On the Basis of the Information That Guerriere Has, How Would You Position Thoughtworks to the Target of Type a Firms?

On the basis of the information that Guerriere has, how would you position ThoughtWorks to the target of Type A firms?

ThoughtWorks is a forward-thinking company that thrives on agile delivery for their services. Leading with the best teams tailored to suit specific client needs (8% workforce turnover in 2003), working in close relationship with the client. Savvy in the different strategies to solve business applications and will work hand in hand to meet deadlines. ThoughtWorks has the best practice in Agile software development and enterprise architecture that time and again proves to get the job done. Support from Martin Fowler as a chief scientist reinforces our service as the best choice for your IT enterprises.

What assumptions about Type A firms underlie the positioning that you propose and how can market research explore the validity of those assumptions?

Guerriere’s plan was to not only target Type A organizations, but to target Type A organizations that had adopted Agile or were aware of Martin Fowler and his previous work. Of the waterfall, iterative, and agile methodologies, agile methods (extreme programming) are the most flexible approach to building software. On Gartner's magic quadrant, ThoughtWorks is performing below competition, so he wants to improve this specific point. Guerriere is working on several assumptions that direct his strategy towards what we established in the pitch. Following are our assumptions about Type A firm:

• Type A companies are the only companies who can take risks and are pioneers in advanced technology and innovation.

• They are more willing to look at the Agile Systems approach.

• The experience at ThoughtWorks helps Type A companies reach their goals, based on what Guerriere knows. They are aware of the Chief Scientist- Fowler’s work and contribution.

• As potential clientele due to their fit in the Niche market.

• ThoughtWorks is positioning itself as a leader with its high success rate of high-risk to high-reward projects by combining innovative methods and superior staff.

• There is high probability of these Type A organizations adopting latest technology early.

• Deep technical knowledge (most important asset).

It is important to have a market research done to see if similar companies world over have used such systems and what the success rates have been.

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