An integrated approach to technology and market strategy is critical to success

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The firm I work for has several new products being released over the coming months that will require a technology acumen that we are not currently best suited to handle. As a result,  we need to develop a long term technology strategy to support the release of these products. Additionally, our marketing needs to be aligned with the technology road map to ensure that we are messaging our new capabilities in a cohesive manner. If you are a technology company, you can no longer think of your technology and market strategy as mutually exclusive.

SaaS firms like Salesforce.com understand that there is no difference between its technology infrastructure and go to market planning and messaging. However, some firms, in particular mine, do not view technology and marketing as related to one another. An approach like this will dilute our overall messaging and branding and could lead to confusion about who you are in the marketplace. Additionally, if you do not implement a strategy road map that looks at technology and marketing strategy as an integrated unit then you will end up supporting multiple one-off technologies and have to craft multiple messages.

In the past, the positioning of my firm was one as a content provider or publisher. However, we are releasing a new platform that will make us more of a service provider that delivers content, with as much if not more focus on the technology than the content. Our approach to date has been to explore individual technologies like vcms and mobile, an approach that only addresses weaknesses and is not an overall road map. The goal now is to work with the technology group as they map out their needs so we can also adapt our messaging to fit this new world order.

So my advice is to integrate your technology and market planning to make sure each one knows what the other is doing so there is no disconnect.

Product Development: Incremental changes vs. blowing it up

I am currently in the middle of market and customer research to support the next version of our flagship product. The product has good content but the technology is lacking. We compete in the corporate learning market, a market that is undergoing a wave of change due to new Web 2.0 tools and the retirement of the baby boomers. The Boomers are being replaced by younger workers who have grown up with technology and have certain expectations that they think should be met. Most current corporate learning products do not meet those expectations, ours included.

The question arises: do we build for the next generation of users now( blow it up) or perform incremental changes and arrive "there" in 3 years?
I personally favor blowing it up and building something completely new. The market is ripe for change with no real leader in the space. We have the opportunity to be very forward looking, something our customers expect from us. An incremental change will be warmly greeted by our customers, but not in an overwhelming, tell your friends, we have to have this sort of way. The technology is there, we just need use it!