“SharePoint will be for the server what the Office suite has been for the desktop.”

Bill Gates, Chairman & Chief Software Architect, Microsoft

1

Many Service Providers feel they are unique in adding value beyond pure hosting

This impression is dated

2

What is Software + Services?

• Business, as opposed to technical, approach to the successful

deployment of hosted applications and services

• Best practices gained from working with hundreds of telecom

and hosting operators, as well as ISVs, in over 25 countries

• Tools to compare your practices against those of your peers

• A framework for applying best practices to differentiate and add

value to your customer

• Pathway to resources available to build and grow your business

4

Trends Driving Service Provider Transition

Where Do We Focus To Effectively Drive Sales In Value Added Services?

• 8 key success factors are critical to success in VAS

• These key success factors have been assembled from:

– Market Research

– Direct learning from successes and challenges of more than 300

telecom and hosting operators worldwide

• Within these key success factors, a series of ‘best practices’ have

emerged that guide operators in their go-to-market campaigns

• These best practices can be used to create an operator scorecard

that guides execution focus and strategy

Our methodology for assessing Provider maturity with respect to 8 key Go-To-Market Success Factors that are required in selling & marketing Software-as-a-Service offerings:

– Competitive Differentiation

– Messaging & Positioning

– Packaging & Pricing

– Web-Driven Business Model

– Demand Generation

– Online Customer Experience

– Direct/Indirect Sales Processes

– Organizational EffectivenessIneffective

Inhibited

Predictable

Competitive

Optimized

1

2

3

4

5

Assessing Go-To-Market Maturity

© 2007 Mural Ventures Corporation

Each Maturity Level has a Focus

Solution Focused with Continuous Improvement

Target Market (or segment) Focused

Customer (Needs & Benefit) Focused & Service Driven

Benefit Focused

Product-Dependent Focus and Ad-Hoc Behavior1

2

3

4

5

© 2007 Mural Ventures Corporation

Mural ISV Market Readiness Assessment

Competitive Differentiation

Messaging & Positioning

Packaging & Pricing

Web-DrivenBusiness Model

DemandGeneration

Online CustomerExperience

Direct/IndirectSales Processes

Organizational Effectiveness

1 2 3 4 5

OPTIMIZED

COMPETITIVE

PREDICTABLE

INHIBITED

INEFFECTIVE

Maturity Level

Market R

eadin

essUncontested Market Space

Market Segment Need Based

Micro-Market Focused PricingBased on Value

Customer Centric and Market Specific

Integrated Online Offline Messaging

Relevant Cross-Sell Up-SellIntuitive Administration

Focused & Integration Direct/Indirect/Online Sales

Aligned Organization, ContinuousImprovement

Compete on Price

Product and Feature Centric

Complex with High Barriers to Sale

Confusing Internally Focused

Touch Points are Inconsistentfor Offering

Difficult to Buy and Administer

Ad Hoc Direct Sales Only

Ad Hoc Decisions/Department Behavior

© 2007 Mural Ventures Corporation

Go-To-Market Strategy & Execution

TA

RG

ET

MA

RK

ET

AN

AL

YS

IS

OF

FE

RIN

G D

EF

INIT

IOIN

&

FIN

AN

CIA

L M

OD

EL

ING

Organizational Effectiveness

Competitive Differentiation

Messaging & Positioning

Packaging & Pricing

Web Driven Business Model

Demand Generation

Online Customer

Experience

Direct/Indirect Sales

SaaS Business Readiness Approach

Key Success Factors

© 2007 Mural Ventures Corporation

Key Success Factors for Selling SaaS

Customers are unable to find offering, presentation is confusing, no online self-subscription is available.

Typically characterized by uncompetitive pricing, minimum contract terms, minimum # of users, confusing pricing, too many tiers of service, multiple tiers instead of "add-on" options.

Positioning is completely product and feature centric. Positioning is effective only for customers who already know what they need and are already familiar with the specific application domain.

Provider is offering the exact same service offering as other providers (perhaps based on third-party technologies) with no opportunity for true differentiation, resulting in a Red Ocean in which the only remaining competetivedifferentiator is price.

Customers can search, find, and buy. Provider is actively working to ensure that all of the information required to make a successful buying decision is on the site and correctly presented, eliminating any final inhibitors to selling.

Competitive pricing and correct packaging, but actively working to eliminate other inhibitors (e.g. contract minimums).

Still product and feature centric positioning with progress towards customer-centric benefits positioning. Typically a lack of consistent application of messaging across all channels and collateral.

Provider's offering is functionally equivalent to that of other providers, resulting in a "my feature X beats your feature X" competitive differentiation tactic, but ultimately resulting in a price-competitive sale.

Best-practice site that allows customers to 1) Search; 2) Find; 3) Self Qualify; 4) Try (Free Trial where possible); 5) Make the buying decision; 6) Buy; 7) Activate. Web-site is the focal point of the business.

Small number (2-3) of different customer/user "plans" that align correctly with end-user or customer personas. Value differentiation between different price plans is clear and significant.

Customer centric positioning with Benefits (e.g. Anytime, Anywhere access), then supporting benefits points, then features as appropriate. Consistent application of messaging throughout ALL collateral.

Provider has differentiated from the competition by bundling additional services or capabilities not offered by the competition.

Differentiated sub-sites and/or landing pages aligned with best-practice positioning of value proposition according to messaging & positioning framework

Some type of unique differentiation of packaging or pricing that sets the provider apart of the reset of the pack.

Best Practice positioning based on a well-defined messaging & position framework (see template). Customer centric positioning that blends customer-benefit as the solution for the customer pain point/problem.

Provider has differentiated with a vertical market focus with vertical (or micro-market) specific add-on capabilities/features.

Micro-market sales sites for specific vertical markets (e.g. real-estate). Fully integrated PPC/SEO and pro-active analysis of web-analytics

Micro-market specific packaging/bundling of service with vertically focused add-ons. Market research used to understand customer price-point sensitivities.

Vertical (e.g. Real Estate), Horizontal specialization (e.g. Finance), or other micro-market specific positioning. User focus groups or surveys are pro-actively used to incorporate customer feedback into product life-cycle.

Provider has created true Blue Ocean (aka uncontested market space) by differentiating along a unique axis that reaches beyond current market boundaries and existing demand

Web-Driven

Business

Packaging &

Pricing

Messaging &

Positioning

Competitive Differentiation

Customers are unable to find offering, presentation is confusing, no online self-subscription is available.

Typically characterized by uncompetitive pricing, minimum contract terms, minimum # of users, confusing pricing, too many tiers of service, multiple tiers instead of "add-on" options.

Positioning is completely product and feature centric. Positioning is effective only for customers who already know what they need and are already familiar with the specific application domain.

Provider is offering the exact same service offering as other providers (perhaps based on third-party technologies) with no opportunity for true differentiation, resulting in a Red Ocean in which the only remaining competetivedifferentiator is price.

Customers can search, find, and buy. Provider is actively working to ensure that all of the information required to make a successful buying decision is on the site and correctly presented, eliminating any final inhibitors to selling.

Competitive pricing and correct packaging, but actively working to eliminate other inhibitors (e.g. contract minimums).

Still product and feature centric positioning with progress towards customer-centric benefits positioning. Typically a lack of consistent application of messaging across all channels and collateral.

Provider's offering is functionally equivalent to that of other providers, resulting in a "my feature X beats your feature X" competitive differentiation tactic, but ultimately resulting in a price-competitive sale.

Best-practice site that allows customers to 1) Search; 2) Find; 3) Self Qualify; 4) Try (Free Trial where possible); 5) Make the buying decision; 6) Buy; 7) Activate. Web-site is the focal point of the business.

Small number (2-3) of different customer/user "plans" that align correctly with end-user or customer personas. Value differentiation between different price plans is clear and significant.

Customer centric positioning with Benefits (e.g. Anytime, Anywhere access), then supporting benefits points, then features as appropriate. Consistent application of messaging throughout ALL collateral.

Provider has differentiated from the competition by bundling additional services or capabilities not offered by the competition.

Differentiated sub-sites and/or landing pages aligned with best-practice positioning of value proposition according to messaging & positioning framework

Some type of unique differentiation of packaging or pricing that sets the provider apart of the reset of the pack.

Best Practice positioning based on a well-defined messaging & position framework (see template). Customer centric positioning that blends customer-benefit as the solution for the customer pain point/problem.

Provider has differentiated with a vertical market focus with vertical (or micro-market) specific add-on capabilities/features.

Micro-market sales sites for specific vertical markets (e.g. real-estate). Fully integrated PPC/SEO and pro-active analysis of web-analytics

Micro-market specific packaging/bundling of service with vertically focused add-ons. Market research used to understand customer price-point sensitivities.

Vertical (e.g. Real Estate), Horizontal specialization (e.g. Finance), or other micro-market specific positioning. User focus groups or surveys are pro-actively used to incorporate customer feedback into product life-cycle.

Provider has created true Blue Ocean (aka uncontested market space) by differentiating along a unique axis that reaches beyond current market boundaries and existing demand

Web-Driven

Business

Packaging &

Pricing

Messaging &

Positioning

Competitive DifferentiationLevel

5Optimized

4Competitive

3Predictable

2Inhibited

1Ineffective

© Mural Ventures Corp 2008, All Rights Reserved

Key Success Factors for Selling SaaS

Ad-hoc organizational and departmental behaviors with a lack of internal alignment towards achieving a common vision or business objectives.

Direct sales only. No pro-active lead qualification. No customer segmentation by size or industry. Characterized by tendancy to focus too far up-market. Long sales cycles. Lack of "solution specialist" capability results in inability to overcome common objections.

No self-signup capability, direct sales interaction required. No offering self-administration.

No PPC/SEO campaigns. Other demand generation activities (e.g. Print ads, direct mail, etc) do not leverage the web-site.

Good executive leadership in place and committed to drive change and improve business performance by driving improvements in accordance with the "key success factors".

Direct Sales, indirect channels, telesales, but with ineffective processes for lead qualification and routing of leads to "best qualified" channel. Provider is actively working to train sales and revise processes to improve effectiveness.

Self-guided signup, support, and/or self-administration but inhibited in some way -- e.g. overly complex registration process, complex activation. Active progress is being made to eliminate remaining inhibitors.

PPC/SEO and other demand generation capabilities are leveraged, but with some inhibiting factors that limit their effectiveness (e.g. mismatch between PPC terms and landing page positioning).

Organizational alignment around business objectives and customer needs. Repeatedly follow a short and defined life-cycle for the successful introduction of new or revised product offerings.

Pro-active management of direct sales, inside sales, and channel partners. Focus on customer segmentation and lead qualification. Pro-active training.

Self-guided sales experience, self-admin capabilities, no barriers to sale via web, or phone. Easy signup and activation.

Makes use of pro-active PPC/SEO campaigns. All demand generation activities lead to one place -- the web-site.

Strong executive sponsorship for improving existing offerings and adding new value-added service offerings. Proven organizational agility and rapid time-to-market in response to competitive threats.

Integrated lead/opportunity flow for channel partners. Mature process for lead qualification and routing of leads. Customer segmentation and qualification "drives" the opportunity management.

Integrated online knowledge-base and live-chat for both sales support and post-sales support. Pro-active email communication during first 30-60 days provides training, tips, tricks, etc.

Demand generation campaigns drive to a specific sub-site or landing page. All campaign activities are well coordinated and integrated. Iterative PPC/SEO campaign management.

Organization is designed and internally aligned for change. Specific processes for continuous improvement. Healthy balance of management (stability) and leadership (fostering change).

Vertical or micro-market focused channel partners with lead flow integrated into micro-marketing campaigns. Channel partner branded sales sites. Integration of channel partner into knowledge base, live chat, etc.

Integrated up-sell and cross-sell activities into customer "control panel". Pro-active and ongoing customer feedback management (surveys of customer panels by segment to assess customer experience, satisfaction, needs)

Micro-market specific demand generation campaigns with integration across all forms of demand generation (e.g. PPC, Banner Ads, email, direct mail, print)

Organizational Effectiveness

Direct/Indirect Sales Process

Online Customer ExperienceDemand Generation

Ad-hoc organizational and departmental behaviors with a lack of internal alignment towards achieving a common vision or business objectives.

Direct sales only. No pro-active lead qualification. No customer segmentation by size or industry. Characterized by tendancy to focus too far up-market. Long sales cycles. Lack of "solution specialist" capability results in inability to overcome common objections.

No self-signup capability, direct sales interaction required. No offering self-administration.

No PPC/SEO campaigns. Other demand generation activities (e.g. Print ads, direct mail, etc) do not leverage the web-site.

Good executive leadership in place and committed to drive change and improve business performance by driving improvements in accordance with the "key success factors".

Direct Sales, indirect channels, telesales, but with ineffective processes for lead qualification and routing of leads to "best qualified" channel. Provider is actively working to train sales and revise processes to improve effectiveness.

Self-guided signup, support, and/or self-administration but inhibited in some way -- e.g. overly complex registration process, complex activation. Active progress is being made to eliminate remaining inhibitors.

PPC/SEO and other demand generation capabilities are leveraged, but with some inhibiting factors that limit their effectiveness (e.g. mismatch between PPC terms and landing page positioning).

Organizational alignment around business objectives and customer needs. Repeatedly follow a short and defined life-cycle for the successful introduction of new or revised product offerings.

Pro-active management of direct sales, inside sales, and channel partners. Focus on customer segmentation and lead qualification. Pro-active training.

Self-guided sales experience, self-admin capabilities, no barriers to sale via web, or phone. Easy signup and activation.

Makes use of pro-active PPC/SEO campaigns. All demand generation activities lead to one place -- the web-site.

Strong executive sponsorship for improving existing offerings and adding new value-added service offerings. Proven organizational agility and rapid time-to-market in response to competitive threats.

Integrated lead/opportunity flow for channel partners. Mature process for lead qualification and routing of leads. Customer segmentation and qualification "drives" the opportunity management.

Integrated online knowledge-base and live-chat for both sales support and post-sales support. Pro-active email communication during first 30-60 days provides training, tips, tricks, etc.

Demand generation campaigns drive to a specific sub-site or landing page. All campaign activities are well coordinated and integrated. Iterative PPC/SEO campaign management.

Organization is designed and internally aligned for change. Specific processes for continuous improvement. Healthy balance of management (stability) and leadership (fostering change).

Vertical or micro-market focused channel partners with lead flow integrated into micro-marketing campaigns. Channel partner branded sales sites. Integration of channel partner into knowledge base, live chat, etc.

Integrated up-sell and cross-sell activities into customer "control panel". Pro-active and ongoing customer feedback management (surveys of customer panels by segment to assess customer experience, satisfaction, needs)

Micro-market specific demand generation campaigns with integration across all forms of demand generation (e.g. PPC, Banner Ads, email, direct mail, print)

Organizational Effectiveness

Direct/Indirect Sales Process

Online Customer ExperienceDemand GenerationLevel

5Optimized

4Competitive

3Predictable

2Inhibited

1Ineffective

© Mural Ventures Corp 2008, All Rights Reserved

Example of Level 1 -- Ineffective

13

Level Messaging & Positioning

1(Ineffective)

Positioning is completely product and feature centric. Positioning is effective only for customers who already know what they need and are already familiar with the specific application domain.

Example of Level 3 -- Predictable

14

Level Messaging & Positioning

3(Predictable)

Customer centric positioning with Benefits (e.g. Anytime, Anywhere access), then supporting benefits points, then features as appropriate. Consistent application of messaging throughout ALL collateral.

Example of Level 5 -- Optimized

15

Level Messaging & Positioning

5(Optimized)

Vertical (e.g. Real Estate), Horizontal specialization (e.g. Finance), or other micro-market specific positioning. User groups or surveys are pro-actively used to incorporate customer feedback into product life-cycle.

Case Study: Demand Generation

Expedia Trip Advisor

PPC SEO PPC SEO

Zurich Hotels

3 NA NA 4

Marriott Zurich

NA NA NA 3

Hilton Zurich

NA NA 2 2

Geneva Hotels

2 NA NA 2

Support is The New Marketing

• 50% of new customers each

month from word of mouth

• Extremely low Churn rate

• Base doubles every 12 months

• Support requests taper off

dramatically after the first 30 days.

Value Innovation Canvas

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Next Steps . . .

How to started on your Value Innovation Canvas • Please go to

http://www.microsoft.com/serviceproviders/hostingproviders.mspx, and click on Software + Services Marketing Best Practices

• Please review the KSF content and case studies • Grade Yourself with the KSF Scorecard• To obtain Industry Average KSF Score, simply register from

link at bottom of page• An email will be sent to you with Industry KSF Score within

48 Hours• Contact - Shamah Gamrath (Shaahm@microsoft.com)

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Questions & Answers

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