Coders Business People Customer Success Services Practice

Coders Business People

Coders Business People is s battle that has been around for a very long time. aBIZinaBOX IS a Google Cloud Partner – G Suite, and we view it as the ULTIMATE ADD-ON for Xero Accounting Software] – and a critical part of the new aBIZinaBOX Customer Success Program which is modeled on the “Customer Success Services [“CSS”]” offering that Google encourages its Partners to provide to customers.

I was absolutely fascinated to discover that I had originally written this piece almost four years ago…and every word of it is just as relevant today.

Coders Business People

The unique format of aBIZinaBOX which we structured half a dozen years ago as an “integrated tax, financial advisory, and technology consulting firm permits us to expand the CSS concept to include the full range of financial and tax offerings that you would find at a large regional or second-tier national CPA practice. The model is very flexible, adaptable for very small IT firms to co-venture with CPA firm. [ More about this program to come]

I fully expect to get pilloried for the comment I am about to make but, its worth it because it is important…[I fully realize that the statements are generalities, and exceptions can be found to every rule but understanding how a person processes information is critical to gaining the insight to move past it]

It might be helpful to divide the world into two parts…for lack of better terms let’s call them “Coders” and “Business People” and STIPULATE the following about Business Rules:

“Coders” are the people that make the machine part of IT run…the engineers, programmers, etc..all the way from com chip design through the development of mobile apps….falls within the purview of “Coders”.

“Business People” are the Board a CxO executives that make strategic and tactical management decisions for the business, the legal and financial operations teams, the sales and marketing teams, and the operations teams that transform the strategic guidelines from the Board, CxO level, and legal, financial, regulatory compliance and HR into specific policies and procedures that implement the guidelines, let;s call them “Business Rules”

Generally, there’s is a group of IT people that are involved with the business people, involved with the implementation of “Business Rules” which includes the Network Architects, Engineers and Admins, the CRM and Digital Marketing specialists.

Coders Business People

Perhaps it helps to remember that the selection and design of domains, subdomains, organizations [OU and Container in “MS Active Directory speak” is inextricably tied to “Business Rules” e.g who can use wireless without a proxy, content filters, etc”

Consider that “workflows”, “escalations”, “templates” and “policies” are essentially the implementation of “Business Rules”.

With that stipulated background [it isn’t perfect but it captures some critical thoughts] permit me to offer the following observations:

Business People have NEVER been and NEVER will be capable of fully comprehending, much less performing the functions that Coders perform, and for the most part they accept it, not that there haven’t been points of friction along the way. [An example of where this has caused conflict in recent years has been the expansion of cloud-based CRM systems like salesforce.com which is essentially the implementation of the business rules that govern the sales, marketing, and customer service functions.

If you haven’t thought about this, a light should go on, as the interface where individual desktop [productivity suites like MS Office and Google for Work ] interface with business process is with many of the sharing and collaboration functions that exist within the product.

The single most common pain point and by far the greatest cause of grief in change management is essentially when the Coders that designed and deployed G Suite Business, as an example are mystified why after explaining why the software does something in a certain which can be proven to more efficient doesn’t result in exuberant responses when Business People are asked to modify the policies and procedures to implement an IT improvement. which leads us to the next observation

Coders Business People

Coders” [well at least 97.8% of Coders are incapable of grasping let alone understanding business rules….don’t ask me why it is just not in their nature. Before you decide I am spewing BS, consider

“Don’t Call Yourself A Programmer and Other Business Advice”

The Stress Of Being A Computer Programmer Is Literally Driving Many Of Them Crazy

“Why Don’t More People Work As Programmers”

“When To Click instead Of Write Code”

“Click Not Code An Introduction To Declarative Development”

The subject matter is part of the “Business People vs Coders” presentation I do at EVERY client deployment we undertake. [ It also something the I am trained and certified in see

ISACA Certified in the Governance In Enterprise IT” – CGEIT recognizes a wide range of professionals for their knowledge and application of enterprise IT governance principles and practices.

If one takes a step back and views the changes in the Partner Program as an outsider [much as my perspective is every single time a client as for “business advice” as distinguished from accounting, tax or IT advise which are collectively technical knowledge domains that support business operations. The reasoning for $4K in new business and percentage increases year over year is ENTIRELY CORRECT based upon Google’s business model.

Coders Business People

Further, if your business is sales based, the need to increase sales is obvious. Where some GCP partners are services partners, Google doesn’t share in your services revenue, but the logic is obvious, they have assumed a Pater Familias role to ensure that your business continues to be infused with new clients, to replace the ones that WILL eventually lose due to attrition and provide new opportunities for larger implementation projects.

In closing, this isn’t about me vs. any specific other Partner, it’s like the army essentially everyone gets the same requirements. Personally, I have reviewed and noted where I have issues and will address them over time. However, the time spent on venting, engaging in necropsy over how anyone of us could have done a “better job”….isn’t going to accomplish much. Remember, when dealing with Google…DATA IS KING. We actually ran an analysis of our practice and the five other GFW partners that we do accounting and tax work for, and here is what we found [not subjected to rigorous statistical review:

My conclusion…[watch me try to think like a coder]…its obvious that “incentivizing” the Partners to pursue more new business IS the right move. I fully understand that this may not change the mind of anyone feeling as though they have been “buggered”, but its an attempt by a “Business Person” to lay out the logic involved and back it with some analysis. Do I believe it…..YEP and I am betting my *** on it since the calculations you see here are the basis for my businesses revenue forecasting extending out 24 months, and we are committing to expansion in professionals, marketing and operational spend based on them. We have also used variations for the forecasting for two dozen other Partners and MSP’s. While we are at it all would be stunned to see the level of predictive analytics used by our Cannabis Practice Group. or visit their website.