Operations Practice

In the software industry, demonstrating a compelling vision and strategy has always been perceived as a must, while demonstrating operational excellence was not necessarily a required discipline - especially in the dot-com era and, more generally, every time a new technology era emerged. However, the growth and maturity of the technology industry has forced this to change:

■	Customers have become more demanding and more selective, pushing software vendors and IT integrators to demonstrate value, and financially commit to the actual realization of such value.
■	Competitive pressure has increased requiring software vendors to much more effectively manage their distribution and alliances channels.
■	Executive management must now, more than ever, demonstrate strong operational performance to meet investor expectations and enable funding of their future projects

Many high tech companies made promises in the late 90's that they were unable to deliver. Most of these resounding failures were operational, not strategic. Tioga Venture has conducted operational engagements in product, marketing, sales, professional services, and customer support areas. These examples below illustrate typical operational engagements and frequently-faced operational issues.

Product Operations

Client Situation

Related Operational Issues

■	We have planned to launch two new products as part of our verticalization efforts, but our available engineering resources are very limited.

■	How to ensure the requirements are integrated in your products?
■	How to prioritize the software developments to maximize future revenue on new products?
■	How to win early references on the new products and ensure a successful launch?

■	The gap between our marketing message and our actual software capabilities lead to critical customer issues.

■	What are the key adjustments required in the product?
■	Which of them can be delivered quickly?
■	What is the most suitable roadmap? Is it possible to deliver capabilities that the product will not offer in the short term through Professional Services?

Marketing Operations

Client Situation

Related Operational Issues

■	We have just refined our product positioning.

■	Should some or all of the marketing tools be adjusted or completely rewritten?
■	How should the marketing tools be presented to best support the new positioning?

■	We have decided to increase our RFP success rate with a proactive selling approach.

■	Who should be targeted through lead generation programs?
■	What type of lead generation programs would have the most impact: participating in industry events, organizing seminars or webinars, distributing newsletters, etc?
■	What are realistic objectives for our lead generation program? How to measure actual performance?

Sales Operations

Client Situation

Related Operational Issues

■	Our insight into the sales pipeline must be improved

■	What are the root causes of the current lack of predictibility?
■	How to adjust the sales process and sales management practices to improve the current situation?

■	We have a wide performance gap between our top sales performers and our bottom sales performers.

■	How could we reduce this gap?
■	How can we ensure that a new sales person becomes a successful sales executive?
■	Should we change our sales process? What are the best practices in this area?

Professional Services Operations

Client Situation

Related Operational Issues

■	Our typical implementation project requires more time and resources than our customers expect, or than we can afford, to meet our license growth objectives.

■	How to standardize the implementation organization and processes?
■	How to standardize the implementation projects (tasks, organization, planning...)?
■	How to measure the value delivered to customers?

■	Our Professional Services organization does not generate the expected profit margin although all consultants are at full capacity.

■	What is the gap between the occupation rate and the billable rate?
■	What is the average discount on the daily rate? How to minimize the write-off rate on fixed-price projects?
■	What non billable activities should be handled by the Professional Services department such as pre-sales efforts?

Customer Support Operations

Client Situation

Related Operational Issues

■	Our customer support has low morale internally and a poor image externally.

■	What are the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of our customer support?
■	What is customer support's current performance? Are they working toward realistic goals?
■	How to optimize the customer support organization and processes?