I am surrounded by Apple fans!

I am surrounded by Apple fans!

A new iPad... a new iPhone... ohhh they are the first one to go and say "Take my money... I want it"

If you dare to say another product can be as good as them, oh my god! Be ready for an anger storm and 45 minutes speech about how good these companies are... and they produce the best products and bla bla...

If you dare to like any of the competitor's products....
Ohh! They will make your life miserable with their arguments until you surrender.

What is my problem with this?

People are becoming more and more biased! They act as if it's their own company or they are getting commission from the sales:)) They are making their purchase decisions without making a realistic comparison with the other products in the market.

If everyone acts like this, certain brands will monopolize the market which will kill the competitors and then what?

Here comes my scenario from hell! No other proper option and we have to pay whatever these companies charge...

Yak! It sounds scary!

But unfortunately it can happen in the software industry as well.

Almost 2 years ago a friend of mine from another BIM Vendor met with one of the leading consultants in the region. He said the meeting started with a question from their side?

"Why would we use software from any other vendor than X?" (Of course X was their competitor:))

In my opinion it is not the smartest question you can ask in a meeting:))

I know my clients did similar things to my competitors as well but I honestly think this is a very wrong business approach. (OK OK! I have to confess. Listening their stories makes me smile sometimes:))

Even if you are happy with your current process and software you should still keep an eye on others. Here are the reasons:

• If anyone else develops a better software, you will be  the first company who implements it and differentiate yourself from the competition.
• It will give your company a stronger hand in negotiations with your current vendor. You will not get a good price if the vendor is sure that you are their most loyal client.
• If there is no competition your vendor will not invest in development as much as they would do in a competitive market.

See, you will not loose anything! Ok ok! Maybe 1 hour of your time but that's it.


Diyane Koseoglu
www.bimes.com