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Posted by Bruce Guptill
Bruce Guptill
Most research firms can explain what happened; some can explain what is happening. Saugatuck Technology excels...
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on Thursday, 12 January 2012
in Lens360

OS Fragmentation is a Vendor-driven Feature, According to Google

Google CEO Eric Schmidt was widely quoted this week in news and blog dispatches from the CES as denying the existence of fragmentation within the Android OS community.

Instead, Schmidt suggests that what’s taken place is “differentiation.”  

The fact of the matter is that the Android OS, as happens with any open source/community-developed software, has become fragmented. That fragmentation is very easily identified, and even quantified to some extent, by looking at the number of versions used by device makers within a single wireless carrier ecosystem. Just within my own household, we have three different Android phones, from three different makers, with three different Android versions – and none of them work the same way.  That’s pretty obviously fragmentation, clearly demonstrated.

Even if we were to consider Mr. Schmidt’s statement to be factually correct, and agree that what has been happening is simply different developers and providers pursuing and/or tweaking various aspects of Android in order to differentiate themselves, we also have to consider that any successful, strategic “differentiation”  by developers, device makers, or others within any software ecosystem must necessarily lead to fragmentation. By definition, “differentiation” means to make something different, and vendors/developers do so in order to stand out from others. Otherwise, differentiation would not be pursued.

Most research firms can explain what happened; some can explain what is happening. Saugatuck Technology excels at understanding both in order to explain what else is likely to occur, and to guide its clients toward the actions that deliver them the greatest business value while enabling the safest business path.

To accomplish this, and to continually improve the value of Saugatuck’s work to clients in a Cloud-obscured marketplace, Saugatuck SVP and Head of Research Bruce Guptill pushes his team to continually re-examine and re-invent the company’s research programs to focus more on the costs, benefits, effects, and value of an ever-changing mix of technologies and providers in different markets.

Guptill’s own technology and business background laid a solid foundation for such a flexible, yet stable, approach to IT research value for clients. His technology research work includes mobility, collaborative IT, telecom, data networking, web commerce, and electronic marketplaces; his research work for enterprise IT and business clients includes return on IT investment, total cost of IT ownership, and business planning for IT. His research and guidance on vendor channel management, market identification and development, and buyer behavior analysis has enabled hundreds of established and startup IT providers to find, enter, and profit from new and traditional markets, while helping to guide user enterprise leaders toward optimal IT procurement and vendor management.

Guptill’s research background includes several years as a VP and research director with Gartner, senior positions with TeleChoice and Robert Frances Group, and editorial work within the IDG companies, including four years as a writer and editor with NetworkWorld. His marketing business focus was honed as VP of marketing for firms ranging from custom development providers to non-IT firms in aviation and other industries. His sales and channel experience started by traveling with a sample bag, then working for IT VARs, then advising telecom and wireless carriers on partner choices, to developing partner programs for traditional and Cloud-based software development firms and ISVs.

Guptill holds an MBA in marketing and finance, and a BA in the psychology and business of mass media communication. He is licensed to fly airplanes, drive boats, and sell houses; he is also a certified baseball coach, serves on the boards of regional civic groups, and is a serial home renovator. Married with three children, Guptill resides on Cape Cod in southeastern Massachusetts, and is a lifelong fan of the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, and the University of Connecticut Huskies.
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