Featured Case Studies (7)
Objectives
A global supplier of IT technologies engaged Edge Strrategies to resolve the Cloud Computing perspectives and plans of CIO/IT Executives responsible for the data centers of major US and European firms.
There was key interest in:
- The paths they intend to take to Data Center Cloud adoption, including business and technical challenges
- The major IT vendors considered to guide and support their adoption process
Methodology
To gain the insight required, Edge Strategies accomplished the following:
- Identified and recruited target CIO/IT Executives responsible for data center operation and technology/supplier selection in major firms in US and Europe. (Including Coca Cola, Raytheon, Humana, Deutche Bank, Boeing)
- Conducted 30 online surveys with 30 CIOs/IT Executives; in-depth, one-on-one interviews with 12
- Integrated primary research with industry data and secondary research
Results:
Detailed findings included:
- The range of varying definitions and attitude toward Cloud computing, virtualization and the Private Cloud
- The impact of current technologies, including legacy and server environments, on the Cloud migration path
- Perceptions of major vendors, including value propositions and trends
- These and other findings were the foundation for targeted strategic recommendation to help the client improve customer perception of their capabilities and increase market share.
Objective
Our Client with thousands of Loyal Solution Providers, and wanted to understand how to best position those Partners in their upcoming Services Strategy. Project objectives included
- Understanding how end-users would evolve toward Cloud Services
- Determining how each Partner Business Model was likely to be impacted by the evolution toward Cloud Services
- Identify whether or not Solution Providers would prefer to host services themselves, or resell services provided by the ISV, and if so, how these services should be provided
- Determining which Solution Provider Services were still relevant, and which new services may be required.
- Examined the Branding and Billing Implications of White Label vs. Branded Model
- Identifying what the financial impact of the change in cash flow would have on Solution Provider operations.
Approach
Edge Strategies designed a research project which included a combination of in-depth interviews, and over 800 quantities interviews with Solution Providers in US and Europe.
Result
Our client continues to lead the industry in developing integrated Go-to-Market Programs which includes Solution Provider Partners as part of its Services Strategy.
Objective:
Build a "best in class" Developer Marketplace for Next Wave Developers. This required both understanding how they create new applications and determining what would attract them to build for our client's environment.
Approach:
- Built a database of Next Wave web developers using a web crawling system to identify application characteristics
- Conducted interviews with over 100 next wave developers
- Created a model segmenting New Wave Developers based on their development methodology and technologies
Result:
Created a complete model of the design and development process for Next Wave applications. This model was used to design a marketplace to attract Next Wave Developers.
Objectives
A global IT vendor engaged Edge Strategies to generate insights and recommendations regarding their retail channel. The criticial go-to-market questions which needed to be answered included:
- Which retailers have the potential to be the best partners
- Which products to sell through SMB retailers
- What programs will help the client's retail channel become most successful with their products and services
Methods
Quantitative and Qualitative Research with Customers and Channels
- Retailer profiles and insights were generated via secondary research followed by in-depth telephone interviews with executives (director and VP level) at each retailer with responsibility for their technology line of products and services
- Interviews with 300 Small Business Customers to understand their needs, expectations and preferences
Results
Our client selected several key retail chains on each continent to work with. Our recommendations included:
- Which retail business models will work best in the evolving Cloud Services markets
- Which services are most appropriate to offer through the retail channel
- How to train retail channel personnel
- How to help their retail channels partner with third party integration partners to deliver complete solutions to SMBs
- Programs designed to improve the complete customer experience for Small Business Customers
Increasing Market Share through Research-Based Competitive Advantage
Challenge
The product, marketing and sales teams of a leading global IT firm needed to understand the market positioning, strengths and weaknesses of competitor Real-Time Charging (RTC,) Data Retention (DR) and Customer Revenue Management (CRM) portfolios.
Objective:
Increase Activation and Adoption Rates for Telecom Service Providers and Mobile Operators for SMB customers .
Services Providers are beginning to offer Business Class Cloud Services to SMB Customers, but they face many challenges. Most important of these is getting customers to activate and actively use these services.
On behalf of several major Telecom Service Providers in Europe, Edge Strategies developed a methodology to help them understand and deal with the challenges of selling, enabling and getting customers to full adopt complex services. This was particularly true of services involving email, Domain and Data Migration.
Methods:
To address this challenge, Edge Strategies used and continues to use three primary methodology's:
- Analysis of Best Practices of the Most Successful Cloud Service Providers
- Extensive research with Telecom Providers' customers who succeed or failed in the adoption/activation process
- Operational analysis of existing process within the Telecom Service Provider Organization
Results:
Major Telecom Service Providers in US, Europe and Asia are adoption Edge Strategies' methodology's strategies and recommendations for maximizing adoption of business class cloud services for small and medium business.
Some operators are already indicating:
- higher activation rates
- reduce churn
- Improved Customer Experience
Objectives:
How can our client help OEM’s bring products to market faster? What are the OEM market segments that they should focus on next?What product development/launch challenges exist at various stages of the OEM sales cycle? What resources need to be applied to the roadblocks?
Methods:
Conducted in-depth interviews with decision makers and quantitative research with 300 OEMs to fully understand the decision making journey, and all of the challenges faced by an OEM along the journey to develop and launch new products that include embedded operating systems.
Results:
- Our client has increased market share significantly (~15%) in the target market as a result of our work.
- Validation of the stages, roles and customer interactions of the OEM Marketing and Sales stages, currently envisioned by our client, to accelerate embedded product adoption.
- Determine the OEM customer’s challenges at various points during the stages of a product lifecycle.
- Determined the resources required to best address the issues, enabling a shorter time to market for the customer.
- Estimated the price elasticity of key products in order to identify profit maximizing price
