If there's one question I absolutely abhor, it's "what is the 'best' or 'leading'" anything. I often say that choosing a technology vendor is not unlike choosing the wine you're going to drink with dinner: there's an appropriate one based on what you'll be eating, who your guests are, your budget, and everyone's tastes.

For example, I hate high-alcohol goopy cabernets from California, and I don't care if it got 99 points from a famous wine critic whose tastes are nothing like mine - it's not appropriate for my needs. I am not a sheep who follows the opinions of a shepherd who guides his flock, bowing to authority and not thinking for myself, throwing my money at the 99-point wine. Rather, I taste, learn what I like and what my friends like, and feel increasingly informed enough to make my own decisions.

Yet many technology buyers continue to ignore such nuances of situation and budget, and long for a more black-and-white answer to "what is the best?" Once again last week I was asked about who the best DAM vendor is, and when I say there isn't one, those who don't like to be intellectually challenged look dismayed, and sometimes turn to people who give them easier answers. You, dear reader, are smarter than that, or your browser wouldn't have landed on this page. Enterprise technology is too complicated for one simple answer, let alone an easy answer. 

The justifications usually given for calling a vendor or their technology "the best" or "leading" are not substantive to buyers and most of all, end-users of software. Horserace-style market analyses tend to focus on things like market positioning, vendor strategy, or a product roadmap that may not be realized for years to come, if ever. They overvalue a vendor's ability to market and sell, not what a buyer or end-user needs. These sorts of justifications can often be traced to technology vendors that are very good at analyst relations, but not very good at taking care of their customers.

Let's review a specific example from the Digital Asset Management (DAM) marketplace.  Two Goliaths of the general technology world -- Open Text and Autonomy -- happen to offer very scalable and feature-rich DAM technology and therefore usually get labeled by major analyst firms as "leaders" and "the best." These two vendors' DAM products are grandaddies of the industry, and many of the largest and most impressive implementations of DAM systems run on these systems. So one could simply say, yes, they're the "best." But what's missing from this equation? What's the real story?

• These are extremely expensive DAM systems that small or mid-sized organizations could almost never afford, and even some large companies don't have the budget for.
• These companies are focused on selling software licenses, not delivering great customer service. Open Text salespeople have complained to our subscribers (potential buyers) that I "don't like them." In fact, it's their customers who don't like them. This is not a personal matter, it's about customers getting the service they deserve. (Please, if you're a customer who is happy with Open Text's DAM services, contact me....I hear from the unhappy ones regularly already.)
• Although these vendors can boast a large, global footprint that might make them seem more "leader-like" to the unsuspecting,  in reality, their DAM development and services teams are no bigger than the pure-play, niche vendors in this market.

Now, you may be thinking that you don't know enough about DAM or any other technology to make the right decisions for your organizations. I get it all the time: "Theresa, you're the expert, just tell us what to pick." But even if you ask me, I would never decide for you, I will work with you to find the best fit. I will say Real Story Group is here to educate you and help you make the best decision for yourself and your organization, to help you weigh the pros and cons, to understand with every decision and every vendor, there are pros and cons, weaknesses and strengths. You will go into your project and new vendor relationship with eyes wide open. 

The analogy I prefer in this case is more like that of a peloton in cycling - collective intelligence moving swiftly and constantly weighing the variables, adjusting to a fluid situation, where the shape of decisions changes based on a myriad of factors. I may be the market expert, but you are the expert in your organization, your business unit, your products, your services, whatever it may be. All those factors weigh into the best decision for you. So, don't be a sheep and let someone just tell you who the "best" or who the "leader" is. Instead, get on the bike and learn how to ride it. Get smarter. Join the peloton.