Professional Service Adoption Life Cycle
Pragmatists
Stick with the herd!
Conservatives
Hold on!
Visionaries
Get ahead of the herd!
Skeptics
No way!
Techies
Try it!
Innovators
Early
Early Majority
Adopters
Late Majority
Pragmatists create the dynamics
of new market development.
Laggards
Early Adopters – The Visionaries
 Primary Motivation
•
Gain dramatic competitive advantage via revolutionary
breakthrough
 Key Characteristics
•
•
•
•
Great imaginations for strategic applications
Attracted by high-risk, high-reward propositions
Will commit to supply the missing elements
Perceive order-of-magnitude gains — so not price-sensitive
 Challenges
•
•
Want rapid time-to-market
Demand high degree of customization and support
Key Role: Assist with development of product and
establish track record of success
Early Majority – Pragmatists
 Primary Motivation
•
Gain sustainable productivity improvements via evolutionary
change
 Key Characteristics
•
•
•
Understand real-world issues and tradeoffs
Focus on proven applications
Prefer market leaders
 Challenges
•
•
Insist on good references from trusted colleagues
Want to see the solution in production at the reference site
Key Role: Gatekeeper to the mainstream market
Late Majority – Conservatives
 Primary Motivation
•
Avoid competitive disadvantage
 Key Characteristics
•
•
•
Risk averse
Price-sensitive
Usually reliant on a single, trusted advisor
 Challenges
•
•
Need completely ready-made solutions
Would benefit from value-added services but do not want to
pay for them
Key Role: Extend product life cycles
Model Breaks Down at Key Transition
Visionaries
vs.
Pragmatists
• Adventurous
• Prudent
• Early buy-in attitude
• Wait-and-see
• Think “big”
• Manage expectations
• Independent of the
“herd”
• Part of the “herd”
• Spend big
• Staying power
• First use capability
• Think Visionaries are dangerous
• Spend to budget
• Think Pragmatists
are pedestrian
Pragmatists are very selective in the Visionaries
they trust as references.