Digital economy – Vireloup Pty Ltd

May 24, 2013April 16, 2016

The idiot’s guide to going digital

As an independent consultant I work with different sized companies who are all have the same challenges. They are fighting a war to survive and prosper in an environment where every dollar is precious. Meeting targets is a hard slog and at the same time the digital economy is transforming the world they know.

So how can business owners jump on the digital bus when their energy and precious resources are focused on keeping their head above water. The typical IT project would involve a strategy, a business case and one or more projects run by consultants and specialists. While this may be the right way to do things, it does not fit the reality of many businesses.

I was recently asked to put together a cut down digital strategy for an organization of 3 people. It was clear that many of the issues were common to larger firms (unclear requirements, conflicting expectations, lacking policies), but the opportunity to properly address these was limited. In their favour was flexibility and a tolerance for risk. They were looking for a trusted adviser (myself) to give them an answer – an idiots guide to going digital.

Here is what I recommended:

1. Pick a social platform and establish a presence. In their case it was LinkedIn, but other organizations may prefer Facebook, Google +, Reddit, Twitter or some other

2. Develop a web site based on WordPress. Linking this to blogs was important to them. A commercial content management system such as Sharepoint or VistaPrint is another option

3. Start using Yammer for internal collaboration. Knowledge management is a big part of the business

4. Develop an online policy (I start with the ABC Social Media Policy) and decide who decides on content

5. Put in place some basic tools to manage the systems – a password file, documentation, training and backups of core data

The recommendations fitted the capabilities of the organization, as did my bill.

Do you feel like you need an idiots guide to going digital?

May 14, 2013April 16, 2016

The reluctant CIO

There is a lot of focus in Queensland right now on getting on board the digital bus. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry completed its digital readiness study and Brisbane City Council has its Digital Brisbane Strategy. These initiatives highlight that Queensland businesses have a long way to go to capitalize on the digital economy. This set me thinking about who should be dragging their organizations into the technology age.

In many organizations this is not the Chief Information Officer; it is either the Chief Executive Officer or the Chief Financial Officer. Very often these people are reluctant CIOs, forced to become the IT strategist because the IT department is 100% focused on day to day issues. So how do reluctant CIOs achieve success?

1. Insist that IT becomes transparent: open up the opaque layers that technologists use to obfuscate issues. Projects running over time and budget, dissatisfied customers and investments with poor or no return must be identified and fixed. The business needs to understand how their actions drive costs through a granular recharge arrangement.

2. Invest well: these days this does not mean servers and data centres. The areas that do need the right investment are strategy, architecture, processes, documentation and training. It is hard to put money to these areas when there are other immediate priorities. In the long run, these areas bring order and discipline to IT spending.

3. Get help: doing things wrong in IT is a very expensive mistake. Selecting the wrong system not only stymies the business, it means the investment must be repeated. In the most extreme cases the cost can exceed the initial investment by factors of hundreds

Many reluctant CIOs would like to find that silver bullet that repositions technology in the organization as a true enabler. While a slick app on an iphone may provide some gratification, the true path to success is through a good IT strategy, implemented with vigour and patience.

It takes a long time to put the right technology in place and create real business value (Gartner believe up to 15 years ). The new cloud based platforms might accelerate this, if you pick the right platforms in the first place.

For the reluctant CIO to become a digital leader they need to identify and realise opportunity for business improvement and value through IT. This might be a whole new set of skills and finding a trusted advisor is the key to success.

Is your organisation likely to get on the digital bus?

March 7, 2013April 16, 2016

How can the not for profit sector join the digital economy?

A recent Queensland Chamber of Commerce event, showed the poor state of engagement with the digital economy by Queensland businesses with nearly 70% realizing less than 10% of revenue through the internet. Improving in this area is a cultural challenge and not a technology challenge.

So how can organizations engage? The answers are different for different sized businesses:

Small and micro business. These businesses rarely have dedicated IT resources, but the tools on the market are accessible to everyone. Create a basic web site as a reference point. Think about whether you should have a mobile version (recommended), an online payment gateway, videos, maps, blogs and a Facebook presence. Some sites may gain an advantage with more than one language. You might be able to get a keen teenager to throw something together for a small sum, but someone must go in and continually review the site.
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Medium sized businesses often have limited IT resources who manage key business systems and interface with external providers. Focus your internal resources on the systems that directly relate to the business niche. Buy everything else from the cloud (email, web, Salesforce.com etc.). Make sure that your IT resources are kept in the loop on business decision making – these all have technology impacts these days.
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Larger businesses and enterprises need a different approach to technology. A professional IT department is needed with an IT strategy that forms part of the business strategy. If you can state your competitive advantage, you should have an investment plan that develops the technology to support this differentiator. IT should be buying most services from the cloud and integrating them for the business. Service management might be the most boring term in the universe, but it is key to making a transition to the cloud.

I once did some work with the Congalese Red Cross. They had no IT systems outside of their head office in Brazzaville. One year they had to postpone their annual general meeting, which was not a simple as sending an email or a phone call. They had to dispatch messengers to all their branches – an exercise that cost as much as hosting the meeting!

The digital economy has brought us a long way. If you don’t jump on the bandwagon will you end up with your own story like the Congalese Red Cross?