Project – A Consulting Model for Strategic Digital Marketing

A Consulting Model – Strategic Digital marketing from Saurabh Kaushik

Service Productization – 101

As IT industry is going through its churning stage to find a new growth path, there is a lot of buzz around “How to Move Up the Value Chain?”.  Concept of Service Productization offers new avenue. But, I scratched my head on this a lot and could come out with my 101 notes on Service Productization.

What is Productization?

• Productization is a practical and systematic methods to implement product-like features and characteristics into a service and package it into a more manageable and understandable object.

What is Service Productization (SP)?

• It is packing a Service offerings into a product bundle to deliver a domain solution with better cost, lesser time, better quality and higher predictability than Pure Service model. It is a complete domain solution full of methodology, framework, accelerators to

What are the Differences between Service Productization and Service Model? 

• Based on configuration rather than customization.
• Loaded with features rather than requirement gathering.
• At end, Not a project model but a product.

What are main Characteristics Productized Service?  

• A pre-defined and clear offering or deliverable
• A consistent standard delivery methodology
• Supporting tools and templates for executing the service
• Consistent knowledge and skills required to deliver the service
• Quantifiable costs and demonstrable value

Why should we productize services?

• Sophisticated client base demands constant proof of repeatable and demonstrable value. Fixed-time, fixed fee and shared-risk engagements represent about half of all the work performed by Project
• Executive Group nowadays. Therefore it becomes increasingly important for us to structure our work in a way that offers clear deliverables with pre-defined scope, methods, skills, time and cost.
• A standard service methodology delivers significant improvement in revenue, pipeline size and utilization.

Why is it called Blueprinting of Services? 

• Yes, it is a blueprint of end to end domain solution using services. If compared with Template, it is just about time and resources. But, Blueprints is about adding additional views of complete guides, deliverables, required authorizations, historic effort and other critical information.

What are critical success parameters of a successful SP? 

• To Build a successful productized service, it has to address following two aspects:
  • Commercialization – A SP has to offer both most common and most appealing demand but in this, it should not loose sight on Cost Structure. It have to show one big price for full offerings but allows flexibility to change it by configurations based on customer requirements.
  • Standardization – Success of SP is purely based on standardization of each service in its portfolio. Surely, this comes with experience, but a model can be placed to keep it standard across offerings.
• To Win in Marketplace, it is required to come with flying colors on following parameters as well.
  • Customer expectation -In this, It will be about Ability to size the Customer expectations and ability model in SP offering is critical to success.
  • Ability to deliver – Having modeled a fantastic SP, delivering it on promise is second most critical factor for continuation of success.
  • Service proposition – Should continued to have its Service flavor to it to provide Customization flexibility.

Can any domain problem be consider for SP? 

• No, bear in mind, that SP is only beneficial in solution domain where there is high volume of work from multiple clients.

References: 

• http://onproductmanagement.net/2010/08/10/guest-post-how-to-productize-a-service-for-enterprise-customers/
• http://mydesignnotes.com/how-to-productize-you-service
• http://www.internetviz.com/psjblog/2012/06/service-productization/
• http://www.projectexecutive.com/productizedservices.html
• http://www.internetviz.com/psjblog/2012/05/the-next-generation/
• http://www.business2community.com/strategy/six-reasons-to-productize-your-professional-services-before-your-competition-0175403

Fat Apps killing my NexusOne

Just now, FB and G+ updated its app on my mobile and now it take 10+MB of internal storage.

With Apps are getting fatter, my Nexus One is running out of Internal Storage. I never imagined, that this sweetheart will become absolute obsolete within 2 years. Somehow, I dont prefer to chase every new device for few additional feature. My rule of thumb is to have it, if it has good fundamentals (platform & Ecosystem). But it missed one layer down, future of FATTER app and underlying hardware capacity. So, time to change it…. Waiting for right to switch!!!

Out of Mobile:	On Mobile:
Google Drive Book Doc Shopper Listen Blogger Goggles Street View Angry Bird HP Printer TweetDeck WordPress Firefox Any.Do Piano Yahoo RealCalc Learn Salsa Workout Trainer TuneIn Radio	Google Map Calender YouTube Reader Google+ Voice Search Translator SugerSync ES File Explorer ES Task Manager Facebook GTasks Routinely Toshl Twitter Evernote

Art of Story Writing by Andrew Stanton

http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf

Wow, really impressed me…

Few take-away from his talk

1. Drama Creation is all about keeping the anticipation going in audience mind.
2. Story is an art of reaching conclusion by going though heap and bound of road leading to it.
3. Audience watches drama for problem solving contently. Anything static and just happy happy don’t fly long, that is why we have Villain and Hero/Heroin  with Villain characters.
4. You should give clues to audience to allow them to their conclusions along with clues of doubts to hinder their progress and keep the suspense of story.

What I like most about it, the end!!!

“Whatever you are good at, it should be worthy a second chance given. “

Way of Happiness – DVR

Attended a very enlightening session of DVR (IIMB Prof). He described us Ways of Life Happiness.

Major Aspect of Life: 

1. Freedom – Financial, Family, Wealth, Health
2. Social – Family, Friends, Love
3. Analytical Life – Success, Social Welfare, Office Success,

Barrier To Happiness

1. EGO – Edging God Out
2. ANGER – Change in Expectation
3. FEAR – Of Hardship

Path To Evolution

1. Self Confidence
2. Courage
3. Self Esteem – (Body, Intellect and Social Inadequacy)

Ultimate Stage of Evolution: 

• Self Realization
  • Liberation / Independence / Peace

Book Reference: 

• The New Earth
• Power of Now

Born Twice

We take birth twice!!! 

1. At Birth
2. At Face of Death

Do we have good answer for questions??? 

Did you Live? 

• Did you dream big?
• Did you chase them hard?
• Did you achieve them?

Did you Love? 

• Did you love and been loved?
• Did you love someone madly and achieved it?
• Did you give time and resources to love ones?

Did it Matter?

• Did you understand your significance/role
• Did you take risk and make dent in universe?
• Did you you touch lives and made difference?

Essential for Entrepreneur Startup

Just read couple of stories in “Stay Hungary and Stay Foolish”. I could come out of few following observations about required Entrepreneur-capability for a start-up.

• Financial – Security & Support
• Focus – Desire and Capability
• Ideation  – Having future vision for innovation of solutions
• Buddy – Highly qualified specialty complimenting team members

Business Pitch – 7 Point Agenda

Structure of Good Business Pitch (3 Mins):

1. Significance and relevance of your business?
2. Business Solution to Customer and market base
3. Differentiators and Specialization
4. SWOT Details
5. Financial Plan & Projection (3 yrs)
6. Marketing & Sales Plan & Projection (3 yrs)
7. Funding – How much, For What and Why?

Learning a Salsa step

First time, I realized, my passion for dancing, was in trance parties at Goa in 1994. I know, you must be laughing at me, yes, I am laughing on myself as well. Since yr 2000, I have attempted Salsa dancing multiple times, at multiple places, under multiple teachers and even in multiple countries, but could never pass through Level 1. Who do I blame it!!!

Again in 2011, same ghost started haunting me to complete this life milestone of Learning a Dance, this time around, I could maintain my motivation despite my same demons of past pricking me with thoughts “Are you crazy???, At this Age!!, how will it help u in career??? Will you make Career Out of it??, What will people say???, Can you dance Socially or at Stage?? , Where is the time???, Just laze around, you BUM!!!)

But this time, I could cross through all that, finished two levels of Salsa dancing.. YEAY,… but I still cant say, that I am excellent salsa dancer, but I can certainly say, “I am good student of Salsa!!!”

From LVDS

From LVDS

From LVDS

From LVDS

Strategies of WAR

After reading Robert Greene Books: 33 Strategies of WAR, I have thought to categorize different strategies into psychological areas of WAR for its impact.

Warfare	Spiritual	Mental	Strategy	Tactical
SELF-DIRECTED WARFARE
		Guerilla-war-of-the-mind	Polarity
		Death Ground
		Counterbalance
ORGANIZATIONAL WARFARE
	Moral	Controlled Chaos	Command and Control
DEFENSIVE WARFARE
		Perfect-economy	Non-engagement	Counterattack
		Deterrence
OFFENSIVE WARFARE
		Intelligence	Grand strategy	Blitzkrieg
		Forcing	Center-of-gravity	Divide and conquer
			Ripening for the sickle	Annihilation
			Turning
			Diplomatic war
			Exit strategy
UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE
	Rightous	Misconception	Inner Front	Passive Aggressive
		The Void	Communication	Ordinary Extraordinary
		Chain Reaction	Alliance	Fait Accomplice
		One upmanship

Ideal Warrior Transformational Characteristics

• Spiritual Motivation
• Emotional Control
• Strategic Thinking
• Result/Action Orientation
• Self Reliant Tactical
• Diplomatic Win

Sequence of Warfare Strategy

• Self Directed Warfare
  1. Polarity
  2. Guerrilla War of Mind
  3. Counter Balance
  4. Death Ground
• Organizational Warfare
  1. Command Control
  2. Controlled Chaos
  3. Morale
• Defensive Warfare
  1. Before
     1. Perfect Economy
     2. Deterrence
  2. Middle
     1. Counter Attack
  3. End
     1. Non Engagement
• Offensive Warfare
  1. Before
     1. Grand
     2. Intelligence
  2. Middle
     1. Divide and Conquer
     2. Forcing
     3. Blitzkrieg
     4. Annihilation
  3. Opponent
     1. Ripen for Sickle
     2. Center of Gravity
     3. Turning
  4. End
     1. Diplomatic War
     2. Exit Strategy
• Unconventional Warfare
  1. Opponent
     1. Mis-perception
     1. The Void
     2. One Upmanship
     3. Righteous Ground
  2. Middle
     1. Passive Aggressive
     2. Ordinary Extraordinary
     3. Fiat Accomplice – Winning in small bites
     4. Chain Reaction
  3. Background
     1. Inner Front
     2. Alliance
     3. Communication

 Reference:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_33_Strategies_of_War