selling soa to the enterprise - selling soa to the enterprise.pdf · it’s our job to help the...

Selling SOA to the Enterprise

Beverly Bammel (979) 836-2244

www.ObjectWatch.com

International SOA Conference 2009


Beverly Bammel

ObjectWatch, Inc.

Houston, TX, USA


Technology Meets Business

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Every system will pass XLM documents inside SOAP calls and then …

I have no idea what this guy is talking about.

… not a pretty sight



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� Agenda

� Challenges we Face ‘Selling’ Technology Solutions

� Understanding Your Organization

� The Business

� Information Technology

� Creating a Compelling Message

� Developing a Relevant Presentation

� CxO and the Business Unit(s)

� Technology Team

� The Big Day

� Project Follow-up

� Summary

� Questions & Answers


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Challenges we Face ‘Selling’ Technology Solutions

� Challenges we Face ‘Selling’ Technology Solutions



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We’re living in an age of technical confusion

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Challenges

� Management and users are wary of technology promises

� Our ability to communicate technology issues is poor

� We must sell to multiple audiences

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Challenges

� We often have no control over key factors that affect issues

� Business environment is volatile

� Technology budgets remain flat or reduced

� User expectations continue to increase while budgets and resources continue to decrease

� To respond and succeed, we must step out of our own comfort zones

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SOA Challenges

� SOA requires full organizational adoption

� Few organizations see the need for extensive change

� Few organizations understand the need for collaboration across units

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� To succeed, SOA must have executive buy-in and his/her conspicuous and on-going

support



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Reality – SOA is sooooo good

� Strengths –

� Sharing

� Reuse

� Agility

� Legacy systems enabler

� Cost-effect to deploy

� Lower risk*

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SOA


Understanding Your Organization

� The first step is to stop.

� There is much to learn.

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Test Time!!

1. What is your organization’s Mission Statement?

2. List at least 2 of your organization’s top competitors?

3. What is the top economic issue affecting your organization?

4. Which business unit has the highest profitability?

5. At what corporate level is your most influential business relationship?



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Understanding Your Organization–The Business

� Mission Statement

� Chief Executive Officer’s annual focus statement

� Top competitors

� What are the top economic pressures affecting your organization?

� Your competitors?

� What direction has your senior management verbalized to address the issues?

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Understanding Your Organization–The Business

� Which business units are thriving?

� Which business units have rising stars?

� Who are they?

� Do they know YOU?

� If not, have you developed a strategy to meet them?

� Do you have a compelling message for the rising star that will

entice them to meet with you?

� Which business units have new initiatives that need to be launched?

� How can you build a network of business allies that will keep you appraised of new initiatives?

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Understanding Your Organization–Technology Unit

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1. What is Technology’s annual budget?

2. Has the budget increased, decreased or remained flat?

3. What top 3 areas has your Chief Information Officer identified as priorities?

4. What is the number one technology complaint from the user’s?

5. At what corporate level is your most influential technology relationship?

Test Time!!


Understanding Your Organization–Technology Unit

� Does the CIO know you?

� Does the CIO value your opinion?

� What are the top technology challenges in your organization?

� From what area(s) do you get the most user complaints?

� What does the user community think about Technology’s services?

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We must know our organization!

� Business analysis – not our strong suit

� Hard to get firm numbers

� Hard to get face-time with business unit leaders or financial department

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� Work-arounds

� Create hypothetical analysis that are eerily similar to

your organization

� Create a scenario that causes interest in your business peer that compels them to share more

information with you

� Use government examples as they are more readily

available through research

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� Corporate Culture

� Does your organization encourage dialogue ‘across

the aisle’?

� How can you gather information in spite of business silos?

� Have you identified and groomed mentors who can

assist you in gathering the information you need?

� Have you identified mentors who will introduce you to people who need to hear your story?

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Gathering Information

� Look at organization’s annual statement

� Search your website’s News section

� Google searches

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� “problems facing fiat group”

� “fiat group +cio”

� “fiat group +ceo”

� “internal conflict at fiat group”

� “most profitable business unit at fiat group”

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� Talk to your marketing department

� Where has executive management been asked to

speak?

� Ask for copy of their presentation

� What are the upcoming industry conferences that your

management team will be attending?

� What is the focus of these conferences?

� Request a meeting with the Chief Financial Officer

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Crafting Your Message

� Know your audience

� Their key issues/concerns

� Not as easy as it sounds!

� Be able to verbalize the benefits of your solution

� Couple your message with corporate or departmental goals

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� Be sensitive to the issues your listener is focusing on

� We ‘hear’ solutions to the problems we’ve identified

� If it’s not our problem, we tend to tune the speaker out

� It’s our job to help the listener understand that we have a solution to their problem(s)

� Can only be accomplished by truly knowing our ‘listener’ and his/her needs

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� Address how your solution will impact

� Productivity

� Cost reduction

� Competitive advantage

� Describe short and long-term goals & benefits of the project

� Paint an action scenario that allows the listener to ‘see’ the

effects of your solution

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SizzleSizzleSizzleSizzle



� Know the pitfalls – Do your homework!

� Search for all ‘gotchas’

� Know what can go wrong

� Know which departments are going to push back and know

why the pushback

� Have a reasonable solution for obstacles

� Encourage input from your listener

� They can help you

� They often know things you need to know

� They are a potential supporter of your vision

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Know Your Solution

� Carefully analyze problem and solution

� Document your findings

� Select low risk/high return first-project

� Develop deployment strategy

� Show timeline

� Articulate benefits

� Focus on the benefits from the listener’s perspective

� Prepare a brief, concise presentation devoid of technical terminology

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Trial Runs

� Preview ideas to trusted peer

� Seek areas you may have overlooked

� Find a strong – but helpful – devil’s advocate

� Go out into business units

� Talk with the unit’s ‘stars’

� Explain how your solution can assist them in reaching their

goals

� Seek their buy-in

� Ask to quote them

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Trial Runs

� Be able to articulate your solution without any acronyms

� Be able to explain your solution with non-technical descriptions

� If your partner or tennis buddy doesn’t understand

you, it is likely your targeted listener will not

understand you

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Typical Technology Presentation

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The Presentation

� CxO / Business

� No acronyms. None. None. None!!!� Avoid technical terms.

� If a must, always have a practical example to clarify any

unspoken uncertainty the listener may have.

� They don’t want to admit they don’t understand.

� Always be sensitive to this issue!

� Include success stories

� Google for stories – especially competitor successes.

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The Presentation

� CxO / Business

� Be able to articulate a clear understanding of business

issues

� The problem

� The business environment

� The people issues

� The solution

� Costs

� Savings

� Risks

� Upside and Downside

� Be brief, concise

� Avoid over-promising

� Articulate solution objectively30



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The Presentation

� Be an active listener

� Repeat the listener’s concern

� Verify that you understand their concern

� If you misunderstood, they will correct

� If you know the answer to their concern, express it; if not, defer

� Research

� Follow up

� Pace your presentation

� Leave openings for input from listener

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The Presentation

� Technical Side

� Agree on definitions of terms

� Often a major obstacle in introducing new ideas

� Agree on top issues affect technology department

� This encourages dialog that may generate new information

that you need to know

� Peer may gain confidence in your ability based on realizing

you get the issues

� Peer may have valuable insight on issues you are trying to

address

� Peer may become another champion

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The Presentation

� Technical Side

� Prepare logical description of technology, deployment

strategy and on-going support of solution

� Have some success stories on hand

� Ask for input, suggestions

� Listen to their comments

� Confirm that you heard them

� Follow up after meeting

� Have list of further reading materials available

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The Final Presentation

� Have a marketing person review your presentation

� Brutally eliminate techie talk

� Practice, Practice, Practice

� In front of your mirror

� To a friend

� To your dog!

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The Big Day

� You, the messenger

� Dress

� Poise

� Eye contact

� Presentation rhythm

� I love you

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Presentation Follow up

� Always send acknowledgement after meeting

� Email

� Written note

� Mention pertinent comment/input listener made

� Thank listener for their time, their input

� List any outstanding action items

� Your action items

� Their action items

� Include action dates

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Create Presentation File

� Add meeting to your file notes

� Tickler notes to help you continue to build your

powerbase

� Date, time, name, position, new input, obstacles

� New contacts recommended by others

� Reminders of other issues to explore

� Memorable quotes that you can use later

� Keep this file updated

� Valuable information

� Useful throughout the life of the project

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Project Follow up

� It is critical to continue communicating with decision makers who authorized your project!

� Set expectations

� Forewarn them of pending problems, roadblocks

� Provide routine, brief, factual updates

� Send decision makers success quotes from users

� Send them good news quickly and bad news more

quickly

� Continue to position project as a business initiative –not a technical project

� Highlight star performers and give credit to others who

have earned it

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Summary

� Takes a lot of work to sell technology

� Your solution is not just about the technology

� Requires a lot of preparation

� The information is available; you just have to be willing to persevere to obtain it

� Big attitude shift

� Opportunity for professional fine-tuning

� Communication skills

� Personal skills

� If you don’t do these things, then step aside because someone else will

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Thank you!

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Questions?

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