Eureka

Centra Software

Catalogue
Ⅰ Ⅱ Ⅲ BACKGROUND ANALYSIS ALTERNATIVE PLANS

Ⅳ

COMMENTS

Ⅴ

PLAN IMPLEMENTATION

Ⅰ Background
Centra is a pioneer in software eLearning in the fast-growth market. However it faces the threat from WebEx, who sells exclusively over the phone. Now, It is debating how to modify its go-to-market strategy and how to add telesales to improve sales force productivity.
Should Centra concentrate on the enterprise customer and exclude small and mid-size corporations ?
OR

Should Centra ‘fish where the fish are biting’ ?

Ⅱ ANALYSIS
The market for Corporate eLearning and eMeeting the market for eLearning and eMeeting 11 12 10 8 6 4 2 0

1.1

1999年

2004年

The number of Delivery Platforms Vendors the number of Delivery platforms vendors

The one that wins the broadest installed customer base in the least time,

20 20 15 10 5 0 3

survive!

ANALYSIS (Continued)
Competitors
The competition among 20 vendors is very fierce. Comparison between three typical companies is as follows. revenue($'000) sales spending 25000 51000 revenue per customer($'000)

technology

sales process

customers

simple

telesales

3300

7.58

WebEx field sales, telesales and enterprise sales

sophisticated

23000 4673

440

52.27

Centra enterprise sales; single-source vendors

sophisticated

2200

20

110.00

Lotus

Not available

ANALYSIS (Continued) technology Positioning

sophisticated

simple

revenue per customer

ANALYSIS (Continued)
Straightforward strategy Market leader in sophisticated end Products from simple to sophisticated R&D capability Rapid growth markets Merger waves

The friction between telesales and field sales Bad financial situation Penetration rather than dissemination Limited experience in enterprise deal Success of new competitor, WebEx