Over the years, Clarity Consulting has assisted many IT product and service providers with their marketing needs. From positioning new products and services, to launching new practices, to creating methodologies, to writing white papers, product brochures and other content, we've dealt with the unique issues and challenges facing IT providers. This Knowledge Center reflects what we've learned from these consulting engagements, with links to informative articles and papers.

Current Articles

• "Marketing Business Software in China,"Dextrys, Inc and Clarity Consulting. This paper contains the full analysis of a recent survey performed by Clarity Consulting and Dextrys, which interviewed 781 Chinese companies about their business software buying habits and interest in US software products.   The result is a treasure trove of information for software product company executives, marketers, and developers who wish to capitalize on this enormous and mostly untapped market for US software products.  The paper addresses buyer perceptions of US software, provides market opportunity statistics, examines which marketing methods work (and don't work) in China, and explores the product and contract characteristics that facilitate making sales to Chinese buyers.

• "What Makes a Great White Paper," Ian S. Hayes.  In a time of increasing noise and information overload, white papers continue to offer an effective means to reach, lobby and persuade interested prospects and customers.  Learn what it takes to write a successful white paper.

Historical Articles

Written over ten years ago, the ideas in this articles have mostly come to pass. Interestingly, the deconstruction of IT services is continuing to play out in IT organizations today as many businesses offload "commodity" technical roles to external providers and Software as a Service (SaaS) business applications.

• "Application First, Delivery Second," Ian S. Hayes, Software Magazine, Aug/Sep 2000.  This article written in the early prehistory of Software as a Service, offered some marketing advice to budding ASPs; tout your application functionality first and delivery strengths second.

• "The Deconstruction of the IT Services Market," Ian S. Hayes, Cutter Consortium, Sourcing E-Mail Advisor, February 17, 2000.  This article discusses the affect that e-business may have on the IT services market in deconstructing services into two camps: high-value and commodity.