Anyone who has been reading this blog for any length of time knows the following about me:
- I love technology – from the first CP/M-driven Kaypro to the introduction of the Apple II, Compaq 386, and where we are with today’s digitally-driven, algorithm-learning AI, these past 40 years have been one heck of a ride!
- Loving technology for the sake of technology is a fool’s paradise.
The above statements may seem contradictory, but in reality, they share a symmetry – problem-solving, which brings us to today’s post.
In the November 3rd, 2023, Supply Chain Game Changer article “How Supply Chain Innovation Propels Startups to Unicorn Status!” the authors share the stories of Ocado Group, Convoy, Instacart, and Flexport. I have to admit that, except for Instacart, I had not really heard of the other three. So, I did some homework and discovered that they all share a common thread for success – problem-solving.
The Basic Four ISA Solution Development Model
Earlier in my career, I was introduced to a formula for successful solution development – The Basic Four Industry Specific Application (ISA) model. Without going into too much detail, businesses from lawyers’ and dentists’ offices to retail inventory management – including restaurants viewed technology as an extension of sound, innovative processes based on industry-specific experience and expertise. In other words, tech was the adjunct component of a better process versus being the definer of it.
Once these businesses had developed and successfully implemented their “new technology,” they realized that this solution would work equally well for other companies in their sector and that they could recoup their investment in development through licensing.
The critical point here is that the technology was an extension of their industry experience and expertise, minimizing the need for change management because the user interface was aligned with the way the world operated and then made it better.
Here is an even better way to put it – before improving their clients’ businesses, these ISA providers used their solutions to make their “own businesses” better. After all, if their tech couldn’t improve their operations, how could it improve someone else’s?
Problem Solving First, Technology Later?
Of course, in-house application development, e.g., the IKEA approach, is not an option for many organizations for several valid reasons.
However, the in-house problem-solving capability shouldn’t be a challenge.
On the practitioner side, you bring a wealth of knowledge regarding how your company operates and some of the unique challenges it needs to address.
You need a service provider partnership that recognizes your essential role as a practitioner in the success equation and brings to the table their industry-specific problem-solving expertise over and above their technology.
Choosing The Right Unicorn (Service Provider)?
“Today’s press releases by Coupa, Coupa Guarantees 1% Reduction in OpEx within 6 Months and, Coupa Sets New Standard for Ease of Use in Business Software, provide further evidence as to just how far the vendor has come from the heady days of being an outsider innovator trying to crack the then seemingly impenetrable wall of large ERP vendor prejudice and the inaccurate (and derogatory) bolt-on application moniker, to the mainstream recognition and acceptance it has and is continuing to achieve today.” – Procurement Insights (May 2011)
How many service providers today offer a “guaranteed” return?
I remember when I first talked to Dave Stephens and Noah Esiner in 2007. For those who may not know their names, they are the founders of Coupa – that’s right, the same Coupa that achieved “unicorn” status not that long ago.
As an early sponsor of Procurement Insights, the company’s primary goal was to create an open-source solution that could “be modified or improved at will.” By the way, today’s version of “open source” is the emergence of Apps and “composable procurement.“
Why did the early Coupa guarantee results? From where I sat, there were three reasons:
- They were trying to scale the giant ERP mountain, and a good way to do it is to offer something no one else did – a guaranteed return.
- Company leadership – which in 2009 included Rob Bernshteyn, knew they could do a better job at addressing procurements’ needs because of their backgrounds, e.g., they worked for Oracle, Siebel Systems (now Oracle), McKinsey, and Accenture.
- They dared to believe in themselves and what they were doing and back it up with a guarantee.
There is so much more to tell, but I will end today’s post with this one thought:
Find a service provider who has actually “walked in your shoes” as a practitioner. Don’t ever get distracted by the shiny technology because, in this game, true industry knowledge IS a superpower.
30
Procurement Insights 
What did the MAI Basic Four ISAs and these “Unicorns” have in common? Problem Solving!
Posted on November 5, 2023
0
Anyone who has been reading this blog for any length of time knows the following about me:
The above statements may seem contradictory, but in reality, they share a symmetry – problem-solving, which brings us to today’s post.
In the November 3rd, 2023, Supply Chain Game Changer article “How Supply Chain Innovation Propels Startups to Unicorn Status!” the authors share the stories of Ocado Group, Convoy, Instacart, and Flexport. I have to admit that, except for Instacart, I had not really heard of the other three. So, I did some homework and discovered that they all share a common thread for success – problem-solving.
The Basic Four ISA Solution Development Model
Earlier in my career, I was introduced to a formula for successful solution development – The Basic Four Industry Specific Application (ISA) model. Without going into too much detail, businesses from lawyers’ and dentists’ offices to retail inventory management – including restaurants viewed technology as an extension of sound, innovative processes based on industry-specific experience and expertise. In other words, tech was the adjunct component of a better process versus being the definer of it.
Once these businesses had developed and successfully implemented their “new technology,” they realized that this solution would work equally well for other companies in their sector and that they could recoup their investment in development through licensing.
The critical point here is that the technology was an extension of their industry experience and expertise, minimizing the need for change management because the user interface was aligned with the way the world operated and then made it better.
Here is an even better way to put it – before improving their clients’ businesses, these ISA providers used their solutions to make their “own businesses” better. After all, if their tech couldn’t improve their operations, how could it improve someone else’s?
Problem Solving First, Technology Later?
Of course, in-house application development, e.g., the IKEA approach, is not an option for many organizations for several valid reasons.
However, the in-house problem-solving capability shouldn’t be a challenge.
On the practitioner side, you bring a wealth of knowledge regarding how your company operates and some of the unique challenges it needs to address.
You need a service provider partnership that recognizes your essential role as a practitioner in the success equation and brings to the table their industry-specific problem-solving expertise over and above their technology.
Choosing The Right Unicorn (Service Provider)?
“Today’s press releases by Coupa, Coupa Guarantees 1% Reduction in OpEx within 6 Months and, Coupa Sets New Standard for Ease of Use in Business Software, provide further evidence as to just how far the vendor has come from the heady days of being an outsider innovator trying to crack the then seemingly impenetrable wall of large ERP vendor prejudice and the inaccurate (and derogatory) bolt-on application moniker, to the mainstream recognition and acceptance it has and is continuing to achieve today.” – Procurement Insights (May 2011)
How many service providers today offer a “guaranteed” return?
I remember when I first talked to Dave Stephens and Noah Esiner in 2007. For those who may not know their names, they are the founders of Coupa – that’s right, the same Coupa that achieved “unicorn” status not that long ago.
As an early sponsor of Procurement Insights, the company’s primary goal was to create an open-source solution that could “be modified or improved at will.” By the way, today’s version of “open source” is the emergence of Apps and “composable procurement.“
Why did the early Coupa guarantee results? From where I sat, there were three reasons:
There is so much more to tell, but I will end today’s post with this one thought:
Find a service provider who has actually “walked in your shoes” as a practitioner. Don’t ever get distracted by the shiny technology because, in this game, true industry knowledge IS a superpower.
30
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