The comparison between Microsoft and Xactimate does have some apparent parallels at first glance yet you can see some major differences if you take a detailed look.
Talking specifically about Vista it is a good thing with the correct computer and software because of underlying changes that helps enable corporations to improve performance by tapping into new hardware and security options coming on the market today. The pretty interface is not the steak but the sizzle.
It is a pain for adjusters that wish to use software that did not evolve in a timely manner but that is understandable if you look at the facts. The founder of Xactimate died in mid 2005 and it was sold in mid 2006. That can rock any company even with a clear cut succession plan and time to plan for the exit of the founder. To date there is no case of an adjusting software package that I am aware of having successfully survived its founder long term but there can always be a first. The story of DDS to MSB and continuing is well known and well worn on CADO.
Microsoft has a horizontal market while Xactimate has a narrow vertical market. Microsoft does not require Xactimate but Xactimate requires Microsoft to close a sale. Microsoft has driven down the cost for goods and services and has been one of the main enablers of the financial success in the world economy and the proof of that is in the fact that Bill Gates has just been listed now for the 13th year in a row as the wealthiest man in the world. You have to add a lot of financial value to a lot of people for that to happen.
It is true both Microsoft and Xactimate are the largest in their respective industries but Xactimate nor any other estimating software vendor does not have users lining up to buy a new release at midnight just to be one of the first to own the newest release. : ) People will pay good money to Microsoft just to check email and travel the world wide web while adjusters making $100K a year may complain about paying for Xactimate or other estimating software.
If Bill Gates had failed then today instead of top of the line estimating software going for $800 annually the same software would be $5000 if there were 10 or 15 different operating systems out there to develop around and support. Just look how with only one operating system and years of warning not every software vendor was ready for Vista’s long touted arrival. Bill Gates has done more to reduce the cost of handling claims than any man dead or alive. I bet some that are still adjusting five years from now may ask how did we work before Vista came along? : )
DDS desired to be the next Xactimate and while noble it called for extensive resources. Had they built their model based on Microsoft instead of Xactimate things could have been different perhaps. Doing a frontal assault on an enemy requires more weight and staying power so if you weight 80 pounds and go up against one weighting 800 pounds then a five year old can predict the expected outcome in most cases.
Sometimes we forget that David took out Goliath without a physical fight or a plan to ever fight Goliath. Goliath confused size with strength. Goliath confused size with smarts. David understood he only had to disable Goliath for a few minutes and that Goliath would provide the instrument of his own death and that was Goliath’s own sword. David only needed the time to run to Goliath after he was knocked out and cut off his head with Goliath’s sword. He had no armor to slow him down, not even sword to carry. What blows my mind is why Goliath’s fellow soldiers were scared of David because had they just rushed him David would not have lasted three minutes.
Deciding to compete against Bill Gates can leave one bloody. Deciding to compete against Xactimate can leave on bloody. The first in any category has many advantages in the market place. I think the turning point for Hawkins Research, Inc. was when we woke up in 2000 and decided to not compete with Xactimate but to instead become the first in a new subcategory of property estimating software by establishing an Open Standard for property claims handling to level the playing field for all that wanted to compete.
Well my point is in my view the only real competitor anyone has lies in the area between his two ears. If we have to do battle in the expected way of doing battle we fail when going up against one ten times our size. Companies like nations fail internally before they fall externally. In time one can expect that Microsoft and Wal-Mart will go the way of Ford. Their three founders have provided the pattern that I have used to build our company. : )
In the past it was hard for a corporation to last 100 years and today 20 years seem like a long time for a corporation to stay viable. In doing some research for this post I came across the following info that may be of interest to those who are trying to earn their own living.
http://www.accenture.com/Countries/...ration.htm