Life in a black hole or how to interact with large Russian companies
A large Russian company (KRK) under this article (if a cycle of articles is obtained) is a company with thousands of employees, branches or centers throughout Russia, a history going back to Soviet times and a de facto monopolistic position on the market. A tidbit, an everlasting manger and the worst nightmare in one person. One manager I knew for a year working with such a corporation earned a gray head, another from the same corporation received a constant stream of orders and money.
How to get the second without getting the first?
In this article, I want to share experiences and thoughts on how to build a successful interaction, but I will try not to name specific names and names in part because of the NDA, partly so as not to become personal. I also tried not to affect the interaction in case your company is also a heavyweight, because in this case other laws of physics apply.
The black hole in the general primitive understanding is an object of enormous mass, attracting everything with fantastic power. In the vicinity of such an object, space and time may be distorted. Exactly the same with the KRK. All somehow attracted to them due to their enormous resources and monopolies. Anyone who has worked with the KRK knows that time when working with them can vary arbitrarily from “a couple more years of suffering” to “this evening is necessary, or span”.
How to survive in such a kind of "physics"? There are a few rules.
')
The first rule: "Know your weight."
When you are trying to establish a relationship with a large organization, you need to be clearly aware of your weight. The elephants are not friends with the grasshoppers, they simply do not notice them, but they can listen to them. Same with KRK. Before contacting, test the ground: go to their website, look at what requirements for organizations for various tenders, browse the Internet, see which companies have stated that they work for KRK, and estimate their size, ask your friends at last. This is important for your future strategy.
If you are a small company or an individual developer in general, you have one chance: to sell the finished product. No one will agree on the development, refinement and consultations with you. You simply will not pass on internal requirements.
If you are a medium-sized company, there are chances of contact, but do not rely on a large piece. They have long been divided not only by tactics, but also by strategy (in many companies, in order to minimize risks, they use software diversification across the platform or manufacturer). Your solution may be the best but not pass because it doesn’t work on Unix, and the installation strategy in this division is to use Microsoft. And that means there is already one of the major players who will win the competition.
This does not mean that you do not need to go to contests. Just need. If your decision is good, the winning bidder can easily take you as a performer to a subcontract. But the money will be completely different.
Here your task is to make connections and establish contacts.
If you are a very large company, it means that you already have experience and great connections. And you yourself know very well how to find contact over a cup of brandy at a meeting of old friends.
Rule two: "Know your strategy."
If you are a small office or an individual developer, the strategy is one - to sell a product. And the regular problem is the same: support. Without support, rarely buy, but you do not trust her. Only one way out - be friends with older friends who are already in contact with KRK. You sell, supports the company of medium or large size. It is clear that you give them income, but this way you get at least something, and this is better than nothing.
If you are of medium size, there are two strategies. First strategy: support. Do not look for big money for sale, try to unleash support. Do not be greedy, give a demo, temporary licenses, conduct a free pilot project. It pays off if support comes up. Strategy two: grab as much as you can swallow. Around the large predators always spinning a bunch of little things picks up their leftovers. Be the same. There is nothing shameful about it. This is better than starving, and a way to grow easily and gain experience. Hold on to minor improvements that large firms do not want to deal with. Data transformations, auxiliary utilities and other trifles are your fad. Being nimble enough, you can “bite off” not much less than big fish, but with significantly less risk and demands.
Rule Three: "The agent of influence."
This is something without which there is no life. Whatever you think, no matter how good you are, you need a strong friend inside. He will give you information, promote your demands and ideas, remind you and defend you.
Find him, praise him, love him, feed him, congratulate him on the holidays and birthdays of his children. Finally buy it.
Rule Four: "Ladder for the Agent."
Remember, as the wolf does not feed, he looks into the forest. Your Agent is with you, but firms come and go, and his place is here. Therefore, every step you take, your every success should raise your Agent along the official or unofficial status ladder. Then he will be with you in everything. After all, your height is his height.
Rule Five: "Hold the ladder."
Remember, the higher the status, the higher our requests. Therefore, having risen, your Agent may want to change the patron. And here it is important that he know that the ladder along which he climbed in your hands. Release and everything will collapse. As stated in Dune "controls who can destroy." This is the paradoxical moment when software problems work for you. A couple of serious-looking and not solved without your participation (but in any case, not frequent or protracted) problems, and everyone understands that without you nowhere.
Embedding the entire amount of information in one article is difficult to write and read. If the topic is interesting, then the following series of topics is planned:
So in the case of interest in any particular points, ready to expand and deepen the topic.
How to get the second without getting the first?
In this article, I want to share experiences and thoughts on how to build a successful interaction, but I will try not to name specific names and names in part because of the NDA, partly so as not to become personal. I also tried not to affect the interaction in case your company is also a heavyweight, because in this case other laws of physics apply.
Preface: And where are the black holes?
The black hole in the general primitive understanding is an object of enormous mass, attracting everything with fantastic power. In the vicinity of such an object, space and time may be distorted. Exactly the same with the KRK. All somehow attracted to them due to their enormous resources and monopolies. Anyone who has worked with the KRK knows that time when working with them can vary arbitrarily from “a couple more years of suffering” to “this evening is necessary, or span”.
How to survive in such a kind of "physics"? There are a few rules.
')
Strategy and tactics of the first contact.
Stage One: Contact.
The first rule: "Know your weight."
When you are trying to establish a relationship with a large organization, you need to be clearly aware of your weight. The elephants are not friends with the grasshoppers, they simply do not notice them, but they can listen to them. Same with KRK. Before contacting, test the ground: go to their website, look at what requirements for organizations for various tenders, browse the Internet, see which companies have stated that they work for KRK, and estimate their size, ask your friends at last. This is important for your future strategy.
If you are a small company or an individual developer in general, you have one chance: to sell the finished product. No one will agree on the development, refinement and consultations with you. You simply will not pass on internal requirements.
If you are a medium-sized company, there are chances of contact, but do not rely on a large piece. They have long been divided not only by tactics, but also by strategy (in many companies, in order to minimize risks, they use software diversification across the platform or manufacturer). Your solution may be the best but not pass because it doesn’t work on Unix, and the installation strategy in this division is to use Microsoft. And that means there is already one of the major players who will win the competition.
This does not mean that you do not need to go to contests. Just need. If your decision is good, the winning bidder can easily take you as a performer to a subcontract. But the money will be completely different.
Here your task is to make connections and establish contacts.
If you are a very large company, it means that you already have experience and great connections. And you yourself know very well how to find contact over a cup of brandy at a meeting of old friends.
Rule two: "Know your strategy."
If you are a small office or an individual developer, the strategy is one - to sell a product. And the regular problem is the same: support. Without support, rarely buy, but you do not trust her. Only one way out - be friends with older friends who are already in contact with KRK. You sell, supports the company of medium or large size. It is clear that you give them income, but this way you get at least something, and this is better than nothing.
If you are of medium size, there are two strategies. First strategy: support. Do not look for big money for sale, try to unleash support. Do not be greedy, give a demo, temporary licenses, conduct a free pilot project. It pays off if support comes up. Strategy two: grab as much as you can swallow. Around the large predators always spinning a bunch of little things picks up their leftovers. Be the same. There is nothing shameful about it. This is better than starving, and a way to grow easily and gain experience. Hold on to minor improvements that large firms do not want to deal with. Data transformations, auxiliary utilities and other trifles are your fad. Being nimble enough, you can “bite off” not much less than big fish, but with significantly less risk and demands.
Stage Two: Implementation.
Rule Three: "The agent of influence."
This is something without which there is no life. Whatever you think, no matter how good you are, you need a strong friend inside. He will give you information, promote your demands and ideas, remind you and defend you.
Find him, praise him, love him, feed him, congratulate him on the holidays and birthdays of his children. Finally buy it.
Rule Four: "Ladder for the Agent."
Remember, as the wolf does not feed, he looks into the forest. Your Agent is with you, but firms come and go, and his place is here. Therefore, every step you take, your every success should raise your Agent along the official or unofficial status ladder. Then he will be with you in everything. After all, your height is his height.
Rule Five: "Hold the ladder."
Remember, the higher the status, the higher our requests. Therefore, having risen, your Agent may want to change the patron. And here it is important that he know that the ladder along which he climbed in your hands. Release and everything will collapse. As stated in Dune "controls who can destroy." This is the paradoxical moment when software problems work for you. A couple of serious-looking and not solved without your participation (but in any case, not frequent or protracted) problems, and everyone understands that without you nowhere.
Conclusion:
Embedding the entire amount of information in one article is difficult to write and read. If the topic is interesting, then the following series of topics is planned:
- How to attract a black hole: as from a small artist, to become a major player with a serious influence
- The forces of attraction and repulsion in a black hole: negotiations with the customer, what you can say, and what you should never say
- The ecology of the black hole: species, food chains, and how to behave so that you are not eaten
- Agile in a black hole: what works and what will never work.
So in the case of interest in any particular points, ready to expand and deepen the topic.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/123353/
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