Vin

>>I just can't imagine that you can walk into Chase, bid on say an HR system written in BlahBlahBlah and win the bid against someone developing the same system in C++ (or VB or FoxPro or whatever, depending on the particulars of the situation). Even if your product is better.<<

What do you mean by "the same system?"

What I'm saying is that if you are recognised as a HR guru by the Chase MD and his cohorts, and if they know that you know their business need as well as they do, and if you have a string of high-profile HR successes to your name, and if you are telling them that product xyz is the one they need, then whether xyz is written in C++ or VFP is not going to drive their final choice- even if those "bidding" against you are recognised as C++ experts or are using the current cool tools.

IME in some fairly large (multi-billion dollar) organisations, successful bidders "sell" not just to IT people but to senior management as well. At that level, relationships and "knowing the business" matters a lot. This is especially so in industries where hugely costly IT failure has been a trend despite development by experts using the most accepted tools. Eg: healthcare.

Your point is valid if the client does not know you and you are simply a bidder trying to convince an IT department to let you develop something they have scoped. In that case, company size, product used, training certificates, price etc etc is *the only way* they can assess you.

I suppose it's similar to building a house. If you have an unknown contractor, you want to see accreditation and you are likely to be highly suspicious of deviation from what you see as the norm. But if the builder has won numerous awards, is consulted by manufacturers for advice about new products, goes to your church and has a wide reputation as somebody who produces a fine house, you're more likely to say "you're the builder" if he/she suggests something you are not familiar with.

I don't think we are disagreeing.

Regards

JR