I was flattered when one the most well-known publications in our industry called with an interest in working together. I was excited to speak with an individual that has graced us with insight and perspective for a couple dozen years. We enjoyed a productive conversation about the need to complement the organization’s herd of data analysts with someone possessing actual experience. They needed more than data; they were looking for someone with real-world knowledge. His words – not mine.
I was impressed with their self=awareness. Privately, we all chuckle at the folly of those Data Dummies that have never faced the reality of only “eating what they kill”. The business analyst that have never built a business. The channel expert who has never worked in the Channel. The industry veteran with whom I spoke seemed quite sincere, but the relationship would never work. Their two-dimensional view of the world doesn’t flange up well with reality.
Please don’t misunderstand; I think we all agree that there is value in Data. It allows us to construct business models based on trends. Tendencies. Averages. But there is inherent danger in relying solely on data to define the tendencies of the average small business because the phrase itself is oxymoronic. There is no such thing as “the average small business”.
This is evident when you talk to analysts about that mysterious thing called the Cloud. Ask them for a profitable small business model for the Cloud; they stumble, mumble and point at the data. Trying to define a “one-size-fits-all” model of the Cloud induces a paralytic trance and the Data Dummies gag on reams of surveys and misguided conjecture. As Channel companies, we know how the Cloud will manifest itself in our business lives. We know that its implementation will be different for each of us because each of us serves a different business segment or vertical market. There will not be one ubiquitous Cloud; there will be stand-alone Clouds for the local medical clinics or regional printing companies or law offices in the metroplex. They will be vertically-specific and deployed by Channel companies with vertical expertise.
Data is of value when it is seasoned with common sense. It is important to remember that there is no such thing as a ‘business model sandwich’ and you can’t feed your family a hypothesis. Vendors and small businessmen alike are well-advised to consider data a supplement – but not a substitute – for experience, intuition, and good ol’ common sense.
Tags: Channel, consultants, SMB, SME
