One of the 6 utility levers of Blue Ocean Strategy is simplicity. As we look across the stages of the buyer experience, how do we make it simpler for the user, the buyer and the "influencer" to do business with us, and more importantly, to create huge leaps in value for THEM? While Kim and Mauborgne make the point that simplicity requires little explanation, it is becoming clear to companies who try to innovate that finding and creating simplicity is the real challenge.
In an effort to compete, companies add more and more features and options. Over time, the effort to address the needs of the mass of customers makes it tougher for any individual customer to simplify their work. Let's look at enterprise software, for example. SAP has created a huge, integrated suite of ERP applications that can support the operations of large companies. The value cost trade-off is that while an integrated system is easier to support, the underlying database structure is so complex that customizing the application to specific business needs is extremely expensive.
CRM has taken off in new directions - precisely because IT often cannot respond fast enough to support the sales end of the business. Rather than forcing customers to deal with the cost and complexity of monolithic ERP applications, on-demand vendors like Salesforce.com have exploded with an offer targeted directly at the business user: pay a fee, set up your CRM environment in a few hours and you are off and running. Okay, that's great for management - the system is up quickly, with little IT involvement. In addition, the behind-the-scenes software upgrades are pretty much transparent. But this, too has created another layer of complexity: integration and the user experience.
Most salespeople are not just concerned with contact and pipeline management. Increasingly, sales is responsible for the profitability and follow through on the business they capture. In response, Salesforce.com is focusing more attention on integration. Their success has created a Blue Ocean in on demand applications. Okay, better for management and IT, but what about the user? (Note: Not everyone loves Benioff & Co. See "Thoughts on Salesforce.com")
If we really want to simplify work for the user, how can we either make the new solution part of their existing rhythm, or make the nature of the work simpler in itself? If most salespeople use Microsoft Outlook to communicate and manage contacts, why not use that same interface for CRM and other applications? That is exactly what Microsoft is betting on with Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Their approach is to use Outlook as the interface to reduce the time and complexity of user training. They are also offering a common code base for on demand and customer-installed applications to allow for greater enterprise flexibility.
Next comes Google, who would like to change the world's desktop habits with their hosted applications. And there are others picking points along the user and buyer experience cycle, attacking specific utility levers. Which one is going to be the next leader? My bet is on those who figure out best and fast how to simplify work on behalf of users and customers - while reducing their own cost to serve their customers. That does not mean that these vendors abandon their vision for user-driven feature requests.
How do we wrap our arms around this animal called simplicity?
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