RE: The long tail - Was: Change management systems

Heh. I hate to think of the number of times some hotshot with a "plan" sold
a company on the next, best thing in the IT world, and then after his
resume' was padded, bailed out before things hit the fan, only to surface at
the next place.

Also, they always seem to be able to blame their successor for the failure
of the project.

Paul Nelson
Office 512-392-2577
Cell 708-670-6978
nelsonp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx


-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Wintermute, Sharon
Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 8:52 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: RE: The long tail - Was: Change management systems

AMEN!

This was exactly my point, short term vs. long term. And they wonder why
we are in such a financial mess.

Sharon Wintermute

-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Paul Nelson
Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 8:03 AM
To: 'Midrange Systems Technical Discussion'
Subject: RE: The long tail - Was: Change management systems

Can I get an AMEN?

Paul Nelson
Office 512-392-2577
Cell 708-670-6978
nelsonp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx


-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of John Earl
Sent: Tuesday, March 09, 2010 10:12 PM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: The long tail - Was: Change management systems


On Mar 9, 2010, at 6:43 AM, Paul Nelson wrote:

Too many 30 and 40 something MBA's running around. Don't get me
started.

Paul,

If an MBA looks at a software company solely through the lens of a
spreadsheet, they sometimes see a cash-cow that can be purchased for
roughly 2x maintenance revenue. The MBA brain may decide that the
financially astute thing to is to dismiss 80-90% of the company
personnel (to reduce costs), keep a few sales people (to grow the
install base), keep a couple of harried support staff (to maintain the
all important customer base), and hope that existing customers will
still pay maintenance for the next 5-10 years.

If that plan works (and it often does) the MBA's can make a boat load
of money with near zero risk. This is sometimes referred to as "the
long tail". And if that software company's customers are not paying
attention and the customer just keep paying maintenance (well, for at
least 3 years after the acquisition), the MBA's clean up - at the
expense of the customer.

Moral: Know who owns your software provider. Know what their current
and future software development plans are. If they are not actively
investing in the products that you purchased, you should ask yourself
why you are investing in them.

jte