Crossing the Chasm - it is not really that Ir....simple!

The big $74million dollar question once you have developed a cool standard is how to get the industry to adopt it quickly. Most industry associations are formed to develop and propagate the standard that is developed.

Some options include whether to provide the standards document free to anyone and everyone who wants it or charge for it, cover only printing costs or other overhead costs too. Or perhaps insist that only members can get access to the standards document, and as members, there are membership dues - which itself is not unreasonable.

The argument gets more complicated if the model gets complicated, such as charging per unit royalties, or charge sliding scale depending on certain criteria. This certainly generates more revenue into the association's coffers but starts impacting whether the model is to create an industry standard or to generate revenue. If early adopters have to stop and think about whether they like the charging philosophy, it detracts from the impulse of jumping on the bandwagon and crossing that chasm.

The fundamental issue for product managers who are deciding to deploy the standard is whether the standard itself has sufficient value to warrant the cost of adding it to the product. Just think of Betamax vs VHS - where Betamax was clearly superior but charged too much and eventually lost to VHS.

The value for the standard has to be high and obvious. These product managers have to be assured through market data or other means that the standard will be demanded by users and if their products do not incorporate the feature, their competition will win. That is always the deciding factor. In this case, then the cost in getting the standard is no issue. Consider Qualcomm - the licensing fee is very high but it was still adopted by many companies because there was no choice!

But if the value of the standard is in question, then there will always be a discussion of price. Once that happens, it is almost better to charge minimally using one of the earlier options - because the objective is to propagate the standard. Without the rest of industry adopting it, the industry association will eventually cease to exist anyway.

So, the best strategy for any industry association is to focus on spreading the word - about the standard, its utility, its adoption and let the resulting demand drive new members to the association.