Question

Topic: Strategy

Name For Project

Posted by Anonymous on 7/9/2005 at 5:00 PM ET 375 Points
Apologies for not posting a thank you for the excellent responses to my earlier post. I have a related question. The middle tier IT solution will depend on pre-configuring many elements of the software which will speed up the implemenation approach. This will be based on an analysis of what the common work practices of our clients (financial institutions) are.

They have called this 'Factory Approach'. From a customer perspective I think this sends out the wrong message. My thoughts are 'Best Practice' or 'Standard Approach' sends out a better message.

Basically I'm lookng for a name. any ideas.
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by adammjw on 7/9/2005 at 6:09 PM Member
    Chris,

    Thanks for your explanation as it seemed somewhat unclear to me- no offence!
    You are absolutely right as ' Factory Approach' is in no way good term even to be used internally, let alone in front of customers.
    What about trying to brand the process of analysis and calling it 'CUES' short for CUSTOMER- UNIQUE EXPECTATIONS STUDY/ or SCRUTINY?

    Regards

    Adam
  • Posted by Chris Blackman on 7/10/2005 at 1:51 AM Accepted
    Sounds to me like a Standard Configuration (rather than Approach) which is customisable to reflect the different ways some customers might want to deploy the system.

    Whatever name you choose, it's a subset of the original product name and is of little consequence. It certainly doesn't need to become the headline name for the product and should not feature strongly in packaging or brochureware. It's way down in the small print, if anywhere...

    Hope that helps.

    ChrisB
  • Posted by mgoodman on 7/10/2005 at 9:57 AM Accepted
    I would not "name" the standard product at all, and let the fact that it can be implemented quickly and easily be YOUR secret.

    Stop using the term "Factory Approach" internally, and start calling the product by its [benefit-oriented] name.

    When a client's needs/specs lend themselves to the "factory approach" you simply deliver the standard product without customization. In a sense, their customized product just required less effort to customize. (I also wouldn't charge any less for it. They're buying a solution to a problem, not a bunch of programming hours/days.)

    This is what happens when a company focuses on its own products/solutions instead of on satisfying its customers' needs. If you were truly focused on meeting customer needs, you'd have realized that many customers have the same needs and you can satisfy them by creating the solution once and then reselling it many times ... your "factory approach."

    From a clients' perspective everything you deliver should be customized to meet its stated needs and specs. How you do that, and how efficient you are at it, is your business, not the customers'.
  • Posted by koen.h.pauwels on 7/10/2005 at 9:19 PM Member
    I believe the name should bring together that you preconfigure elements and that this is based on in-depth knowledge of common practices. How about something like 'Prepare for speed' or 'Know-how preparing for fast implementation'?
  • Posted by SRyan ;] on 7/11/2005 at 9:57 PM Accepted
    If I understand you correctly, Chris, you're not looking for a PRODUCT name, you're looking for a phrase to describe the preconfigured elements of your mid-tier software. Am I right?

    If so... call it "Industry Favorites" or "Popular Industry Settings" or "Industry-Based Configuration" or something like that.

    If I'm way off base, sorry about that!
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