and channels:
- Retailer profiles and insights were generated via secondary research followed by in-depth telephone interviews with executives (director and VP level) at each retailer with responsibility for their technology line of products and services
- Interviews with 300 Small Business Customers to understand their needs, expectations and preferences
Results:
Our client selected several key retail chains on each continent to work with. Our recommendations included:
- Which retail business models will work best in the evolving Cloud Services markets
- Which Services are most appropriate to offer through the retail channel
- How to train their personnel
- How to help their retail channels partner with third party integration partners to deliver complete solutions to SMBs
- Programs designed to improve the complete customer experience for Small Business Customers
CIO Perspectives on Hybrid Clouds
Objective:
A global supplier of IT technologies engages Edge Strategies to resolve Cloud computing perspectives and plans regarding Cloud computing of CIO/IT Executive responsible for Data Centers in major firms in the US and Europe.
The focus of the research:
- The paths they intend to take to Data Center Cloud adoption, including business and technical challenges
- The major IT vendors considered to guide and support their adoption process
Methodology:
Edge Strategies built insights and recommendations through the following:
- Identified and recruited target CIO/IT Executives responsible for data center operation and technology/supplier selection in major firms in US and Europe. (Including Coca Cola, Raytheon, Humana, Deutche Bank, Boeing)
- Conducted 30 online surveys with 30 CIOs/IT Executives; in-depth, one-on-one interviews with 12
- Integrated primary research with industry data and secondary research
Results:
Detailed findings included:
- The range of varying definitions and attitude toward Cloud computing, virtualization and the Private Cloud
- The impact of current technologies, including legacy and server environments, on the Cloud migration path
- Perceptions of major vendors, including value propositions and trends
- These and other findings were the foundation for targeted strategic recommendation to help the client improve customer perception of their capabilities and increase market share.
Cloud Service Activation
Objective:
Increase Activation and Adoption Rates for Telecom Service Providers and Mobile Operators for SMB customers.
Service Providers are beginning to offer business-class Cloud Services to their SMB customers, but they face many challenges. Most important of these is getting customers to activate and actively use these services.
On behalf of several major Telecom Service Providers in Europe, Edge Strategies developed a methodology to help them understand and deal with the challenges of selling, enabling and getting customers to full adopt complex services. This was particularly true of services involving email, Domain and Data Migration.
Methods:
To address this challenge, Edge Strategies used and continues to use three primary methodology's:
- Analysis of Best Practices of the Most Successful Cloud Service Providers
- Extensive research with Telecom Providers' customers who succeed or failed in the adoption/activation process
- Operational analysis of existing process within the Telecom Service Provider Organization
Results:
Major Telecom Service Providers in US, Europe and Asia are adoption Edge Strategies' methodology's strategies and recommendations for maximizing adoption of business class cloud services for small and medium business.
Some operators are already indicating:
- higher activation rates
- reduce churn
- Improved Customer Experience
Application Marketplace
Objective:
Build a "best in class" Developer Marketplace for Next Wave Developers. This required understanding two critical factors: how they create new applications; and what would attract them to build for our client's environment.
Approach:
- Built a database of Next Wave web developers using a web crawling system to identify application characteristics
- Conducted interviews with over 100 next wave developers
- Created a model segmenting New Wave Developers based on their development methodology and technologies
Result:
Created a complete, detailed model of the design and development process for Next Wave applications.
This model was used to design a marketplace to attract Next Wave Developers.
