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This week's new blog
post:
September 26, 2003
The Talent Myth Part V, continued The Curse of the ATS Marketplace
My last few posts have distracted us from The Curse of the ATS Marketplace.
It is now back by popular demand!... This week we return to following the
litany of mistakes that have been made and repeated by every vendor in
our little market. These mistakes have added up to what I call the path
to extinction. So far we've reviewed the following mistakes:
Stop One on the path: They listened to their customers a little too much, and not effectively for their business. (find this post here)
Stop Two on the path: They over-complicated their products while they over-inflated their egos. (find this post here)
Stop Three on the path: They diluted their strength as a vendor by diluting their domain expertise in customer facing positions. (find this post here)
Stop Four on the path: Vendors aggressively acquire customers in large numbers before their infrastructure or product are able to support them. (find this post here)
Stop Five on the path: Vendors fool themselves into thinking their products are incredibly different than everyone else's, then they try to fool their prospects and customers. (find this post here)
Another of the most common mistakes made by vendors in this space has to do with a scary combination of arrogance and ignorance. After living for way too long in the vacuum I described in Stop Five Vendors begin to fall into the trap I'll introduce as Stop 6: Vendors develop a case of Business Model Paranoia and Competitive Denial What does that mean? Read on my friend....
As most of us agree, the vendors that choose to do business in our space have chosen to serve a customer that is technology averse. Given that, HR generally doesn't push the technical envelope - we tend to be just behind the curve of the market in general. Most entrepreneurs that start enterprises in this space come from it originally in some form or another (vendor or corporate). This means the vendors are developing technology that doesn't have a long shelf-life on the leading edge.
At the time when the entrepreneur/founder is developing their company and
solution set they are in a mode where the world of possibility is limitless.
At this time many of them find incredibly innovative applications of technology
available at the moment. They also address infrastructure and scale issues
with a combination of the available technologies/practices and the limitations
of their, or their team's, experience. This results in an effect where
at the point the solution goes to market, and generally for about 12 months
after, they are viewed as incredibly innovative.
The challenge here is that while the vendors are developing and going to
market with their product, there are scores of others beginning that same
process. They, however are beginning the process with the benefit of 12
more months of downward price pressure on technology in general - as well
as the benefit of even newer or more enhanced innovative technologies.
Yes, things do move that fast. Generally speaking, if you do the same thing
for 24 months technologically - from any perspective - application or infrastructure
- the world will and probably has passed you by. It certainly has with
most all of the vendors in our space.
The vendor's business model is also at risk here. Their sales, service
delivery, and general business model is framed by all the underpinnings
of the infrastructure and capabilities of the vendor's solution.
Early on when the vendors are more customer and quality focused they keep
up via sheer flexibility. However, as they make more and more of the mistakes
I've outlined here in The Curse their flexibility diminishes and they begin
to live in the vacuum of a world they create for themselves. Early on they are different - visibly - in product and in business model. As the market moves along and competitors adapt they meld into looking more like everyone else. Case in point - None of us can tell the vendors in our space apart any more.
It is in this 24 month timeframe in the vendor's lifecycle that the Paranoia and Denial begins. It starts with the founder's disbelief that any or all competitors can achieve any success with their approach - because they considered it and it just can't work.
The paranoia normally manifests itself around the business model, sales/marketing approach, or strategic product elements relative to the competition. I've heard so many founders and executives that think their ideas were stolen by the competition... "We focused on performance and metrics first." "We were the first with this caliber of hosting facility and they've all copied our model" "We rolled out configurability as a key capability and everyone is copying it now." "The minute we added advanced searching capabilities everyone in the market copied it." "We were the first to focus on the candidate experience"
GET A GRIP! Like I said before, YOU ARE NOT UNIQUE! IT'S BEEN DONE BEFORE!
YOU WEREN'T THE FIRST, AND YOU WON'T BE THE LAST TO SOLVE THESE PROBLEMS.
The denial tends to manifest itself around innovations the competition
have mastered first and the competition's success in general. I have had
so many vendors tell me that what I am using right now is impossible -
or what I saw in their competitor's system just can't be done - or what
I've seen in other commercial systems just isn't available in the market.
It is so incredible to me how these folks start out as visionaries and
then end up sounding like they live under a rock.
Technology is moving quickly folks! Everything is possible and you don't have the franchise on hiring smart hard working people that make new things happen! Get out from under your rock and open your eyes! Start paying attention out there!
The lesson at this stop for customers: Don't take anything your current vendor or favorite prospective vendor claims can't be done or is too large a project to deliver on your time frame as the true answer. Always be looking at the market, viewing what else is out there... and ... network with other peers in the market - find out what they are doing, how their vendors are solving their problem. You'll be surprised. Most vendors are trying to keep you in a box that makes their lives easier by minimizing the level of new development they have to incorporate for you.
The lesson for the vendors: Please lose your arrogance and start to realize that you don't have all the answers. While you were focused on running your company and satisfying your customers, someone else might have come up with the same or better ideas. Get out from your environment - physical and mental - out of your comfort zone - and start looking at the problems you are solving without the constraints of your experience or your customers. Go meet with companies that will invest time to describe what they really need - AND DON'T TRY TO SELL THEM ANYTHING - just learn what the ideal solution would be. Explore the world of technology beyond what you know and what your current technology partners bring to your doorstep.
Moving forward with The Curse I will be evaluating the vendors in the space against the mistakes I've outlined so far. A report card, of sorts, with detailed thoughts - one by one. Please email me which vendors you would like me to focus on first. (Newsletter subscribers will get higher priority with their requests - they have to get some sort of perk!)
Thanks for reading.
Until next time,
Talent.
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