Comments on: Does the MIS Group demise spell the end of the Super VAR? http://www.90minds.com/2009/07/07/does-the-mis-group-demise-spell-the-end-of-the-super-var/ Tue, 25 Jan 2011 17:09:46 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: Mark Chinsky http://www.90minds.com/2009/07/07/does-the-mis-group-demise-spell-the-end-of-the-super-var/comment-page-1/#comment-60 Mark Chinsky Wed, 12 Aug 2009 18:36:05 +0000 http://www.90minds.com/?p=598#comment-60 Folks, everybody wants to find blame somewhere. The problem is simple. Too few deals with too many vars. Thus too many vars are being stupid and discounting to a point of self fulfilling prophesy. I'm competing with bozos now charging less than we did in 1991 and doing so from mid-town manhattan. Then lying through their teeth and quoting about 20% of what is really required to do the job. They will win the deal, go 2 to 3 x over budget and maybe get fired, but the damage is done. Folks, everybody wants to find blame somewhere. The problem is simple.
Too few deals with too many vars. Thus too many vars are being stupid and discounting to a point of self fulfilling prophesy. I'm competing with bozos now charging less than we did in 1991 and doing so from mid-town manhattan. Then lying through their teeth and quoting about 20% of what is really required to do the job. They will win the deal, go 2 to 3 x over budget and maybe get fired, but the damage is done.

]]> By: Florida VAR http://www.90minds.com/2009/07/07/does-the-mis-group-demise-spell-the-end-of-the-super-var/comment-page-1/#comment-59 Florida VAR Wed, 12 Aug 2009 00:19:30 +0000 http://www.90minds.com/?p=598#comment-59 "The CEO knew how to put together a finance deal"... really? I looked at the executive bios of the MIS Group and noticed a few MBAs and a few CPAs. Hard to believe they didn't teach 'how to read a balance sheet 101' at the schools these folks attended. Put simply - no one is exempt from having the chickens come home to roost. Too much debt, too much leverage, too much optimism - no cash, no equity, no idea of how to grow while maintaining a sound balance sheet. I'm sure greed comes in somewhere. All those MBAs, CPAs, VPs, etc were probably earning a fat paycheck - they should have cut back last year. RIP MIS. Good luck to all the staff left without a job. "The CEO knew how to put together a finance deal"… really? I looked at the executive bios of the MIS Group and noticed a few MBAs and a few CPAs. Hard to believe they didn't teach 'how to read a balance sheet 101' at the schools these folks attended. Put simply – no one is exempt from having the chickens come home to roost. Too much debt, too much leverage, too much optimism – no cash, no equity, no idea of how to grow while maintaining a sound balance sheet. I'm sure greed comes in somewhere. All those MBAs, CPAs, VPs, etc were probably earning a fat paycheck – they should have cut back last year.

RIP MIS. Good luck to all the staff left without a job.

]]> By: MIS_XStaff http://www.90minds.com/2009/07/07/does-the-mis-group-demise-spell-the-end-of-the-super-var/comment-page-1/#comment-57 MIS_XStaff Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:51:36 +0000 http://www.90minds.com/?p=598#comment-57 The demise of MIS Group should be viewed accurately. It is not an omen of how VARs should be structured in the future. It is simply an exercise in bad management. Should we stop making cars because General Motors can't make money? GM has had bad management for a couple of decades. Current economic factors are sijmply hastening the inevitable. So it is with MIS Group. The CEO knew how to put together a finance deal, but he didn't know how to run a sales organization. And he chose not to listen to the people in his company who did know. The demise of MIS Group should be viewed accurately. It is not an omen of how VARs should be structured in the future. It is simply an exercise in bad management. Should we stop making cars because General Motors can't make money? GM has had bad management for a couple of decades. Current economic factors are sijmply hastening the inevitable.

So it is with MIS Group. The CEO knew how to put together a finance deal, but he didn't know how to run a sales organization. And he chose not to listen to the people in his company who did know.

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