Eye on the States: Ask your sales and marketing team some tough questions
There's nothing like head-to-head competition to bring out the best in companies doing business with the states. Pressed to grow revenue and profits organically at double-digit rates in difficult times, companies are distinguishing themselves as much by their sales, marketing and business development practices as by their capabilities and offerings.
Eye on the States: Three firms show how to survive a slow market
State and local government, once a hot market, is now a story of slower growth and tighter information technology budgets.
Eye on the States: Solutioning your way to the top
Every year following the release of Washington Technology's annual list of "Who's Who in the State and Local Market," (March 10) I hear the same question: How do they do it? I get this especially from companies struggling to grow their businesses.
Eye on the States: Smaller, focused outsourcing deals to follow Georgia fiasco
The cancellation last month of the $1.8 billion Georgia telecommunications procurement again raises the question of whether the states will ever get one of these mega-outsourcing deals done. For many, it's hard to admit that huge, enterprisewide outsourcing may be too difficult. The reality is that these comprehensive outsourcing projects, to use a well-known colloquialism, are "dogs that just won't hunt."
Eye on the States: State officials must see value of IT
<FONT SIZE=2>President Clinton recently said: "When times are good and the money is rolling in, you can almost have a lobotomy and be governor." He just as easily could have been talking about selling technology to the states.</FONT>
Eye on the states: You can't afford to flunk this pop quiz
<FONT SIZE=2>Your customer tells you it's having its worst financial crisis in half a century. What do you do?</FONT><FONT SIZE=2>If you are a technology company that sells to state government, you need an answer -- today.</FONT>
Eye on the States: Conditions right for business process outsourcing
<FONT SIZE=2>Now and then, market forces in state and local government align such that significant new business opportunities emerge seemingly overnight. On these all-too-infrequent occasions, there is a near ideal match between the needs of government buyers and what the information technology industry is selling.</FONT>
Eye on the States: With the bubble burst, what comes next for states?
What's in store for state government after the fall elections? How about new leadership, new priorities and new ways of viewing the world, for starters. In short, welcome to the era of the post-technology bubble in state government.</FONT>
Eye on the States: Go back and do your homework--CRM marketing earns an F
Sometimes easy sales can lead<font SIZE="2"> to bad habits. In good times, companieslearn to take advantage of exceptionally strong momentum for a new technology or product.They move quickly, expand their sales forces and focus on getting orders in the door.Selling takes priority over marketing. </font>
Eye on the States
Disappointment. That describes what most of the information technology industry is feeling regarding state and local homeland security spending. Companies are discouraged with the amount of money spent on homeland security, the lack of opportunities in their sales pipelines and the relatively small size of the projects that have been launched.
Eye on the States: New winds blowing, IT companies must adjust their sails
Everywhere you turn, there are signs it's a new day in state and local government. Tax collections are failing to keep pace with state spending needs. Spending cutbacks are widespread. The governors, once again, are looking to the federal government for relief.
Eye on the States
Former Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill once said all politics is local. When it comes to homeland security and tracking potential terrorists within the United States, the same observation holds true: All intelligence is local.
Eye on the States: Playing amateur sleuth in the Oracle-Calif. investigation
What were they thinking?That's the question of the day as details emerge of California's controversial purchase of Oracle Corp.'s database software. On the surface there are many unanswered questions. Multiple investigations are under way to get to the bottom of just what happened.
Eye on the States
State chief information officers aren't what they used to be. Gone are the days when the typical state technology leader was almost boringly predictable: decades of service in state government, deep experience in IT operations and genuinely apolitical.
Eye on the States
Although homeland security is just a few months old, state and local governments are already deep into appointing top-level executives, setting up governance arrangements, assessing needs, developing plans and determining resource requirements.
EYE ON THE STATES
It's been awhile since states have had to deal with significant budget shortfalls. For many governors, this is their first experience with tough times. All eyes are on them as they deal with slower revenue growth, increased operating costs and lower cash reserves.
EYE ON THE STATES
Mergers and acquisitions have become a hot growth strategy for some noteworthy companies in the state and local government market.
EYE ON THE STATES
One of the greatest challenges ? some would say headaches ? facing companies selling to state and local governments is staying on top of the market. The sheer number of opportunities simply outstrips the resources most companies have to effectively follow what's going on.
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