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Mike Cassidy commented on the post, Reading Question: Business Models, on the site 9 years, 7 months ago
March, I used to live in FL on the west coast during the hurricane boom years in the early 2000s. I recall many insurance companies getting into some financial trouble and unable to pay claims based upon the relentless storms. I am certain that your market is also sensitive to excessive claims like this, so curious how your firm diversifies to…[Read more]
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Mike Cassidy commented on the post, Weekly Question #8: Complete by November 2, 2017, on the site 9 years, 7 months ago
Clint, good post. Do you believe the lack of IT support was a symptom of lack of municipal funding or simply a strategic miss? It would seem completely plausible that local towns would invest in some levels of technology, but not have the approved funding to properly support the venture. Being in software sales myself, I see this issue in the…[Read more]
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Mike Cassidy commented on the post, Reading Question: Business Models, on the site 9 years, 7 months ago
Hi Mori, good question. In this case, it was not necessarily based upon loss of customers. Our win rate and retention is very strong and the business would likely grow in high single digits for the next 3-5 years. However, our CEO is pretty disruptive and believes that our market is maturing and we needed to come up a new “game changing”…[Read more]
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Mike Cassidy commented on the post, Reading Question: Business Models, on the site 9 years, 7 months ago
Bill, great post and many thanks for your service. I really enjoyed reviewing the “Sustaining US Global Leadership” document and fully understand your points above pertaining to key partnerships. I think we, as civilians, often take for granted the difficult and often dangerous tasks of forging partnerships in hostile territories. I was…[Read more]
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Mike Cassidy commented on the post, Case Question: Volkswagen – Advice for Matulovic, on the site 9 years, 7 months ago
Excellent points here and I agree with Eric. Whether or not the executives calling into Matulovic are right or wrong, there is a process that should be adhered to. If he caves into these pressures, then the entire integrity of the system is compromised. Now that doesn’t mean that the current system is properly designed or in alignment with the…[Read more]
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Mike Cassidy commented on the post, Case Question: Volkswagen – Critical Unfunded Project, on the site 9 years, 7 months ago
The SAP project shortfall is a direct result of the newly minted IT selection process. Because the majority of the value of this project would be recognized at a global level, VWoA did not prioritize this project with any level of urgency. Additionally, because the US impact did not correlate directly to NRG goals and was a lot of “behind the…[Read more]
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Mike Cassidy changed their profile picture 9 years, 7 months ago
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Mike Cassidy commented on the post, Case Question: Volkswagen Process Assessment, on the site 9 years, 7 months ago
VWoA is attempting to fix a decade old IT issue, with some structural process improvement. While certainly a start in the right direction, this will not be enough. The old process, while haphazard and unstructured; likely engaged department heads in a debate about resources, overall investment impact and competing priorities. While this process…[Read more]
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Mike Cassidy commented on the post, Reading Question: IT Investments, on the site 9 years, 7 months ago
In looking back at the firm I worked at previously, Kronos; I would argue that they underinvested in IT in a significant way. As a workforce management software company, we had numerous developers and product managers working diligently on product upgrades, improvements, release schedules etc. Our customers generally viewed us a progressive…[Read more]
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Mike Cassidy commented on the post, Reading Question: Business Models, on the site 9 years, 7 months ago
In evaluating my current firm, Box 1 of the Business model canvas is very appropriate to consider. Based on the understanding that a business model creates, delivers and captures value; there is likely no better place to start than customer segments. At Vertex, there is a 30 year legacy of serving large organizations by way of our enterprise…[Read more]
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Mike Cassidy commented on the post, Case Question: When Hackers Turn to Blackmail, on the site 9 years, 7 months ago
Eric, with your background in IT, I really value your take here. Also, working for the same company as you, I wonder how our firm would respond to a similar situation. Clearly, we are in the software business and live in this world everyday, but are our “people” practices and crisis management practices world-class? I think your points about…[Read more]
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Mike Cassidy commented on the post, Case Question: Airbnb — Information Sharing, on the site 9 years, 7 months ago
Good post, and I agree that the reference requests could be a problem. However, your contention about similar standards between regular hotels and Airbnb is a great point. I agree that the “trust” factor is of critical importance for this concept to work long-term. When one reserves a hotel room, there is an assumed contract that the room will…[Read more]
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Mike Cassidy commented on the post, Reading Question: Can you trust Yelp ratings?, on the site 9 years, 7 months ago
The Yelp information contained in the article is disappointing, as others have mentioned throughout this thread. The video provides a carefully veiled view of their rating system, touting the fairness and objectivity it provides. The mysterious algorithm is made to appear much like the Wizard of Oz, mysterious and too complex for the “average”…[Read more]
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Mike Cassidy commented on the post, Reading Question: Security and Fraud, on the site 9 years, 8 months ago
This question has a few different components to consider. There is no question that online purchases, the proliferation of credit cards payments and web based financial services open up a treasure trove of opportunities for would be hackers. Many of us blindly assume that when make a transaction with a retailer or provide sensitive information…[Read more]
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Mike Cassidy commented on the post, Case Question: When Hackers Turn to Blackmail, on the site 9 years, 8 months ago
It is important to consider immediately that the staff at Sunnylake, while well intention, are not equipped to address this type of attack. One of the first steps when deciding what to do in any crisis, is to determine if one has the internal resources at their immediate disposal to rectify the problem rapidly. Mr. Layman, as CEO, should have a…[Read more]
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Mike Cassidy commented on the post, Case Question: Airbnb — "EJ" Incident, on the site 9 years, 8 months ago
Looking back, this situation could certainly have been avoided or at least mitigated. As with any new organizational platform, Airbnb experienced a learning curve, which opened them up to this type of liability. Because they did not own the assets or employ the providers of the services they were offering, they is a certain level of control loss…[Read more]
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Mike Cassidy commented on the post, These are a few of my favorite things…, on the site 9 years, 8 months ago
One of my favorite apps is Genius Scan. There are numerous times when you need to create a PDF on the fly and email it somewhere important. In the past, I would attempt to snap pictures of documents with an iPhone camera and send files to recipients, which often netted unpredictable results. Genius Scan, available in the app store, allows you…[Read more]
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Mike Cassidy's profile was updated 9 years, 8 months ago