- Latest News
- Comment & Metrics
- Magazine Articles
- Jason Stamper's Blog
- Open Source Blog
- Newsletter Sign-Up
- The difference between ‘cloud computing’ and SaaS? None whatsoever.
- Iona bought by Progress Software
- Last few days of Windows XP sales...
- Lombardi talks on-demand BPM
- Lessons in ‘Enterprise 2.0’. Lesson 1: don't mention Enterprise 2.0.
- 10 ways to cut software development costs
- Would the baddest Roadrunner please step forward
- Artist's impression of new 3G Apple iPhone revealed
- Enterprise 2.0 Conference off to Web 2.0-style start
- CBR Dining Club speaker named EMEA analyst of the year!
- Numara claims service desk management rivals are "going backwards"
- Sinequa says Microsoft buying Fast is a boon
- ASG On Verge of Massive BSM Acquisition
- Compuware 2.0? Led Zeppelin? Am I dreaming?
- 100 most influential tech vendors: you have to be kidding
- BlackBerry Bold: RIM’s iPhone killer?
- The 20 most useless British gadgets of all time?
- De-dupe becoming part of storage fabric?
- BPM on demand, anyone?
- Any port in a storm: EMC buys Iomega
- Why bad SOA is worse than none at all
- Why IT matters more, to more people, than ever
- Microsoft’s bid values Yahoo! at 40% of Google
- MoD laptop theft: now at last government may act
- One Laptop Per Child says good riddance to Intel
- Looking back on 2007, and towards 2008
- And another thing... lessons on the Underground
- Jim Shelley is TV critic of the Guardian: but why?
- Check out our BI special report
Jason Stamper's Blog
Compuware 2.0? Led Zeppelin? Am I dreaming?
May 16, 2008
I don’t mean to be cruel, but I do have to wonder what went through Compuware’s mind this month when it announced it is transforming itself into Compuware 2.0. With the new tagline for the company, “We make IT rock around the world”, you would be forgiven for thinking the firm thinks it is the new Apple or Nintendo, not a firm that does mainframe software, application and IT service management, IT portfolio management and services. The company has even chosen a set of guitar plectrums to jazz up its new logo.
I’m all for companies reinventing themselves. I greatly enjoyed it when E.piphany, after years successfully riding the dot-com hype in the CRM market in the late nineties, eventually dropped the dot to become plain old Epiphany. At its peak it bought Octane for $3.2bn. By July 2003 it was bought by SSA, its quarterly loss of $9.4m out of all proportion with its sales of just $22m, dot or no dot.
But visit Compuware’s site www.wemakeitrockaroundtheworld.com and you will see what I mean: it’s all a bit full on. Comparisons with Led Zeppelin. Guitars. Mucho rock and/or roll.
Worse still, the company seems more downbeat about its former self than it has any right to be. COO Bob Paul is featured saying that, “We have limited brand equity outside our client base and our corporate identity is frankly none existent.” Having survived to reach its 35th anniversary this year, and with over 23,000 customers including 80% of the Fortune 500, does it really matter if it’s only well known by its own customers?
I’m hoping to talk to Bob Paul next month to find out what Compuware 2.0 really means, and to find out whose idea it was to make guitar plectrums part of the company’s new identity. Rock on.
Comments
It would appear that Compuware have not considered the future fully.
I always like to say to our clients that "if they have a sense of style they can ride any wave of fashion that comes along". Surely "2.0" is a step on journey not a destination or a means of getting there.
Worse than this they "C2.0" will now fall victim to a subtle form of discrimination and resentment that has been building in corporations and people. What resentment I hear you say?. In short the frustration of the upgrade the new release, the disruption without innovation, the person hours lost accomodating change that does not appear to reap rewards for the customer and end users.
Surely we were all happy to move to the seamless upgrade and patching of our core systems in a non disruptive way, a challenge in many ways but now they have forced an upgrade of understanding on the whole of the world, unlikely to happen and unlikely ot deliver shareholder and customer return.
This latest decision does not suggest customer centric thinking, are the customers are the centre of this business. I hope so but such a decision seems to only create a communications overhead, lack of understanding and uncertain intrepretations.
Compuware, always been a fan of your products in one form our another, hope it works out, jury is out, hope you did not pay for the advice on branding, sorry :(
Looks like Bob Paul is comparing himself to Steve Jobs and rebranding Compuware like Apple reborn. But he forgot a. Compuware is not a consumer products company. The cool factor and rocker spirit doesn't play well here. b. He doesn't understand that the '2.0' hip is not a real new cool product as ipod. It's a make-me-sick market cliché alreay.
Post a comment
back to top