Always bet on the Machine – the fate of software development
August 14, 2008 By Charlie Bess
Categories: General
If you look back forty years ago, there were hundreds of thousands of telephone operators in the US working for AT&T alone. Now the function has been almost totally automated. Before the 1950s, "computer" was a job code (usually doing actuarial work), not a device that would be recognized by most individuals.
More recently, we've seen the shift from shirts and shoes being made by hand, to today, where they are made by machines. Even more critical and precise, activities like eye surgery and Prostatectomy are being turned over to robotics.
I believe there are changes taking place in the IT space that will push the envelope of what people can perform without assistance. Some of these are:
The move to multi-core and specialized processors (the age of abundance in computing). It is very difficult for people to write parallel code. There is quite a bit of work taking place in this area. Just as robotics help "good" surgeons do "great" work, the average programmer can use automated assistance in the assembly of great programs.
The move of the edge of the enterprise out into more finely grained data elements will require more and more interfaces to be created. Automated techniques will amplify the capabilities of the available resources to meet those new interface needs.
Modeling and simulation will increase the confidence in the experiments and changes to business processes. With the use of techniques like genetic algorithms, they'll even aid in optimizing the performance of business models. Just like in the NASA antenna design competition, they'll likely make adjustments we'd never dream of.
Although there is a Luddite tendency in us all, we must realize that betting on the machine over the long haul is a sure thing. I've blogged before (a few years back) about the ever increasing capabilities of computers and the inevitable outcome.
Charlie Bess
EDS' Next Big Thing Blog
0 Comment(s) ·
del.icio.us ·
Digg it ·
Furl ·
reddit ·
Email
The Golden Rule for ERP Software Vendors - Use What You Sell and Sell What You Use
August 12, 2008 By Rebecca Gill
Categories: General
A recent article prompted me to pause and sit in bewilderment. To my surprise, not all ERP vendors use their own ERP software to run their internal operations. No, I thought, it cannot be true. But it is true. And if you are as shocked as I was, well, join the club of disbelievers.
Since we began developing our software back in the early 90’s, TGI has used Enterprise 21 to run our own operations. From CRM and project management to support call resolution and year end financial statements, Enterprise 21 is all we use internally. Quite frankly, it is all we need.
Honestly, I really did not believe that other ERP software vendors were any different. I suppose I suspected vendors of very vertically focused software may use a different software package than they sell, but honestly, I had not put much thought it. The idea of an ERP software vendor not using the same software they develop and sell simply seemed ludicrous to me. I just did not believe an ERP developer would use a competitor’s software package. But alas, it is true. It does occur and probably more often the naive blogger in me would think.
I will say this loud and clear. Internally at TGI, we use what we sell and we sell what we use. We do so, because we believe in our ERP software. It is not focused on a small vertical market. It is a strong horizontal solution that can efficiently and effectively manage the operations of an entire organization. In particular, it manages our operations. We use our Enterprise 21 package everywhere to manage everything.
So I will end with this thought. If you are a project manager or consultant in the midst of a software evaluation project, ask each vendor on your short list what software they use internally. Based on my recent discovery, the answer may surprise you just as much as it surprised me.
Rebecca Gill
ERP ETC.
0 Comment(s) ·
del.icio.us ·
Digg it ·
Furl ·
reddit ·
Email
Delight your way to success
July 25, 2008 By Paul Marshall
Categories: General
I have been spending much time lately reading and thinking about customer engagement and experience and the importance of it in all businesses. Having a truly passionate customer base is not just for intimate startup companies, as Apple and the recent lines we all witnessed clearly illustrate. Having your customers so delighted with their experience that they will tell their friends and Twitter about their experience and proudly show/tell everyone they know is the most powerful (and inexpensive...sorry Finance guy in me coming out) marketing program any company can achieve. For a startup company positive word of mouth, press and chat is even more important as it can be the difference between success and failure. There are two sides of this experience that I'd like to cover, the product experience and the human experience that in my opinion are equally important.
PRODUCT EXPERIENCE
Building product that is focussed on solving a specific problem that a target audience has or providing them with a new experience they will value is obviously table stakes. Truly delighted customers are looking for much more:
- Make product consistent and reliable
- Save time or improve the quality of time for the customer
- Ease of use will increase adoption and stickiness
- A slick, well thought out user interface is a game changer
- Flexibility in design (because your customer is going to try to use you product in ways you probably hadn't imagined...and you want them to)
- The WOW factor...can't really describe it but you know it when you see it
- There can be many others depending on the application, audience, etc
You are not beside your customer when they use your product for the first time, make sure you nail form, function and WOW.
HUMAN EXPERIENCE
EVERY interaction you have with a customer is an opportunity to delight a customer and build your brand. Really folks, this is not hard. Every person in the organization, whether there are 3 or 3,000 is in marketing and sales. I posted earlier on a simple experience at Dairy Queen (sadly no freeby's have arrived at my door) which demonstrates the difference every person in your company can make.
Everytime someone calls in for support on your product - delight them
Everytime someone calls to complain - delight them
Everytime someone asks you where you work - delight them
Attitude is everything, be excited and passionate about what you do. If you aren't how do you expect them to be so moved they will tell their friends and wear your shirt. Always ask them for feedback and suggestions, engage them in making things better. Hiring, retaining and maintaining engaged employees is a seperate post I'll cover later.
RECOMMENDATION
My call to action that I think goes a long way to help at a startup: When people download things (product, trials, etc) from your site make it mandatory to enter an email address AND a phone number (don't worry if they have come to your site and are interested enough to download a trial, they will). Now, don't just email your customers call them. Have everyone in your company call at least one person a day to interact and ask some set questions to collect data. This is your chance to delight them on the phone and make a personal connection that will solidify your relationship. At the end of every day, huddle as a group for 5-10 minutes NO more and run through what you found out.
Several major accomplishments occur with this process:
- Employees stay engaged with the solution and are always in sales mode every day which creates positive energy and momentum and allows they to get better and more comfortable with it.
- The customer experience is enhanced and over time you will build a loyal following of delighted customers.
- You will accumulate data, critical intelligence, on your company/product and share it every day which will allow you to spot trends, isolate problems, share wins and drive product and the company forward in lock step with your user community.
Try it and let me know how it works.
Paul Marshall
Finance and Business Execution in Tech Small Companies
0 Comment(s) ·
del.icio.us ·
Digg it ·
Furl ·
reddit ·
Email
How to Calculate Return On Investment (ROI) for Web Security
July 25, 2008 By Vaclav Vincalek
Categories: General Security
Calculating ROI on web security doesn’t have to be tricky. Actually, it can be pretty straightforward. And it's critical for organizations to do the calculation, since we can reasonably assume that unprotected web applications will get hit eventually.
Industry analysts suggest just one in 30 websites may be secure and security breaches get reported virtually every day. Big or small, locally-hosted or run from China, all those websites are vulnerable. So we know that the likelihood of your organization getting hacked is much higher than the probability of pretty much any other kind of business disaster, from arson to a robbery or an earthquake.
So it's safe to assume that your web app is open to abuse from hackers using cross site scripting and other tactics. Now it's time to do an ROI calculation for web security.
Now let’s imagine a medium-sized company does $1 million in sales or donations every year through its website. Every day, the website brings in about $2,740. Finally, let us assume an initial investment of about $10,000 for regular web security scanning and IT consulting over one year to fix hacker vulnerabilities.
If this security solution prevented a security breach (or several) that forced a shutdown of the website for just four days out of an entire year, the investment will have more than paid for itself (Security investment = $10,000, Retained revenue = $10,960).
This doesn't even include the money saved from not having to deal with legal costs and crisis management (potentially millions of dollars). In this calculation, ROI is similar to that for purchasing insurance.
Then there's the added value web application security ROI calculation. Looking at the same business as before, we'll add on a 15 per cent extra revenue from web trafffic conversion (Ask Dave Taylor) that a security solution can add if publicized properly (which is negated in the event of a well-publicized breach).
In this case, the extra 15 per cent means an extra $150,000 in revenue per year. This means that every day, this organization earns $410 per day extra from the web application security solution, even if there is no security breach all year long.In 24 days, the solution would pay for itself..
As we've seen, the ROI of web security can be easily demonstrated.
Other resources and ROI tips that an IT manager, marketing manager, sales manager or CFO may find helpful:
Calculating security ROI is tricky business. A Computer World article about the metrics of calculating security ROI.
WSI Website Traffic Conversion Rate Calculator. Use it to calculate how much your website traffic is worth – and how much your organization will lose if a hacker takes you down.
Hopefully, this example will help you get started on some long-overdue web security ROI number-crunching.
Vaclav Vincalek
Vaclav's Blog
0 Comment(s) ·
del.icio.us ·
Digg it ·
Furl ·
reddit ·
Email
Employees of the next generation enterprise…
July 24, 2008 By Charlie Bess
Categories: General Social Networking Web 2.0
I've mentioned the way different generations use computers before. Tom Hill pointed me to this article on the Military's recognition of the situation. There is a great deal of useful information for corporations in this article. Since the topic seems to be showing up at more conferences it's definitely being recognized that it is not something that we can assume will just be addressed automatically. There's been lots of talk about workplace generation wars and at least people are thinking about it.
Charlie Bess
EDS' Next Big Thing Blog
0 Comment(s) ·
del.icio.us ·
Digg it ·
Furl ·
reddit ·
Email
Internet Usage in Canada for last year
July 22, 2008 By Glen Farrelly
Categories: General Social Networking Web 2.0
Statistics Canada recently released their new report on Canadian Internet usage.
Among the most interesting findings:
- Almost three-quarters (73%) went online for personal reasons last year - up from just over two-thirds (68%) in 2005
- Ontario is above national average at 75% (Alberta & BC beat us)
- Among people who used the Internet at home, 68% went online every day during typical month
- Digital divide persists amongst those with lower income, lower education, and older – though gap continues to lessen gradually
- Not a significant gender difference – but men tend to use the Net a bit more often and for a bit longer
- Vast majority of Net users (94%) use it at home, 41% from work, 20% from schools, 15% from libraries
- 88% of home users have high-speed connection
- Approximately 50% of Canadians (Internet users or not) were very concerned about online credit card use, 44% about online banking and 37% about online privacy
Most common Net activities (of home Net users)
- Email: 92%
- General browsing for fun or leisure: 76%
- Obtain weather or road conditions: 70%
- Travel planning & arranging: 66%
- View news or sports: 64%
- Electronic banking: 63%
- Window shopping: 60%
- Ordering goods or services: 45%
A new question this year was how many had contributed content (blogs, photos, discussion groups), which was 20%. Considering how popular Facebook is in Canada, I think that figure may be off as people probably didn't think of social networking activity as creating content.
A big change in this year's survey is StatsCan added data from 16 and 17 years olds this time which they admit skewed results in comparison to prior years (eg. a huge jump in cyberstalking totals for Beyoncé and Justin Timberlake). There was also a huge spike in the use of instant messaging, use for education, downloading music, and watching TV online - no doubt due to this new teen influence.
Playing games remained at 39% from 2005 to 2007. So apparently, teenagers aren't wasting their time in their rooms playing games online; they're studying it would seem - and IMing of course.
Of the activities that can't be explained by the new teen influence, almost none of them experienced significant gains (i.e. more than 2-3%) since the last survey. Has use of the web pretty much hit the peak for most activities?
Glen Farrelly
Webslinger
0 Comment(s) ·
del.icio.us ·
Digg it ·
Furl ·
reddit ·
Email
Too bad about the iPhone pricing
July 9, 2008 By Peter Wolchak
Categories: General
I've been eagerly awaiting the Canadian arrival of Apple's second-gen iPhone, partly to see if Rogers would hit the market with a great mobile data pricing deal. Well, so much for that: operating an iPhone here will cost you.
And that's too bad, specifically because iPhone pricing is a bellwether for the status of the mobile Internet in Canada. The iPhone is designed as a Web device: it's made to surf, to stream and to download. While all smartphones can connect to the Web, the iPhone seems born to it.
As such, iPhone owners need unlimited data plans. If you're an American, AT&T will sell you unlimited data for US$30 a month, coupled with any voice plan. In Britain, unlimited data is significantly more, costing about $90 from O2 (as reported in The Globe and Mail). But even at that price, at least unlimited is available, and the cost is manageable.
Then we get to Rogers: for $60, you get 150 daytime minutes and 400MB of data; the deluxe package buys you 800 minutes and 2GB of data for $115.
So what does this mean? Two things. First, the Canadian wireless industry has decided to keep prices high. They can cite reasons for this, and some of those may even have some validity, but the bottom line is Canadians pay more. Second, this pricing will continue to limit the use of mobile data in Canada. Mobile data access is used by salespeople to update product databases, by service techs to access manuals, by executives to edit PowerPoint presentations. These create significant business efficiencies, and the entry of the iPhone was a chance to push prices down and encourage mobile productivity, first for Apple owners and then for the more business-oriented BlackBerrys and Palm Treos. Now this won't happen.
And that has larger implications. Canadian productivity numbers are not good and, when asked, industry watchers always cite a continued under-investment in technology by Canadian companies as one factor. A 2007 Backbone article quoted Andrew Sharpe, executive director of the Canadian Centre for the Study of Living Standards, saying “Technological progress is the driver of productivity growth. New equipment embodies technological progress. You need new machines if you’re going to get gains in productivity.”
Further, in 2005 the average investment per worker in ICT-related equipment in the U.S. was $3,200; in Canada, just $1,800.
Rogers doesn't carry overall blame for those numbers, but for the mobile data portion the company's recent pricing announcement sure doesn't help.
Peter Wolchak
1 Comment(s) ·
del.icio.us ·
Digg it ·
Furl ·
reddit ·
Email
|
sponsored by 
