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SHARE 2001 Award for Excellence in TechnologyAbout
BenchMark Technologies Ltd. I first came into contact with Christina McGill of BenchMark Technologies Ltd. at a SHARE conference, when I was a completely wet behind the ears rookie project officer, charged with preparing a conference schedule track for the Internet Applications Project. I’d also been out of touch with the mainframe computing world in particular, and SHARE in general for more years than I care to remember. Various people told me that I should really talk to Christina, because her company was “doing stuff” over the Internet for real in exactly the areas that we were giving theoretical presentations, and her focus was on mainframe software, not whiz-bang, jolly-gee-wow, flavour-of-the-day “web” software. Despite some initial skepticism, I finally tracked down the “ISPW” crowd, who proceeded to astound me with how they had created a brilliant software product (ISPW) and were currently operating their entire product life cycle via the Internet, using only the most basic of tools. Of course, it is the fact that they are using the most basic of tools that makes everything work so reliably, and it is that reliability that makes their operational model work. I reacted to this as any good SHARE project manager would, I promptly recruited Christina to present a session on her model in the Internet Applications project track, which she did, and it has quite simply amazed the audience each time, especially when part of the model is shown in live operation across the Internet. Although I still consider myself to be somewhat of a modern SHARE newbie, it is clear to me that BenchMark Technologies Ltd. Embodies the absolute essence of nearly everything that SHARE is trying to foster. As I’ll attempt to show in detail, the company exists at all because of SHARE; it developed its fascinating operational model out of ideas garnered from attending SHARE conferences; it has a network of friends initially encountered at SHARE conferences on whom it can and does call for technical assistance; it uses SHARE conferences to bring together its virtual corporation in closed sessions; and, it now gives back to SHARE by effectively running two complete SHARE projects, the long-standing ISPF project and much more recently the brand new APEN project. It is my opinion that BenchMark Technologies Ltd., in its focus, its operational model, and in its management and staff, embodies the ideals and goals of the SHARE organisation to the point where it is an extraordinarily worthy candidate for the inaugural Excellence in Technology Award. I believe that the company could serve as a role model for all future awards, and as a SHARE poster child should SHARE wish to go that route. Now for the details to support my contention. BenchMark Technologies Ltd.For this rather difficult nomination process, I propose to describe the BenchMark Technologies operational model, including its genesis; a sort of guided tour of the company, if you like. In this exposition I hope to make clear the numerous matches with the selection criteria, without specifically drawing attention to the match each time. I had considered putting little parenthesized numbers after each point, with the numbers keying to the criteria, but this really interferes with the flow of the narration. So please bear with me while I tell the BenchMark Technologies story uninterrupted, then I’ll take a walk through each of the selection criteria as specified, highlighting what I believe to be the key matches from the story. The Living RealityImagine a software company that creates, markets, sells, trains, and supports an insanely great software development environment. Now visualize this same company as a virtual corporation, with all its staff scattered around the globe working largely in physical isolation. Add to this picture the notion that all marketing (such as there is), selling, sales-support, pre-sales trials, installation, training, support, and maintenance are also virtual: no member of this company ever needs to visit a customer or prospect, and the customers are happy. Don’t you just know that this has to be one of those bleeding-edge, multi-media “web” products, and the users, well, probably not what we’d think of as “real” computer people? Actually, the fact that nominees have to be SHARE members might be a counter-clue; in reality, the product that we are talking about is what I’d describe as an ultra-heavy-duty tool for developing software for mainframes on mainframes, and the customers are all household names. Yes, there is a very high probability (I haven’t checked this for myself) that all the customers are old-school SHARE members in their own right. Oh yes, this has sort of been going on for a year or three now as well, although the recent technological advances sparked by the growth of the World-Wide Web have certainly helped improve the process from its earliest beginnings. So how did they do that, and how did they make it work so well, particularly in such an unlikely context? Read on… The HistoryBenchMark Technologies Ltd. started operations in 1986, and proceeded much like any other mainframe software vendor of the day. Their staff were based in Calgary, Alberta, and they sold their product close to home. They bartered for machine time with their customers, Dome Petroleum, Shell and Esso, in exchange for support services. By 1992, they were in trouble. They had several US and European customers, and staff in England and Australia, but travel, phone, and fax bills were extremely high; marketing and sales costs ate up most of the license fees; distributors weren't properly trained; and, customer problems took resources away from development. Developers wrote their sections of the code on different systems and had no way to properly merge or test it. Although BenchMark were making sales, they weren't profitable. In February 1995, Christina McGill went to her first SHARE in Los Angeles. At that SHARE, Mike Stack (from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb) insisted on showing her the Internet. (I gather that she still says “Thank You” to Mike every SHARE.) By May, they had a domain name, a web site, and everyone had an email address at "ibm.net". Costs were already starting to fall, and customers with email were getting better support. By the next SHARE, in Orlando, the ISPF project manager had resigned, so Christina took over that job. At that SHARE, project managers were given Lotus Notes for scheduling, which was BenchMark’s first exposure to using Notes for something besides email. Within a year they had set up requirements and discussion databases, and there were better communications between the developers in different countries. About this time, IBM announced the new "Partners in Development" (PID) and "Developer Connection" programs at SHARE. Some of the other SHARE vendors who were already in the PID helped BenchMark apply for their own P/390 mainframe system, and they joined the "Developers Connection" for PC software at the same time. In the event, this proved to be a huge turning point for them. Although having their own P/390 cost them more than the free machine time they were getting from their customers, they could now install whatever software they needed and, more importantly, they could connect their P/390 to the Internet. Developers could now log on from wherever they might be and then upload, download, merge, and test properly. It was the first time that every staff member was able to be together with all the others on the same system. Being involved with the ISPF project also turned out to be of huge commercial benefit. ISPF version 4 added a new client/server component to ISPF, and with the help of the ISPF developers in Raleigh, BenchMark was the first ISV to utilize the GUI. (As a side note, IBM was so pleased they wrote BenchMark a marketing piece.) Also, having this new GUI clinched at least five sales that they would not otherwise have made. In addition, two other new product components came out of this relationship - the SCLM interface and the VisualAge Generator interface. Because of their SHARE contacts, they were able to create good products that their competitors haven't been able to duplicate. Up until 1998, BenchMark were doing some novel things, but nothing really to write home about. In the past three years however, they have taken their business model to the next level, and, from where I sit, it looks as if no other company is using technology to the extent they are. They use six key pieces of technology, four of which are IBM's:
Because BenchMark Technologies are basically a development organization, they spend as little time as possible on product sales and support. They use technology to make themselves effective, so prospective customers can almost take themselves through the sales process, and new sites can almost install the product and support themselves unassisted. The Operational ModelWhat BenchMark Technologies have established is a heavily automated Customer Relationship Management System, a Business Model which defines their entire method of operating. There are three principal components: the sales cycle, product installation and support, and product development. Sales CycleNew sales are a good example. BenchMark’s product is an OS/390-based system, with started tasks, using DB2, and, depending on the configuration, costs from US $75k to US $1.5M. Their objective (in all seriousness, and despite its seeming unbelievability) is to make sales at no cost, and they have now actually achieved this. When a prospective customer contacts them, either because they met one of the BenchMark team at a SHARE or heard of them from another customer, the prospect is first sent to the BenchMark web site. If they like the User Guide and Frequently Asked Questions, they call and ask for a presentation. Typically, prospective customers expect a vendor to go to the customer site to make a presentation, and when Christina (sole marketing and sales resource for BenchMark) says that she can give someone a presentation at his or her desk any time (s)he likes, the prospect is often quite surprised. As the initial contact person wants to weed out whatever products won't work for them, in one quick session BenchMark makes it possible to determine the product’s suitability or unsuitability for the prospect. With the person on the ‘phone, Christina starts up a meeting from BenchMark’s WebEx site (ispw.webex.com), and sends an automatic email to the person she’s presenting to. The prospect clicks on a link in the email, types the password, and is now in an electronic meeting with Christina, viewing her whiteboard and applications on her PC. Christina can then step through her PowerPoint presentation, using annotation tools, and the other person can even point to items on her slides. When they're done, Christina logs on to BenchMark’s MP3000 system and shows the product. It took BenchMark several person- months of time to set up a suitable, self-contained demo system with dummy modules, which is very effective for letting prospective customers see how the product works. If the prospective customers like what they see, the next step is for them to sign a non-disclosure to log on to the demo system by themselves. There are several demo system documents, with screen shots, that people can step through to try the product's features. Each demo system user gets a set of private play modules, and (s)he can do whatever (s)he likes with them. This has turned out to be very attractive, as it lets the technical people themselves try-before-they-buy, which no other host-based vendor in BenchMark’s product space does. A month or so later, the prospective customer decides if (s)he wants to proceed with a trial on-site installation. To this point, BenchMark’s objective is that no one from BenchMark has even laid eyes on the customer. This is not an aberrant social behaviour, but rather a determined attempt to eliminate the enormous overhead involved in having staff members of a small company travel to geographically distant sites. What is fascinating is that, after some initial disconcertion and resistance, the prospects invariably play along, and are rapidly seduced by the power of the interactive guided tour and subsequent self-exploration models. Installation and SupportAs with sales, BenchMark’s aim is to have this take as few resources as possible. The first thing they do is give the new site their own Lotus Notes database, seeded with the Frequently Asked Questions for the product installation. Customers typically access this from their browsers instead of through Notes clients, and it is a pro-active way of giving them information so that they can run unaided, rather than contacting BenchMark and possibly having to wait for a resource to be available to help them. Information about the new customer then builds up in this knowledge base, as the customer posts questions and the technical staff reply. The data is “visible” and is not lost in emails between the customer and the BenchMark technical staff. This also serves to make BenchMark’s staffing situation, with their comparatively small technical staff quite literally scattered around the globe, into a strength. Whenever a query is posted, someone from BenchMark somewhere in the world is probably on line and able to field it; without there being expensive voice communications involved. Sites attempting an install of the product are also often logged onto their own system at the same time as to BenchMark’s demo system. Because they can see how the demo system is configured, they do a proper job of configuring their own system. Once the basic system is installed, one or more of BenchMark’s people do actually go to the customer site for several days of face-to-face meetings. This is to discuss more technical aspects, such as how DB2 and security should be configured, and to give advice on product customisation and use. Ongoing support is done via a Lotus Notes Problem Tracking system, where customers can see the knowledge database, view outstanding problems, and log problem tickets, if necessary. Email messages are automatically sent to the primary and secondary support staff for that specific account and, in the next iteration of the support system, the customer will receive a system-generated ticket number. If a customer has a problem that BenchMark staff need to see reproduced, and BenchMark don't have dial-in access, they can use WebEx. The technical support person starts up a WebEx “meeting” which the customer joins, and then control switches to the customer, so that the BenchMark staff can observe the problem as the customer replicates it on the customer’s own system. This makes diagnosing problems much simpler than with the classic problem reporting methods. BenchMark is serious about obtaining input and feedback from customers on proposed new releases, so the Lotus Notes New Release Discussion database, also available via the customer's browser, is for customer feedback before new releases are delivered. Customers also have access to the demo system to play with new releases before they commit to taking them. Product DevelopmentBenchMark's product developers live in several countries and are experts in this particular field of software technology. They live wherever they want and work from their homes, as long as they can easily travel to customer sites or meetings with the other developers. BenchMark is a serious Lotus Notes customer, with dozens of Notes databases for various purposes. They use Notes Calendar tools to plan schedules, and Notes discussion databases for new releases. They also use Microsoft’s NetMeeting or WebEx to work together on design diagrams, UI reviews, and debugging. The Mechanical UnderpinningAs mentioned earlier, the heart of BenchMark’s model relies on six technologies. The heart of their internal and external communication system is Lotus Notes, including the web publishing capabilities. Assisted by Patricia Egen, another SHARE contact, they have created a set of custom databases that facilitate all aspects of their operation. Every member of staff has a client open on their desktop at all times. Customers are also established on the system, and given access to views that enable them to keep completely up to date on product development issues, as well as communicating problems. The heart of the development process is the IBM Multiprise (MP) 3000 system. When I asked how important it was in the overall scheme of things, I received this reply: “Should we mention IBM's BRILLIANT, FANTASTIC, AMAZING (can't say enough about it) MP/3000 and say how lightning fast it is (we thought jobs were failing) and how it allowed us to take rapid development to the next level during tight deadlines! (We cut the machine over in a weekend from the S/390 and had lots of support from IBM - reps coming out, the machine itself dialing up and reporting problems! Now that's proactive!” “Maybe we should write a bit about the machines, saying that the extent to which they have helped us is absolutely huge. We don't where we would be now without them? We have total control over the configuration, we control the downtime, it comes easy to install on the CD-ROMs, etc.” The software itself, and the development process, make use of IBM’s DB2 and WebSphere Studio. For interactive meetings, either internally between staff members or externally with customers and prospects, Microsoft’s NetMeeting and WebEx both make the interchange of information a powerful and effective process. Matching the Award CriteriaNow that you’ve heard the story of BenchMark Technologies, its astonishing operational model, and how it all came to be in such a large part because of SHARE, let me do some explicit highlighting of matches against the award criteria. I’ll take each of the criteria in turn, and simply remind you of points described in the earlier narration, leaving you to draw your own conclusions as to how well they do or don’t match the intent underlying the specification of the criterion under review. I think the main reason why this award is applicable to BenchMark Technologies, is because SHARE is fundamental to their whole business model. They learn about tools at SHARE; they meet vendors and customers at SHARE; they use primarily IBM technology; all their sales and marketing activities are centred on SHARE; and, they rely on their business relationships. Their success story is a result of SHARE. They first saw the Internet at SHARE; they learned about Lotus Notes at SHARE; they got into the IBM PID program because of SHARE; and, they get at least half their new customers from contacts at SHARE. They learned when their customer base was ready to move to a DB2 solution at SHARE. They learned about Java, XML and WebSphere from SHARE, and they see how important these technologies might be to their customers, long before the customers see their potential importance for themselves. They understand the experiences and issues that other SHARE members are having with new technologies, so they can plan how to solve them for their customers. Scope of the solution(This may be described in terms of complexity of the problem and solution, the extent of the impact on your organization, or similar relevant factors.) I think it is fairly clear that the impact of SHARE on BenchMark Technologies has been little short of total. Strategic Value(Discuss the benefits to your organisation of this solution. This may include service level improvements, cost reductions, competitive advantage, management reporting or other important benefits.) The service-level improvements are clearly immense. By having a mainframe of their own they are able to offer a dedicated environment to their customers, as well as controlling their own release cycles. By building a set of customized Lotus Notes databases and sharing them with their customers, they are able to provide a very high level of response to their customers, while enabling staff to live and work where they choose. By utilizing web-based and Internet-based virtual meeting tools, they are able to virtually eliminate travel, and significantly reduce telecommunications costs. It is interesting to note that one of the few times when most of the BenchMark staff assemble in one place is at a SHARE conference, where the staff attend sessions and meet with customers. Innovation(Examine the innovative methods employed to reach your objective(s).) Clearly, the notion of a sales cycle that is carried out without any physical contact is close to unique in the field of mainframe software products. The fact that the customers can also explore the capabilities of the product via on-line demos hosted on the Multiprise system is innovative. The use of Lotus Notes to co-ordinate group working, and the Internet to enable distributed development with no face-to-face meetings is, speaking as someone wrestling with similar problems, quite astonishing. Best Practices(Illustrate how your approach is applicable to other SHARE installations. This may include business process improvement, lessons learned, technology process improvements and the like.) There is no doubt in my mind that BenchMark Technologies provide a fascinating example of the most probable future for software vendors. The elimination of travel while extending the reach to the entire global market is critical for even large companies, let alone small ones. The use of the Internet for communications, and the security inherent in tools such as Lotus Notes and the mainframe operating systems make his practical despite the essentially hostile/malicious environment that the Internet has become today. The successful implementation of a distributed development team capable of creating software of a demonstrably high caliber on a mainframe platform is a very significant achievement. The very high level of customer buy-in to both the sales and support cycles is a further indication of how important this model potentially is for all software vendors. What has BenchMark done at SHARE to pass on this knowledge?Well, they’ve gone ahead and created a whole new project within the Applications Systems program at SHARE, the Applications Management project. Christina McGill and Patricia Egen have also given a presentation on the Internet Applications project track (and will do so again in Long Beach), in which they describe how BenchMark Technology has made the Internet work for them. Several stunned audience members have been visibly and vocally awakened to the possibilities inherent in this approach. What do BenchMark's customers say about all this?Attached to this submission is a letter from Vanderbilt University, a recent and enthusiastic customer of BenchMark Technologies Ltd. SHARE Influence(Identify evaluation criteria, training, hints-and-tips, or other input gleaned from SHARE programs that contributed to successful implementation of the solution. Also, include all of the technologies pertinent to the solution and describe the value of the IBM technology employed.) I think I’ll just let the record speak for itself in this section. Here, without comment, is the summary of BenchMark Technologies’ involvement with SHARE: What is BenchMark's role at SHARE?
What has BenchMark learned from SHARE?In chronological order:
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SummaryI think BenchMark Technologies Ltd, SHARE installation code BMK, would be a wonderfully worthy recipient of the inaugural SHARE award for Excellence in Technology. BenchMark Technologies may be contacted at any of the following: BenchMark
Technologies Ltd. Tel:
(403) 215-1550 or 1-800-839-4779 in North America (main) Thank you for considering this submission. Submitted
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