Volume 2,
Number 2____________________________________________________________________
February, 1983
Jack
Shields Addresses Sales Symposium
Ken
Talks About The Small Business Market
Planning Process
Emphasizes Strategic Investments
Jack
Shields
Addresses Sales Symposium
At a symposium for some 500
representatives from Digital’s worldwide Sales and Service
organizations, Jack Shields, vice president, Group
manager, talked about recent changes in and upcoming
expectations of the organizaÂtions .
"About a year ago, we began the
process of realigning responsibilities to enable the
European subsidiaries to make changes so they could react
more responsively to the market. We have just begun this
process in the U.S. and expect to have all operational
responsibilities transferred to the newly-created Area
Management Centers by July 1.
"Basically, we've positioned
ourselves to take advantage of the new competÂitive
environment of the '80s. We've reduced our cost structure.
We've altered the responsibilities of the product groups,
and we're initiating new ways of approaching our marketing
plans and our sales organization.
"We're creating a balance between our
strategic plans and the deployment of resources. I expect
the Field to look at the marketing plans, programs and
strategies, and put together their plans, programs and
budgets in a way that will respond to the opportunities
available for new accounts.
"I want to make sure we have a
strategy for the development of new accounts. We do well
with our existing accounts and we tend to assign resources
to accounts that we know have potential. But we also have
to take the time to look carefully at new opportunities
for sales.
"We have a fantastic opportunity with
some of our new products, which provide new opportunities
in new markets. We have the ability to call on people who
we previously would not have called to begin a dialogue
about the opportunities and solutions we have for these
customers," said Jack.
In talking about the future, Jack
mentioned that the Operations Committee recently approved
growth for the Business and Office Systems group and
Digital Business Centers. He also noted that Digital is
continuing its efforts to simplify its contracts to ensure
that as the company changes, it responds to the needs of
its customers. When completed, contract
simplification
will make Digital appear to the outside world more as one
company than as several diverse businesses.
"We've created a new focus at the
corporate sales level with Jerry Paxton as our Corporate
Sales manager. We want a different approach to the
management of our international accounts. We want to be
able to make commitments that transcend the geographic
boundaries of our organization. We've got to be able to do
that while at the same time deploying local resources to
solve local problems. This is an important balance which
must be maintained.
"We've just created a new market group
to focus on sales to the installed base. I believe that we
are talking about a huge market here. We have excellent
products to help us. For example, the new disks and tape
units position us perfectly to take advantage of this
customer base. In addition, new Field Service programs
will allow us to be more flexible as we upgrade our
customers' equipment to better meet their needs.
"We want to focus on management
skills, particularly the definition of jobs so that we
make people proficient in the basics. For example, at the
sales unit manager level, we have people who are
exceptionally good in dealing with customers and sales
people. These are the skills we will develop in them. And
then, at the district and group levels, we begin to add
responÂsibilities such as budgets and, perhaps, profit and
loss or contribution margin. We also might add the general
management skills which will enable us to develop the
managers we need in the future and avoid putting people in
positions for which they are not prepared.
"We're also going to continue to look
at our sales productivity programs. We're doing well with
the larger accounts, but there are a number of sales
people who aren't involved with these accounts. They need
to know the products well and must be able to ensure that
we have a good business relationships with our customers.
We have to begin to think about the special kinds of
skills and industry knowledge that these people need," he
concluded.
Ken
Talks
About The Small Business Market
At a meeting of Digital's small
business channels managers this month, Ken Olsen talked
about Digital's need to become more aware of what the
small business person needs. He also emphasized the
importance of the stores to Digital's selling strategies.
"As the products get less and less
expensive...and they have a long way to go...it becomes
less and less logical to send people out to make a $3,000
or even an $8,000 sale. When people buy things in this
category, its very much like when they buy cars. They will
go long distances just to look over the products. Our
strategy is to make certain that when they make that long
drive, they stay to look at the computers, they aren't
intimidated, and they learn about our products.
"When most small business people go to
a store, they don't necessarily know what they want. They
are ill at ease. They don't all want to talk to the sales
people, because they might not know enough to discuss the
computers.
They really like looking over the
equipment, taking some literature and going off to learn
about the computers on their own. Later, they will be
ready to talk business.
"One of my ambitions is that we, as a
company, learn how a small business person feels. There's
something about running a small business and running a
store that ‘you have to be sensitive to. They are terribly
proud. They are also very economical. They never want to
spend a dollar more than they have to, but they want the
best. They want the best equipment, accessible and good
service and reliable performance.
"We have to learn how to listen to
what people want. We've got to find out what people are
thinking, what they need."
Digital
In
The Press
"Engineering a. Compi1er
by Patricia Anklam et al. [David Cutler, Roger Heinen,
Jr., and M. Donald MacLaren] could have been subtitled Soul
of £ New Compiler... the book provides a
close, highly technical look at the developÂment of the
PL/1 compiler written for Digital Equipment's 32-bit VAX
machines. A step-by-step chronical of the programming
team's progress is provided, and even a few photos of
notes the team kept. Technical jargon is kept to a minimum
in this book which displays no lack of a sense of humor:
one section is entitled 'Domesticating the Beast.'
Published by DEC itself in Bedford, Mass., at $24, the
volume should appeal to anyone — computer scientist,
software engineer, or student -- attempting a similar
project on
0 other
equipment." (John W. Verity in "Literary Roundup,"
Datamation, Jan. 1983.)
---------------
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* * *
From an article in The Boston
Globe by Ron Rosenberg, January 25, 1983:
"Several investment firms viewed
Digital's second quarter . .. as a bellÂwether for the
Maynard computer maker which has been one of the last
comÂputer builders to feel the pinch of the economic
recession.
"'The results are spectacular when
you consider how everyone on the street figured hardware
equipment sales would drop to the floor,' said Donald
Brown, a vice president of research at Shearson/American
Express Co. 'The good news is that orders seemed to have
firmed up. Earnings are under pressure as Digital is in
the middle of a new product cycle.'
"A key to Digital's new products --
and future -- is the personal computer. Brown expects
personal computer sales in the next two quarters to boost
revenues and add to earnings."
Planning
Process
Emphasizes Strategic Investments
During the next three months,
long-range plans and budget requests will be carefully
analyzed by senior management in an effort to ensure that
resource allocations for FY [*]84
help Digital meet its ongoing goals of competitiveÂness
and leadership. The current long-range planning cycle has
just been extended by one month (to April) to make certain
that ample discussion takes place around planning unit
proposals.
"With the continued uncertainty in the
economy, there will be lots of pressure to contain costs,
but this must not stop us from investing in programs that
help Digital remain a major force in the computer
industry. Our planning process separates spending for
tactical and investment purÂposes. It thereby helps us
identify and assess our new investment opporÂtunities,"
explains Sheldon Aronoff, manager of Corporate Financial
Planning and Analysis.
"In FY'83, our strategic investments
included the expansion of the Digital Business Centers,
the establishment of the Business and Office Systems Group
and a continued investment in personal computers. As part
of the FY '84 planning process, management will assess
strategic investment recomÂmendations and make sure the
vital ones are supported.
"Overall productivity investments must
also be made to make sure that expanding work needs are
met without major staffing increases. Items that fall into
this investment category include automation in
Manufacturing and Engineering, for example, Computer Aided
Design and Computer Aided ManufacÂturing and artificial
intelligence," says Sheldon.
Personal
Computer
Notes
o In western Europe, arrangements have
been made with more than 500 dealers to sell the Rainbow
100 and Professional series, which are being marketed with
a choice of 16 keyboards, capable of supporting ten
different langÂuages .
o A new option gives Professional 300
systems access to a large assortment of industry-standard
CP/M* applications. It is compatible with the CP/M-80
programs developed for the Rainbow and DECmate II personal
computers.
o An upgrade kit allows users to
convert a Professional 325 system to a Professional 350,
and a 256K-byte memory option allows the Professional 350
system to reach a maximum memory of one megabyte in 256K
increments.
o PROSE-PLUS, a new word processing
system for the Professional 300 series, is a compatible
superset of the standard text editor included with the
Professional Operating System.
o IBM software communications
capabilities will allow the Professional series user to
access IBM host systems over SNA[†]
(Systems Network ArchiÂtecture) .
Management
Center
Update
Operations managers have been named
and locations determined for the three new U.S. areas.
Ward Davidson, reporting to Dave Grainger, is operations
manager for the Western and Central States Area, with
headquarters in Marlboro, Mass. Mike Marshall, reporting
to Chick Shue, is operations manager for bhe Northeast
States Area, with headquarters in Merrimack, N.H. Bob
Nealon, reporting to Harvey Weiss, is operations manager
for the Mid- Atlantic/Southern States Area, with
headquarters in Marlboro, Mass, and a satellite office in
Merrimack, N.H. (for the Government Systems Group).
In addition to these appointments,
marketing groups have been temporarily aligned with the
new areas to ensure that FY83 revenue plans are met and
that customer satisfaction is maintained. This temporary
alignment will also target recruiting and facilitate
training for the new operations positions.
The Mid-Atlantic/Southern States Area
(which includes the Government Systems Group) is
temporarily aligned with Laboratory Data Products (LDP),
Terminals and the Large Computer Group (LCG).
The Northeast States Area (which
includes the Communications Industry Group) is temporarily
aligned with Manufacturing, Distribution and Control
(MDC), Commercial OEM, and Business and Office Systems
(BOS).
The Western and Central States Area is
temporarily aligned with the TechniÂcal Volume Group
(TVG), Education Computer Systems (ECS), the Engineering
Systems Group (ESG) and the Medical Systems Group (MSG).
Operations responsibilities for the
personal computer business will remain with Joel Schwartz
until equipment forecasting and revenue plans can be
determined for the new start-up business. These
responsibilities will transfer into the Area management
structure between January and July 1 of 1984. As a result
of the product and inventory structure of the newly formed
Installed Base Group, they will continue to operate
independently but their budgeted revenue and sales
expenses will flow through the Area manageÂment
organizations.
[*]
CP/M is a registered trademark of Digital Research,
Inc.
[†]
SNA is a registered trademark of IBM.