As a young Sales Manager joining Intel in 1982, I remember being overawed by the sheer professionalism of the company. 20 years ago, Intel seemed to know that they would become a multi-billion dollar corporation and that they would have to build scaleable business processes to support their growth. I learnt more about running a business in my first year at Intel than I had in the previous 15 years in the computer industry (working for two companies who were perhaps rather less prepared for the impact of change).

Intel did many things well, including delegation of responsibility to the lowest level, recognising the need for channels of distribution, Management by Objectives (MBOs), "Ranking and Rating" of employees, Corrective Action Programs for sub-standard performance, treating all employees equally - we all drove the same company car, and nobody had an office, including the CEO, Andy Grove. (This management style is described in detail in Andy's book "High Output Management")

Naturally, Intel wasn't perfect and I particularly disliked the commission scheme which paid less at >100% of target. However, the process Intel really mastered was Sales Forecasting and this became key to the company's success at capacity planning of wafer fabrication facilities. It is no exaggeration to say that in every company I have worked at since Intel, I have introduced a derivative of their forecasting system. It is also true that many companies in high technology are managed by executives who have previously worked for Intel and, like me, have inherited Intel's business planning culture. In turn Intel, I am sure, would readily admit that some of their ideas were inherited from Texas Instruments and Fairchild.

Subsequently, I have seen a number of American high-tech companies who came close to disaster because they surprised the investment community with poor numbers at the last minute - the most notable being a large workstation manufacturer who, at one time, couldn't manufacture enough products to meet their quarterly revenue target because they hadn't foreseen the level of bookings they would achieve. I remember thinking at the time that they could do with some basic Intel ideology on the three B's - Bookings, Billings and Backlog. I should also say that, as my own Board of Directors and previous managers will verify, I am not always as accurate in my own forecasting as they would like me to be!

The solution to this forecasting challenge is available as the Procession Revenue Planning Edition (RPe).