Posts tagged IT
Countering artificial commoditization and poor pricing
Dec 20th
by Stewart Crawford
I stumbled upon awesome white paper from my friend Larry Walsh and the teams from N-Able and Netenrich.
As an experienced MSP consultant or MSP Coachwho has built a very successful IT Support firm, I often stop and think about how my MSP coaching clients are pricing themselves in the marketplace today.
Stewart Crawford
There is a pricing challenge in our industry. It starts with how we see our value as an IT Professional” or “IT Consultant” versus just the regular “joe computer fix it guy”. Read the rest of this entry »
The ITBusiness.ca story we’re still waiting to tell
Apr 28th
By Shane Schick
Enough with the nostalgia already.
Yes, we are celebrating 10 years of ITBusiness.ca this week, and yes, I am incredibly proud of the stories we’ve told in that time, but there’s plenty of elements in our coverage already that will have us looking back on the biggest news events, the site’s origins and the evolving nature of online journalism. I want to take a moment instead to look forward 10 years.
Shane Schick
Not so that I can make any predictions – I’m notoriously wrong when I do that – but to talk about the one big thing that didn’t happen over the last decade. Despite all the mergers, breakthrough products and unexpected innovations, the biggest problem facing SMBs has not been resolved. They’re still mired in legacy IT issues.
Designing a product vs. designing a user experience
Feb 16th
In day-to-day life we often come across products that stand out. Some stand out because they are so good, some stand out because they are so bad and many fail to capture our attention or imagination in any way. 
The factors that separate a good product from a middle of the road product are sometimes difficult to nail down. If we put aside how well a product is marketed, and what role factors such as brand recognition play in the success of a product or service, we can start to peel away some of the outside layers and look at the product itself. Read the rest of this entry »
How a little company could thrive in a big boys’ world
Feb 4th
Bigger isn’t always better – at least that’s how DAVE Wireless sees it.
At the Toronto Board of Trade breakfast on Feb 2, Dave Dobbin gave an insightful and humorous presentation on what to expect from the new carrier when it launches in the spring of 2010 under the consumer name, Mobilicity. 
Dobbin admits that as a small player, the company has received its fair share of speculation around how it will succeed in a market surrounded by the National incumbents, and where some have questioned whether the Canadian market is even large enough to support another carrier. In response, Dobbin made a compelling case on Tuesday that outlined how the company plans to position itself for success.
Much of the reasoning Dobbin referred to can be generalized and extended beyond the Canadian wireless sector to any small company that finds itself competing with their own “big boys”. In a single word, the secret to success appears to be “differentiation” and finding a niche where size alone becomes less important. So how does Mobilicity plan succeed in a big boys world? It plans to do the following:
