Steven Zolman

May. 12,2010

For Jordan, it was unabashed practice and, in fact, failure which helped him succeed. By his own admission, he “missed more than 9000 shots in [his] career… lost almost 300 games. 26 times, [he’s] been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed… failed over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” But he continued to devote as much time as possible to improving. Even his contract allowed him an exception from standard NBA terms and conditions which gave him the ability to play the game anytime and anywhere he wanted, now known as the “love-of-the-game clause.” Just about every other winning athlete has this same mentality ...

Steven Zolman

Apr. 22,2010

If there was ever an argument for negotiation of even the most banal of desktop software licenses (the highest price per desktop is $51.46), this breaking story about McAfee's latest virus definition file should have most procurement people running scared. Simply put, the definition file itself causes wide-spread shutdown of virtually every XP system it's installed on. McAfee's Software Royalty-Free License (Jan 2010 edition) has two relevant sections [Note: This language is found in every publicly available McAfee agreement as of 4/22/10 at www.mcafee.com. Section numbers may be different.]: "6. Warranty and Disclaimer. THE SOFTWARE IS ...

Steven Zolman

Apr. 21,2010

Continuing its direction toward rental-based agreements, Microsoft has recently been pitching EAP's and EAI's to some of its customers. Simply, these agreements are the "low interest mortgage loan with a large balloon payment at the end" of the licensing world. The customer forecasts a growth rate for covered products such as SQL Server, Visual Studio, etc, and only pays a lower rate during the 3 year term of the agreement. Looks great when you see the pricing in comparison to straw man of a 'business as usual' mock up... Until you realize, that at the end of the agreement you must either renew (at a price that Microsoft decides) or lose the ...

Steven Zolman

Apr. 19,2010

Strategy 3: Issue Token Gifts Optimize persuasiveness Low-cost token gifts. Agree to meet at time or location that’s more convenient for the Supplier Arrive at talks with coffee to share with your counterparts Concede First. Open the dialogue and begin substantive discussions by agreeing to a small request made by the other side Communicate Effectively. Your counterpart is more likely to feel compelled to reciprocate in substantive ways if you make your concessions salient Make sure they know you agreed to meet in their preferred location despite the inconvenience for you NET(net)’s Website/Blogs/Articles and other content is subject to ...

Steven Zolman

Apr. 13,2010

Relationship based persuasion is usually strategically intended to win others over, not to defeat them. Thus it is very important to be able to see the topic from different angles in order to anticipate the reaction of others to a proposal. To be successful in this pursuit, we recommend the following 4 steps: Step 1: Survey your situation. This step includes an analysis of the situation of the persuader, his goals and the challenges he faces in his organization. Step 2: Confront the five barriers. There are five obstacles that pose the greatest risks to a successful influence encounter: relationships, credibility, communication mismatches, ...

Steven Zolman

Mar. 31,2010

Negotiation has been referred to by some as "The Art of Letting Them Have Your Way". Many clients fancy themselves as excellent negotiators. Persuasion, however, is a different skill. Persuasion is a form of social influence. If Negotiation is the art of letting them have your way, persuasion is the process of guiding your counter-party towards the adoption of your idea, attitude, or position by rational and symbolic (though not always logical) measures. Relationship based persuasion is usually strategically intended to win others over, not to defeat them. Thus it is very important to be able to see the topic from different angles in order ...

Steven Zolman

Mar. 26,2010

Dates are still a bit uncertain, but expect Microsoft price increases to apply to the May price list, effective May 12. We expect Microsoft Office to increase by 5% Not on the list below, we expect System Center July 1st, to increase by 30% Note also, “Core CAL” and “Enterprise CAL” will also be increasing since their underlying components are increasing Client guidance: get started early (no later than early April - and engage NET(net) to help you consider all your options. There will be considerable market pressure brought to bear by Microsoft to get their customers to 'renew early to avoid the May price increases'. We have an easy answer ...

Steven Zolman

Feb. 23,2010

After a five-year struggle in US Federal District Court, Robert Jacobson recently prevailed in his copyright infringement claim against Matthew Katzer as a result of Katzer's alleged misappropriation of open source code from Jacobson's Java Model Railroad Interface project. You can read all of the story in more detail at ConsortiumInfo.org. The end result is a huge win for open source developers as a result of three key findings by the District Court: Violation of an open source software license constitutes copyright infringement, not just breach of contract (this was first upheld by the Federal Appeals Court in 2008 in this case). Use of ...

Steven Zolman

Feb. 4,2010

With all the Technology Titans beating street estimates lately, IT Spending is seemingly on the mend, and my 401k is no longer looking like a mere shadow of its former self. With all the good news, why do I have this nagging suspicion in my mind? Why am I worried about the sustainability of clients' investments in technology to improve efficiencies, promote collaboration and foster innovation? Sustainability can only be achieved when a deal is balanced with the needs of the Client, the needs of the supplier and is reflective of the market conditions. To achieve optimization, the sustainable deal cannot be altered in a way to improve the ...

Steven Zolman

Jan. 26,2010

There are some common misconceptions about the meaning and impact of the various lifecycle phases. Microsoft publishes a complete list of its products and support lifecyle dates here: http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifeselect NET(net) advises Clients to closely review the definitions in item 3 in the FAQ here: http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifepolicy When evaluating the potential impact of end of support, Clients should consider the stability of their applications, the feasibility and costs for moving to other solutions, and the risks associated with prolonged downtime for the applications. In many cases, by the time 10 years have passed, ...