Baseball & Benchmarking: Improve your Batting Average!

Author: Chris M

Long before computer games came on the scene, back when I was a teenager in the 1970’s, my friends and I used to play a baseball board game called “Strat-o-Matic”.  The inventors of this game utilized every known Major League Baseball stat known to mankind to build incredible mathematical models that they turned into probability charts, which in turn allowed you to make decisions as you managed your own MLB team.  Multiple dice were used to determine the result of your decision making, and the game created a very realistic simulation of how your MLB team would do if you were making the decisions.  My friends and I created our own leagues and used to get together to compare stats and strategies so we could try to make better decisions that improved our records.  Strat-o-matic was clearly ahead of its time, as now we all know how big the “fantasy leagues” have become for all major sports!   

So what does baseball gaming have to do with the ENTESSA blog?   Quite a bit actually!  Wouldn’t it be great if you had all the stats for your software implementations so that you could make informed decisions on the new products and features you should be looking at?  Wouldn’t it be great if you could provide information to your management on how your software implementation compares with others? 

<< Fade to Scene with YOUR boss >>

It’s getting late in the year (or game), and your boss charges into your office blurting out, “Hey YOU—our fourth quarter (or 9^th inning if you prefer!)  is approaching and I need data. Don’t just stare at me with that blank look!  How well has our supply chain logistics system helped us accomplish our business objectives?  Are we maximizing its use?  Are we staying up on the latest upgrades and features that are available to us?  Do you even know?” 

The camera pans to you.  A bead of sweat rolls down your face.  You gulp and let out a deep sigh.  You think to yourself, “Holy hand-grenades Batman, maybe I should just pull pin and blow myself up!!”

Now take a deep breath!  We are all friends here, are we not?  At Entessa, our # 1 goal has always been customer satisfaction and a true belief that our Entessa User Community truly adds value to how Synthesis will continue to meet your needs now and into the future.

With the ongoing expansion of the Entessa customer base, we are asking YOU, our users, if a benchmarking study would help provide you with directional data points:   How well is your organization maximizing the return on your use of Synthesis?  It is our belief that by gathering and sharing information, the entire community will benefit.   Anyone who participates would receive a copy of the aggregated results. 

In business, just as in baseball, you have to be willing to step into the batter’s box and take batting practice.  You need to study what the other guys (& gals) are doing. Are they doing something I’m not doing?  Are they focusing on a specific pitch?  What type of dollars could I be making if I did what others are doing?

Batter up!   Let us know if you are interested in improving your Synthesis game by emailing me at sales@entessa.com .   After we have had a chance to determine the interest level, we will publish a follow-up blog message to advice on the next steps, survey availability, etc.