Perspective Archives
Here you’ll find a collection of whitepapers published under the Perspective category.
The Apple iPhone: Successes and Challenges for the Mobile Industry
By Michael Mace on April 1, 2008
The Apple iPhone is easily the most publicized new mobile device in recent memory. But despite all the discussion about the product, there’s relatively little hard information available to the public on its impact. How is it being used? What effect is it having on customers and on the technology industry?
To help answer those questions, Rubicon Consulting conducted a detailed survey of 460 randomly-selected iPhone users in the US. This report summarizes the findings from the survey, and what they mean for users and other companies.
Download a PDF of this whitepaper.
Solving the Puzzle: Pricing, Licensing & Business Models
By Nilofer Merchant on November 8, 2006
Today, almost all software vendors are doing something in the SaaS arena. Salesforce.com, NetSuite, Yahoo! and Google are well-know SaaS developers, but IBM, Oracle, SAP, and Symantec are all moving that way too. Single-user desktop applications are under the least pressure, and are moving the slowest.
Download a PDF of this whitepaper.
Excerpts from Stop Flying Blind
By Michael Mace on June 19, 2006
Nobody can predict the future of a market or business perfectly. If I could do it, I’d be retired someplace living off my stock income. If the authors of all those management books could do it, they wouldn’t have to write books and give speeches for a living.
Part of the problem is that the world’s very complex, and any absolute prediction is bound to break down as unexpected things happen. But the biggest challenge is that the future doesn’t yet exist. It’s no a single deterministic thing, it’s a set of possibilities. We change the future every day with our own decisions. So what we need for the future isn’t a prediction. We need a map, showing all the possibilities and consequences of various decisions: if you go here you’ll end up in a valley, if you go there you’ll end up in the mountains — and if you go over there you’ll run off a cliff.
The better you draw the map of possibilities, the better your company can choose a good future for itself and its customers.
Download a PDF of this whitepaper.
Value Innovation
By Nilofer Merchant on December 1, 2005
Tools for Meeting & Exceeding Investor Expectations.
Download a PDF of this whitepaper.
Richness of Relationships
By Nilofer Merchant on September 1, 2005
If you believe, as Rubicon does, that excellent sales and marketing revolves around meeting customers’ needs, then this article will develop how that belief can guide the work of you and your team. “Knowing your customer” is not, of course, a new idea in marketing. Today’s market landscape is characterized by pressure for high-volume, reduced transaction costs and e-commerce, ever-increasing specialization in products and needs, and shortened product life cycles. In this context, we are pressured to rely on impressions or memories or articles in the Sunday paper — anything that saves time — to provide a portrait of the customer. Following our beliefs, however, reminds us that it is more necessary to invest the time and energy in meeting, learning and understanding our customers. We want to get so close that the team can explain who the customer is, as a name, a place, and a voice — and know what the customer needs, and think about connecting points to help finish the route-to-market puzzle.
Download a PDF of this whitepaper.
Using Channels to Serve Your Customer
By Nilofer Merchant on July 1, 2005
Tips on Building a Channel Strategy Aligned to Your Customer Needs.
Download a PDF of this whitepaper.