The news this past week about Verizon Wireless opening up its network to allow in more products from other cell phone manufacturers can only help them, and any other company that follows suit, regardless of the industry.  I have long minimized my use of any vendor or provider that required their own proprietary equipment or technology to keep a product working. 

This has been my policy for many reasons.

First, proprietary service or support places you at a competitive disadvantage.  I want to bid out my goods and services in the open market to get the best price for the quality I dictate.  Further, I do not want to invest in training or inventory parts on a myriad of platforms or operating systems.  Finally, I do not want to be held hostage while competing providers fight over allowing each other the support to fulfill their contractual obligactions to their clients.

An example of what I am referring to can be seen in escalator maintenance.  While working for Sears and supporting the building maintenance needs of almost 900 large stores (with an average age of 26 years), we had over 1,000 escalators.  Needless to say, we had a multitude of manufacturers with their equipment bought over a span of 79 years (oldest building age).  At one time we also had over 50 different service providers.  In 1996, we bid out a new service contract that resulted in one provider handling every piece of equipment.

This move saved us a lot of money, but more importantly, it was the basis for us to provide better and more consistent service to our stores.  The only problem was that some manufacturers would not allow their competitors to service the equipment.  The resultant negotiations and continual problems from this manufacturer (and major customer satisfaction issues for us) led us to removing their company from all future equipment bid and service lists.  They stayed off the bid list for close to eight years before their new management relented and became cooperative.

Verizon realizes that by opening up their architecture, their customers will be the real winners with an increased amount of choices for the latest and neatest new phones.  When their customers win, so does the company.

Does your organization win or lose by remaining in a proprietary business?