IT using the Pyongyang model
IT using the Pyongyang model Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, with some 3.3 million inhabitants according to Wikipedia, is sometimes used as a model for cooperation between IT systems in Sweden. The prevailing model in Pyongyang – and in North Korea as a whole – is based on shutting out the entire world. Outside initiatives are considered threats and are to be resisted using all available means without any consideration for the possible consequences. Unfortunately, on occasion we encounter other IT system providers who more or less adopt the Pyongyang model in projects that require collaboration. At Symbrio we find it quite natural to question this model. The majority of all companies, big and small, use one or more IT-related processes in their operations. This sounds quite formal and boring, but is still true. These can be business systems, case management systems, purchasing systems, invoice management systems, document management systems and, most likely, a large number of other systems. Additionally, they are categorised as ERP systems, CMS systems and CRM systems. The list can get very long. For an end user, however, these terms are of little relevance. They simply want things to work. Regardless of the system, every user must learn which buttons to press at the right time and in the right context. In certain situations, the systems themselves can work independently of one another, but it is always a great advantage for both the company and the end user if the systems communicate with each other. A signal is sent from one system to another to indicate that something has been completed. Now it is your turn to continue processing the data. The processed data is sent back and, lo and behold, the end user can continue their work without any knowledge of what is happening behind the scenes. Nor should a user need to think about the signals being sent back and forth several times a day; things should just work.
www.symbrio.com
This is where the Pyongyang model comes into the picture.
NO! Refuse to cooperate!
As a system provider, you are part of a globalised world where the requirement to be able to integrate with other systems is the most important lifeline to hold on to. Symbrio's purchasing and invoice management system complements other systems as part of a larger process. And other systems complement Symbrio's. In other words, we send and receive signals to and from our systems without the end user being aware of the fact. The end user is only interested in everything working. Most companies that deliver some kind of system or application have gradually started opening these previously closed doors and adapted to reality. Because surely no one wants to be challenged and lose potential business or, in the worst case, an entire customer?
Like a dying duck in a thunderstorm?
Despite Symbrio's open doors, we sometimes lose business, whether an entire deal or just part of it. Naturally, in the end it is for the customer to decide what they want and we have to adapt. Most realise that the industry is not especially big and that in the long run a bad reputation is unnecessary and www.symbrio.com
harmful – what goes around, comes around … One of our core values is Professionalism. We continually remind ourselves about this core value and often ask ourselves the following: what is the best possible way to act? We would never dream of trying to interfere in other processes, to thwart and hinder a customer so that they do not get the solution they want. Or, even worse, make up peculiar arguments about additional costs and even force a customer to pay strange charges that can be likened to fines. That is not professionalism. Those are trade barriers that damage both our company and the customer's need to work cost-effectively. The customer just wants things to work. The question, though, is what can we do about such trade barriers? Thwarting continuously and intensely, earning a bad reputation, erecting obstacles, establishing additional charges and stonewalling … Why do many IT companies act in this way? Why hinder a customer? Why delay project progress? Why promise to get back? Why risk your very existence? Why? This is the Pyongyang model! But, as we have said, some have started to open their closed doors to the world. Not because another IT provider has asked them to, but because a mutual customer clearly states that integration is a necessity. The customer has understood. The Pyongyang model and trade barriers are not an alternative. Things should just work!
www.symbrio.com
www.symbrio.com
This is where the Pyongyang model comes into the picture.
NO! Refuse to cooperate!
As a system provider, you are part of a globalised world where the requirement to be able to integrate with other systems is the most important lifeline to hold on to. Symbrio's purchasing and invoice management system complements other systems as part of a larger process. And other systems complement Symbrio's. In other words, we send and receive signals to and from our systems without the end user being aware of the fact. The end user is only interested in everything working. Most companies that deliver some kind of system or application have gradually started opening these previously closed doors and adapted to reality. Because surely no one wants to be challenged and lose potential business or, in the worst case, an entire customer?
Like a dying duck in a thunderstorm?
Despite Symbrio's open doors, we sometimes lose business, whether an entire deal or just part of it. Naturally, in the end it is for the customer to decide what they want and we have to adapt. Most realise that the industry is not especially big and that in the long run a bad reputation is unnecessary and www.symbrio.com
harmful – what goes around, comes around … One of our core values is Professionalism. We continually remind ourselves about this core value and often ask ourselves the following: what is the best possible way to act? We would never dream of trying to interfere in other processes, to thwart and hinder a customer so that they do not get the solution they want. Or, even worse, make up peculiar arguments about additional costs and even force a customer to pay strange charges that can be likened to fines. That is not professionalism. Those are trade barriers that damage both our company and the customer's need to work cost-effectively. The customer just wants things to work. The question, though, is what can we do about such trade barriers? Thwarting continuously and intensely, earning a bad reputation, erecting obstacles, establishing additional charges and stonewalling … Why do many IT companies act in this way? Why hinder a customer? Why delay project progress? Why promise to get back? Why risk your very existence? Why? This is the Pyongyang model! But, as we have said, some have started to open their closed doors to the world. Not because another IT provider has asked them to, but because a mutual customer clearly states that integration is a necessity. The customer has understood. The Pyongyang model and trade barriers are not an alternative. Things should just work!
www.symbrio.com
