5 Reasons Tech Vendors Exaggerate - InformationWeek

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Comments
5 Reasons Tech Vendors Exaggerate
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Joe Stanganelli
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Joe Stanganelli,
 User Rank: Author
1/28/2015 | 10:31:41 PM
Advantage
It's interesting to me that, unlike many other major industries, software providers are not subject to ethical codes that bar them from selling to multiple competitors in a field because of conflicts of interest.

Maybe that's a good thing, allowing a more competitive playing field and freer market.  Nonetheless, the point about competitive advantage is well-taken.  At the very least, however, not using the tool may (or, admittedly, may not) put one at a disadvantage.
TerryB
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TerryB,
 User Rank: Ninja
1/26/2015 | 2:10:03 PM
Re: IT Vendor Hype and "The Emperor's New Clothes"
Everyone has made this mistake, that's why finding a system that hasn't been hacked (or won't be shortly) is a rarity today. Business, with IT too clueless/gutless (pick one) to say no, wanted the pretty screens and customer convienence of things like online banking and POS shopping without any security baked into the tools they used to create them. And here we are, wondering who in Russia will be the next to steal our credit, or entire identity.
jagibbons
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jagibbons,
 User Rank: Ninja
1/26/2015 | 12:16:25 PM
Re: IT Vendor Hype and "The Emperor's New Clothes"
I would venture a guess that any CXO that made the mistake of replacing the mainframe for the sole purpose of cost savings probably isn't a CXO at that same company anymore. Hopefully, as they've moved on, they've learned more and may not be quite a quick to repeat the same mistake again.
shamika
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shamika,
 User Rank: Ninja
1/26/2015 | 1:45:32 AM
Re: Perfect example
In my experience, the gap arises since they overpromise. Sometimes they are not aware of their capacity.
shamika
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50%
shamika,
 User Rank: Ninja
1/26/2015 | 1:41:23 AM
Re: IT Vendor Hype and "The Emperor's New Clothes"
This is an interesting article. We experience the same issue when it comes to working with IT vendors. From my experience they are always late.
JimC
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JimC,
 User Rank: Apprentice
1/25/2015 | 5:44:51 PM
IT Vendor Hype and "The Emperor's New Clothes"
Having entered the IT vendor world as a technician more than 30 years ago, I'll nominate the two worst cases of outrageous IT vendor hype that gullible buyers at the C-suite level fell for in my opinion: Dot-com and "replace the mainframe".  The latter is worse because it wasn't a case of bravely venturing into uncharted waters and hoping for the best.  CXOs would read an anti-mainframe article in an airline magazine that (s)he'd show to his/her CIO or VP of IT and demand strategic change for supposed cost savings.  Well, there certainly was change as seasoned IT executives with tech backgrounds defended the mainframe and were replaced by people who don't know a disk drive from a washing machine.  I'm no luddite, but change for the sake of it has generated plenty of buyer's remorse.  The problem is that no one in those messed up organizations can dare point out that they're now paying more to get less.  Those CXOs will never admit they were wrong.      
pfretty
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pfretty,
 User Rank: Ninja
1/23/2015 | 3:14:12 PM
Perfect example
I have to say that big data is one of the biggest culprits in this space. Organizations understandably spotlight the huge wins, yet the reality is that most companies need to work diligently to build the knowledge base and buy-in needed to succeed. Likewise, its also important that organizations realize the importance of starting with small wins to build the confidence level before venturing too far into unknown territories that challenge the corporations. 

Peter Fretty, IDG blogger working on behalf of SAS


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