Dear Father Christmas (or can I just call you Uncle…)
Now I have written to the big vendors and it would be unfair to leave out the other Christmas Franchises but there is a limited number of letter that I can write so I am afraid that you are just getting a general letter!
It's been a mixed year for the lot of you; the economy has not been good and the VCs have got impatient with a very competitive market. So we've seen a few companies fall by the wayside and few still appear to be teetering on the edge.
But some of you appear to be doing pretty well and continue to push forward; I do have concerns though, especially with those of you who have built your business around a feature.
So what I would like to see over the next twelve months is for you to build your businesses on more than just a feature; the big guys are beginning to integrate your USPs into their ranges. You need to focus on being responsive to your customer's needs and requirements, engaging with them and listening to them. It might be possible for you to react quicker than the big guys to changing needs.
It is also inevitable that some of you end up being acquired; acquisition is a two way thing, try to make sure that you are being acquired by people who are going to progress your technology, not by people who just want to kill your technology because it is too disruptive to the business.
Building partnerships is also going to be very important to your business; the dynamic data centre relies on tight integration up and down the stack. The really big guys are doing their best to own the whole stack or build partnerships which allow them to virtually own the stack; if you don't do this too, you might find that 2010 is very cold (even colder than the North Pole).
And a word to some of you niche players; don't forget your niche, the larger market may look very attractive but you are very small fish out there and if you try to out compete the sharks in the general market, you might just lose. You know who you are, just be careful that you don't forget your roots!
A special shout out to the smaller vendor bloggers; what you do is very important, more so than the bloggers of the big guys…Most of you do it very well and with a keen sense of humour! Keep it up and keep me smiling!
Have a Great Christmas and New Year
Best Regards,
Storagebod
p.s
I don't need any more memory sticks, mouse-mats etc..Can you just give
a pound or two to charity instead of giving me freebies!
