Got your head in the Clouds?

 

Often synonymous with a lack of understanding or far-away attitude, this phrase has not historically been something to be proud of. Interesting now then, with the bleeding edge of Business IT now firmly in cloud territory, that those who have got their head into the concept are reaping the rewards.

Many of those whom inspire in Business, either at a national or colleague level are people who live and breathe their craft and engrain it into their work; Accountants who can explain the World in constituent numerics, Engineers who lift the bonnet and formulate a practical solution, and creatives who flourish in their personal time with artistic pursuits or free-thinking. It is far easier to subscribe to another’s suggestions or directions when they live by the creed of what they are saying – and even more compelling when their approach spills over outside work and into ways of managing their personal life.

They say never to trust a cobbler with bad shoes, or a skinny chef, and it’s this disconnect between rhetoric and action which can cause you to come unstuck when taking a lofty journey into the Cloud Computing World as a Business owner or decision maker. The modern computing model is far more person-centric than it ever has been previously. With a shift by large Software Vendors (Microsoft and Google to name but a few) into the concept of ‘Per-person’ pricing with offerings like Office 365, it falls upon IT managers and directors to focus their efforts on holistic provision ‘per person’ which nullifies many legacy mechanisms for machine asset management and software licensing which is priced regardless of the human count. Service subscriptions like Spotify or iCloud have cemented this concept into the contemporary structure by centralising user accounts in the Cloud and firing out access from any app or internet terminal where the user enters their credentials.

So the tides are shifting, but it’s not yet a Tsunami. Your historical dwellings on the shore of the low-lying traditional IT mainland are not yet to be decimated and there is still a place for centralised, traditional models which could be considered legacy when stacked side-by-side with Cloud concepts. For those who do choose to pack up and move to the mountain and join the growing convention, the success really will come from whole-hearted adoption of the concept. If you are a change-leader or IT decision maker then this means sorting out your shoes and dusting down your own ways of working so that you can get your head into the cohesive ‘per-person’ Cloud IT experience.

If you have typically retained a paper diary, or one which never leaves Microsoft Outlook – why not try a cloud solution which can centralise your critical appointments and tasks for access anywhere with an internet connection. Google Calendar, or Exchange Online as part of Microsoft Office 365 are both great for Personal or Enterprise diary management and are built with Cloud benefits at their core. Likewise your Business telephony can be similarly empowered using a customised VoIP system and our Mobile Office applications to route your calls to wherever you are – not where your office happens to be. By taking your work home with you and shifting your own personal media, data, and organisation into Cloud systems - the full benefit of a coordinated Cloud computing ecosystem will start to become apparent to you as an individual.

Even better, the preparatory nature of Business and Personal IT as two discrete concepts is melting away. The lessons learned, and in some cases even products used, are increasingly interchangeable between home and the office. So what’s good for the Goose, really can be good for the Gander when it comes to Cloud adoption.

 

Communications revolution or the death of conversation?

We have available to us an unprecedented amount of communication channels in both our Business and Personal lives. Take a casual inspection of a typical working desktop I would take a wager that you will see at least 5 distinct channels, all of which offering a way to communicate with a different audience, in a slightly different way. But are we simply talking more, and listening less?

There has been a lot of theorising in recent years about the ‘death of email’ as a previously indispensable Business tool for timely communication. Indeed the latest and greatest in Business collaboration offerings from Basecamp, Evernote, Google, and the like all extoll the benefits of a new kind of communication and sharing. So with a new forum here, and a collaboration portal there, we are presented with yet more subtly different channels in which to lay down our burden of information.

But what is the real basis of good communication?  Humans are social creatures of a somewhat awkward persuasion, making definitive answers to this difficult to achieve. One way to quantify a successful communiqué would be the efficiency in relaying information, which is something that many struggle with. To quote French Theologian Blaise Pascal (albeit in an English translation): “I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time.” Brevity is the enemy of time and perhaps we just aren’t very good at explaining everything through one medium.

Another way of looking at the challenge is to examine the sheer breadth of our social output. When we speak to somebody face to face, it is said that upwards of 80% of what you actually say is non-verbal. Body-language, tone, expressions and stature all provide a rich subtext which makes mere words seem akin to shouting down a cup and string to deliver Opera. Perhaps we need 5, 10, or even 20 discrete channels just to exorcise our inner urge to explain what we think, and why we think it.

Whatever the reason for rapidly growing range of communication channels, we should think of them all as part of single pipe. Imagine your broadband line as not just a small bundle of cables, but of a rich braid of threads which you and your employees, are using to weave messages which fly off to their destination. To this end there is no use in attempting to narrow or stem the tide of communication options open to us, we must instead embrace it.

But this invariably is easier said than done. I was in recent discussions with my old Secondary School where I spent many years in what now seems like a very simple era. With no Facebook, Twitter, and very few Smartphones we revelled in the opportunity to get home and log in to the (now extinct) MSN messenger in order to chat with friends. Emoticons were still novel, and an acute representation of the clamour to better express analogue feelings through a digital pipe. So the individual motivation hasn’t changed, but the circumstances certainly have. The School in question has an unprecedented challenge in deciding which channels to boycott, manage, or even endorse in order to make communication between School and Students work. The challenge is no different for Businesses or even individual relationships, where the same message through different channels can have a significantly different impact.

So we face an exciting time, but also one that requires action. Your staff want to communicate, and like a trickle of water through rock, they will find a way. Surely better to show them the way by installing the kind of solution which you think best fits your Business and way of working? Otherwise there is the real danger that everyone will be shouting, and nobody will hear…

What really sank the Titanic?

On the anniversary year of one of the worst civil maritime disasters in our history, this question has undoubtedly been asked afresh by families, engineers, sailors and critical thinkers alike.

Pose this question to a group of your friends or colleagues and a little thinking will betray a plethora of answers tracing up and down the chain of cause and effect. “It was the poor training of crew” those with a people disposition will cry, “It was poor quality Iron rivets” the engineers will theorise. My own answer is that fundamentally it was the bulkheads of the ship which allowed its demise.

There is a churning sea of problems and potential pitfalls in our endearingly chaotic world. We ultimately navigate it to the best of our seaworthiness and in fact the very fact that it isn’t plain sailing is the reason why we can enjoy challenges and the success which triumph will bring, either in our personal or business lives. The reason that I settle upon the 16 supposedly watertight bulkheads of the Ocean class liner being responsible for the sinking and loss of life is that the ship was always going to be exposed to many dangers in such a voyage. Even the consideration of the need for life jackets, lifeboats, bulkheads and sealed doors betrays the acknowledgement that something can always go wrong.

I argue that it was not something as striking as an iceberg, or as immediate as negligence of the crew, but the failure of the main thing which would have mitigated the damage that was responsible (whether or not that damage was avoidable). We all have to sail into choppy seas, and I believe the best preparation is to build your business with bulkheads from day one.

So what does this mean in real terms? Well the theoretical concept of dividing a ship to protect the whole from localised incidents, is what I am eluding to. By taking the time, effort and consideration to create watertight cells within your business you are building a ship which is prepared for peril, but not prone to disaster. An example of this is to set systems which are the lifeblood of your business beyond reproach. Email for instance is now the lifeblood of both internal and external communication for a vast proportion of UK businesses. Historically it might have been perceivable that a small amount of email downtime would be shrugged off by the momentum of the rest of your Titanic, but more recently, downtime of anything which is so fundamental for all aspects of your business is unlikely to stop flooding your ship once it starts.

Another example is training of your staff. Morale is of course critical in keeping your business on message and on track for your objectives whatever they may be. So when one unhappy member of staff leaves, or worse sticks around and sows seeds of discontent, you don’t want a seeping spread of their mentality into otherwise sound neighbouring components. So we forge a strong company ethos, and engage all the staff within it. This is exactly what I mean when I say that an “unsinkable” business will be compartmentalised, with each being considered a strong and structurally sound unit in its own right.

Taking this approach from day one is the way to feel a sturdy ship beneath your feet. You will have the confidence that the choices made and the materials forged have been used in a way that does not leave you exposed to one section flooding the rest. There will always be icebergs, and there will always be incidents, but with your bulkheads set firm then you should stay afloat. What really sank the Titanic?

The Trinity of Device success

Tap your pockets, glance around the room. Chances are you will register a few electronic devices of a modern persuasion. They are big business with Smartphones alone shipping 491.4 million units in 2011. We revel in the availability of well integrated electronic solutions to everyday challenges and would most likely be a little socially disadvantaged without them.

But what makes a successful device? Be it tablet computer, desktop, laptop or mobile handset, it’s no simple task for retailers to shoe-horn devices into a crowded market. It occurred to me that for a device to be successful it needs to lean firmly on a triangle of factors. The first is the hardware. Consumers are sharp on comparison of the numbers (even if they don’t know what they mean). Processor speeds for phones, pixel volumes for screens; contrast ratios for TV’s are all now bartering benchmarks now which not too long ago were solely the reserve of geeks and the technicians who designed them. It really is crucial to build a device with appropriate hardware. Over spec-ing will price you out of the market, and underperforming hardware gets little sympathy from the modern consumer. Many early Smartphones were loaded with features that their frail mobile processor just couldn’t handle, and some still argue the inflated price of Apple hardware is due largely to the choice of high grade hardware of questionable suitability.

The second pillar of importance for Businesses in the electronics sector is the software. When the shiny brick falls out of the block, the wide-eyed consumer is waiting for the moment when it lights up and starts to perform. At this point proper testing of software pre-installed on the device is crucial with usability and reliability being instantly scrutinised by the proud owner. If businesses get this wrong then it doesn’t matter how shiny the device, it will likely end up going through a window or on eBay. The HP TouchPad had what many considered to be a good software deployment, but it just turned people off. Something about the function of the inbuilt operating system built just never flew. On the flipside custom manufacturer deployments of the Android platform on suitable tablet hardware have taken the market by storm and brought many outsiders into the fold of mobile computing.

Finally, Businesses who want to stay the current maelstrom of electronic device retail need to get their after-sales support together. Arguably the most important of the three, it’s not just about what you sit around a development table and build in at the factory any more. Users don’t want to feel out in the cold once they have bought your product. They want to feel like they are just beginning on a journey of fun and productivity by buying it. To give them a great experience and secure a future for your next product Businesses absolutely must consider updates after the point of sale. The Blackberry playbook is a great value bit of kit with solid hardware and a good initial software setup, but it’s likely to be strangled off the shelves because its app store will never get up to speed. Alternatively staunch advocates of Apple products profess that they will forever retain unsurpassed access to apps and replacement/repair support because of the companies continued commitment to after sales engagement.

Depending on the chosen positioning strategy it is of course appropriate to lean on these three in varying degrees, but I challenge any manufacturer to ignore any one of them and still deliver a successful device.

Great Business Ideas are like great jokes

Most people who are interested in Business will have started to tune in to what they think makes a great Business idea. There is of course no right or wrong answer, which is why the process can be such an exciting one. There are positioning strategies, competitive strategies, and Business plan approaches galore for those who like reading. Personally I am developing an increasingly severe allergy to reading Textbooks so have to come up with my own theories.

One such theory has been formulated after a few years of kicking Business ideas around and seeing countless others demonstrate what works and does not. It can be said that in many ways a good Business idea is similar to a well considered, and well delivered, comedy styling.

You might have heard of an Elevator pitch. An American concept (but valid all the same) focussed on the idea that whatever your idea is and wherever you find yourself, you should be able to explain it well in 60 seconds. In that short time you should outline: what problem you are solving (if there’s no problem why are you doing it?), how you intend to solve it, and why you (of all people) are going to succeed doing it. Done right one of these little pitches could land you a lucrative second meeting, or inspire a Venture Capitalist on the spot. A successful pitch that works in only a minute is indicative of a much broader appeal to your idea, and evidence that it is founded on something solid which compels the listener.

Compare this with the theory of a joke or wisecrack. There is no Holy Grail of humour, but however our brain is wired up we usually chuckle because we have been taken on a journey, however short it may be. First there is the opener. Often implied by the comics accent, appearance, body language and chosen venue before they even speak their first line which will set the scene or lay out a ‘straw man’ for them to tear down later. Once the folly (or problem) has been laid bare, it’s time to cut it down to size and demonstrate your comedic insight with an observation or assertion. Then round off with a closer which may add another twist to the tale or simply further the initial assertion. Either way the well-practised comic has delivered their tale over the short space of a few minutes and brought the audience into a new way of thinking which has made them laugh. If they really hit the mark then that joke will even be repeated by those who heard it.

So your objective when pitching a great Business to a new listener is much the same. Lay out your stall, apply your kicker, add a twist and convince them you are worth listening to again. On the other hand a poor pitch or a joke that falls resoundingly flat first time is unlikely to land you a captive audience with the same participants in future. Those who practise and hone skills of persuasion and explanation are not immune to delivering a duff pitch or idea but they are far more likely to “get it right on the night” when the big opportunity comes around. Don’t be afraid to get out and practise, there is a reason why even great comics have warm up gigs which are free before they hit the big venues.

Group discount, Group disappointment.

Daily deals websites and the like have enjoyed a startling rise in popularity in the last few years. With sharp-eyed bargain hunters scouring a credit crunch landscape the prospect of a great deal is seemingly too good to miss.

Websites like Groupon, livingsocial and the annoyingly exclaimed "wowcher" are enjoying massive uptake flogging everything from driving lessons to dog toys. As a leader in the field Groupon has even managed to play hard ball with Google by batting off their $6 billion offering and go on to launch a succesful (if a little over-hyped) public offering which has seen Eric Lefkofsky laughing all the way to the bank (after cashing in a discount limo deal to get there). It has been estimated in the throes of 2011 success Groupon alone was gaining value at $20.8 million per day. Interesting to note though that his success this time has been based on a string of previous Business failures and an apparently enduring sense of arrogance when it comes to Business dealings.

But there is an ugly side to the daily deal. In cash-strapped times it would be nice to think that oiling the wheels of trade could only be a good thing. Customers try new things, retailers fill spare capacity, the middle man rightly takes their cut from the process and everyone is happy right? Well not always, perhaps there is a reason we have been selling things without 80% off their normal price for all this time..

Lets look at it from the consumer perspective. From personal experience cashing in a Groupon is much akin to plunging your hand into a bargain bin at a slightly less reputable supermarket. There are some absolute gems which you will be more than happy to have traded a little dignity for a good deal as you rummaged. Equally there are some less victorious discoveries that will make you rue the day you ever tried to save a few quid. A good example is restaurants. There are typically two reasons a restaurant will run a "come and try my food for almost nothing" routine. Either they have carefully considered the options, are confident on their service, and are taking a calculated risk that you will come back again so they can actually make some money. Alternatively the restaurant could be the most god-awful hell hole you will ever have the pleasure of eating at and you will be doubled up in pain or indifference for days after cashing in your 'megadeal'. Likewise by the nature of group buying and discounts, if you are compelled to sign up to a deal because it looks great, you had better join the crew of thousands of other in your area who are likely to come to the same conclusion. Cue virtual January sales-like queues of disgruntled bargain hunters who all want to cash in at once.

The deal operator does pretty well also, taking not far off 50% of the voucher value in many cases, they coast nicely in the middle with a minimum of customer service overhead and no actual production requirement to deliver any of the actual products or services which they have advertised to their loyal deal-hunting email list.


Whichever way I look at it however, I struggle to see how it ends up being good for the retailer. I am starting to think that it might be an elaborate and increasingly unfunny practical joke at the expense of the service provider who has to eventually honour the promise of massive discounts on their normal offerings. Take the example of the cake seller who got it all wrong. Rachel Brown knocked out a 75% off deal for 12 cupcakes from her delightfully quaint little bakery. Unsuprisingly her home baking appeal managed to notch up 8000 groupon sales. Of course these needed to be honoured and eager cake-munchers decided to cash in on much the same day leaving Mrs Miggins Rachel with over 100,000 cakes to bake. Naturally this caused chaos in the small village of Pontypandy and she eventually made a loss on every batch she sold. Blame who you like in this scenario, but all I know is the Groupon sales team who signed her up will have been working on a commission scheme that makes pyramid selling look like a jumble sale.

Likewise a custom furniture retailer called INFURN seems to have been brought to its knees by a 'big-boy' beanbag offer they ran in November which has turned their customer service to Mush and prompted a twitter and trustpilot outcry likely to leave them smarting from here until furnishing oblivion.

So its a mixed affair. Some winners but perhaps far more losers. It seems like retailers rarely go back for seconds once their offering has been devalued and their profits hit, so its very possible that one day in the future the middle men might just run out of backyards to defecate and we will see the end of daily deals as we know it.

Between a Rock and a Cyber Space

Forget the Eurozone's questionable prospects, or our conspicuously empty chair at the negotiating table. Forget class wars, or endless political wrangling. Right now the UK seem to be grappling with a more fundamental back and forth which ultimately underpins all of those debates and more.

As a nation we are currently wallowing in a purgatory of paper. I am talking about the many forms and administrative tasks we have to plough through to be a functioning citizen, and the problems of efficiency that still plague them. In the typewriter punctuated years of the past, everything from bank transfers to driving licenses was filed and administered on tidily stamped and filed papers which gave everyone a nice sense of physical reassurance (until a building fire). In the past 20-30 years however, the digital era has stormed through our paper archives and swept much stored data and newly completed form paraphernalia into a virtual repository.

I think it is fair to say measures like computerisation of Land Registry entries for our homes, and the online submission of self-assessment tax returns has benefited the computer literate portion of the population, and helped the bodies in charge of their administration to part the red sea of paper which must have existed pre-1980. The problem which we presently have however is that we are stuck in a half-way house akin to a bumbling alcoholic.

As with any transition there is always a period of time where the old system becomes redundant, potentially before the new one is up and running to take its place. Its not hard to envisage a time in the future when virtually all administration will be done through a digital medium, with the only real stumbling blocks being security and a portion of society who are adverse or unable to take their lives online.

Where we are now however is in my opinion is the "terrible teens" of the digital administration revolution. Take a UK driving license application for instance, I recently attempted to update mine (as I am being consistently chastened to do by the DVLA) to reflect my partial transition from a spotty driver at 18, to my marginally more chiselled 23-year old current self with a new address. Embracing the digital revolution I merrily proceeded to fill in 8 pages of details on the DVLA website (including 3 years of address history which caused significant head scratching). All was going swimmingly until I was unceremoniously dumped out of the DVLA website with the simple message that I could not complete my application online.

Feeling like a snubbed punter at a bar with overly zealous bouncers I retreated to the local Post office (the only one in town that facilitated DVLA based fracas) and began to fill out the form. After help and advice a-plenty from the staff I tried to work out how much I needed to pay and how to do it. "Check or postal order only Sir". With the world and his EPOS dog shunning check books and a 20% charge for postal offers I told them to shove it waited 10 days for a check-book from my bank and finally got the application off.

Now you don't have to be a PRINCE2 marvel to work out that isn't a very efficient process. It took an age and I doubt it saved anyone any time or money. Likewise why do credit-serving shops still insist on a piece of paper to prove you have a Bank Account, and Royal Mail rely on you to bring a soggy piece of red cardboard with you to retrieve your parcel from their clutches?

It all just seems a bit like we got half way towards digital Nirvana and then chickened out. A bit like watching a bungee jumper teeter to the edge and then crumple into a heap whilst a queue of eager punters forms behind them. Like a phone salesman delivering the best pitch of his life and then deciding to go back to flogging cups and string. Or perhaps like a multi-national company developing their own OS and a tablet device to put it on then, before flogging them in a bizarre firesale which makes RBS look frugal.

Its time to sort out the security that surrounds digital submission mechanisms and properly invest our faith in them, the longer we wallow in a sense of simmering distrust and misplaced faith in scraps of wood pulp, the longer we hold back efficiency gains which we sorely need to save money and time.

Customers slipping through your fingers?

The Agency I work for recently presented at a conference of customer care representatives called the ICCA. Our MD Matt Hardy presented on the hot topic of Social Media and Customer service (his slides are available here)

Ultimately conferences like this and the additional time and consideration that savvy professionals are devoting to customer service stem from a step change in the market. Customer expectations are shifting and Individual customers of all spending brackets are expecting to be able to interface with companies they deal with in new ways.

Whilst consumers have always had the potential to influence their own social groups based on positive or negative experiences, things have changed. Only recently has the average consumer been able to climb on their social soapbox and command some real respect from brands with their ability to become a promoter or a detractor for online brand identities big and small.

With the potential for a single irate customer to instantly update hundreds of twitter followers and an average of 130 Facebook friends in fit of rage (or adoration), big brands need to monitor the social arenas carefully. Unlike other engagement provisions like phone lines or opening times, abstaining or pulling down the shutters when you have had your fill of customers wont go down well. 71% of Twitter complaints are ignored and only around 5% of Facebook wall posts to companies are answered which only exacerbates the problem. Rather than waiting on hold or coming back tomorrow, a motivated customer can now say what they want, when they want, and now people outside of their immediate social circle actually hear it.

But hearing it is just the start. Customers have long memories regarding their relationship with a brand. How many times have you stumbled upon a friend or colleagues burning animosity towards a brand due to an event which, when emotionally detached, may seem a little trivial on reflection? The truth is that much like any relationship we don't like to get burned twice. A single unfortunate experience can leave a lasting sour taste, and with an increasingly discerning customer base who are watching the pennies there is really only one way to recover from a royal cock up; ground work with your customer.

I believe the way to achieve truly impressive customer service standards is to deliver a granular and consistently positive experience for the customer. There really is no alternative to providing timely and helpful  'micro-experiences'. When they fire out a tweet (good or bad), a validation from a brand-backed account will catch that broadcast and allow you to own it. Making a mends or thanking the individual is up to you, but the key is consistency and making that first contact.

In our personal lives rarely do we begin to trust someone based on a single dramatic event outlining some kind of ethereal greatness. Likewise we don't often completely write someone off in the face of a single unfortunate action of theirs. I believe the shift of brands into social spaces like Facebook, Twitter, and now Google+ highlights a move towards a more natural way of customers interacting with them. The two-way communication which can now easily be sparked up may seem time consuming for the brand, but may prove more cost-efficient and valuable in the long run. Having recently had a conversation with @RoyalMail after a throwaway irate tweet, I now feel closer to the organisation and ended up praising them to all and internet sundry.

Customer service should be granular, little and often, and using the right kind of social media engagement is a great way to do it.

Learning to Earn?

University fees, Unemployment, or Government deficit. There is a weary air of concern surrounding money in the UK right now. At an organisational level solvency is key, but likewise it seems the individual concern is how to earn more cash. In times of strife and uncertainty it is human nature to adopt a degree of self preservation and introverted stacking of financial sandbags around your little corner of the world.

Ask most people about their financial clout and the answer (if you get one) will invariably involve a quantification of what they "earn". Of course we all know what this means and how it might translate into lifestyle and behaviours. But with the word comes an erroneous, and I would argue, dangerous idea. As inflation soars to a three year high of 5.2% we are beginning to see the value of our pay-packet eroded at an alarming rate. We go to work, we face down recession, and we think we are "earning" a living.

Now by no means am I seeking to undermine the mentality that we (and Europe) should work our way out of recession back into less fraught financial times. What I am considering is whether we are kidding ourselves by suggesting that we are really "earning" in a climate such as this. With money losing value faster than you can hand it to a shop assistant, we are moving towards a model where value is simply being transferred 1 for 1 rather than being generated with every transaction.

In happier times when salaries are rising and the National GDP is healthy, we can all draw close to the comfort blanket of successful Capitalism as the total wealth of the nation increases along with our personal fortunes. What is most sobering about our current (albeit temporary) position is the fact that we really do need to fight for every pound.

I enjoyed myself at Dartmouth Food Festival this weekend. A brilliantly run and attended event with real quality producers on show. It did however occur to me in-between stuffing my face with pies and pasties, that every sale ringing up around me was a baby step into the gale force problem of the credit crunch hangover and its runaway inflation. Right now we aren't so much earning money, as wrestling it from the next man's wallet.

Of course the basic trade model that we have does not fundamentally change when we are in tough times, but recently the domino effect of shaky investor confidence and rising cost of living does put us in a situation which does not lay well with a reliance on Capitalism and its perpetual model of growth.

So what I am really saying is that at least in the short term we should reign in our expectation of being able to "earn" to our hearts content and fill our own wallets. Instead perhaps we should hone our sales patter and focus on providing better value to our customers. That way we might have a little more respect for the man handing over his hard earned cash, and realise that we really are all in this together.

Working harder, working longer?

So an unprecedented financial challenge has descended on global markets. A hugely complex problem with a range of causes, and a maelstrom of impacts. The best banking minds in the world were either unwilling or unable to prevent the credit crunch and subsequent fallout, and have so far been unable to abate its raging consequences. Sentiment seems to have gone from vaguely apathetic in 2007, shifting to inescapably concerned some time around 2009, to somewhat helpless for some now that 2011 has rolled around and a pre-recession daily routine is a distant memory.

With such a complex conundrum and many years to face up to the situation, you might think that we would have  brought our full arsenal of possible solutions into play against the Global Financial crisis. Well it certainly seems like many politicians and economists are at the end of their rope (if not already swinging from it). There have been bailout packages and capital injections staged at multiple points over the last 5 years, with the generous benefactors secretly hoping it will be the last time they put their hand in their pockets as their smiles wear thin.

Either way the problem has not been solved. Investments are still shaky, several banks are struggling to make the figures add up (with more than a degree of irony) and their credit ratings are still being downgraded, property prices look to be uncertain with a trend of around 15% drop in the last year. So what are we doing?

Seemingly the only panacea which is still being offered is work. Whether it be hourly, salaried or freelance, the advice seems to be to just get on with it. 'We had some good times where people worked hard, and now we are experiencing some bad times, so we should just work harder?' Not a bad idea in theory (although a little Dickensian). But have we really adopted this mantra in practise whilst manning the pumps of a sinking economy?

My suggestion would be, not necessarily. Where some companies cut holiday, freeze salaries, and reduce benefits without lowering the working expectation there will of course be cost savings. With staff simultaneously working harder the benefit should be twofold with the net gain for the company and the Economy, being nicely in the black. But I am not sure that the message always gets through that to really succeed in financial recovery, we need to work smarter, as well as harder.

I read an interesting post from Robert Llewellyn (of authoring and Red-Dwarf based fame) regarding the notion of perpetual, plodding growth ultimately being nonsense. I would be inclined to agree with him that the faster we work, the faster we plough towards the exhaustion of the Earth's resources.

However in all honestly I am worried about a far more pressing exhaustion in the working populace. Are we working ourselves to death by taking on a mantle of staggering debt armed with nothing but a steely yet unspecific resolve to "work more". After all, increasing the pension age isn't much good if your workforce snuffs it at 55...

This is your Life

There has been a big shift in the Social Media Business in the last week. Turns out this man wants to pick up where Michael Aspell left off in the quest to document peoples lives, only the book you will be getting isn't red, its blue.

Facebook last week made available to developers their new "timeline" profile layout (along with a host of other news handling changes, consult mashable for those). The profile step-change has caused controversy amongst the early-adopters, and is likely to spread to widespread ruckus when it goes on general release this Friday. (upgrade your profile in advance here)

Essentially the timeline feature takes data aggregated over your lifetime Facebook history and spans it into a timeline of your events that would put Grandmas finest photo albums to shame. I've got to say I found it a little alarming to trawl through the last 5 years of my life in Facebook form, but it was intriguingly voyeuristic and I must say I think its an improvement.

It would seem that this idea, aimed at making your profile more valuable to you, stems from Google+ putting the cat among the Facebook pigeons. Developers at FB seem to be pushing for a more compelling reason to remain loyal to the Social media long-timer in the face of stiff competition and a tumultuous sea of change. Invariably Google+ will repost with a counter-suggestion of why the shiny new kid on the block is the best bet for your social investment and so it will continue.

Much like any market competition model however, we are seeing a new currency gaining strength (even as the majority of euro-zone currencies slide into panic). Social currency is a lucid term, but one thing that active Social Media users can be sure of is that they now own something of value. A users loyalty, and the profiles, news feeds, and circles or lists which it powers, are valuable assets. With the Social Network owners seeking to steer powerhouses of huge user numbers and reap the benefits of advertising and market power which that brings, we can all bring our cows to market and watch the butchers scrap.

Never before has your personal data been worth so much, making how and when you give it up almost as important as watching your bank statement. A recent project investigating the value of online customer leads for service providers gave me a glimpse of the lead-buying world. With a single customer sign-up being worth in excess of £25 in some cases, it is staggering what some companies will pay for a small window of your attention and a glimpse of a direct debit.

So in times of economic uncertainty, be sure not to undervalue what you are handing out online. The brand of you is coming into fashion.

(Just remember that however you dress it up, you are the one providing the content and to quote one of my old lecturers: "garbage in still equals garbage out")

Not just a Third World Problem

Not long ago prospects for graduates and school leavers were said to be at an all time low. In recent years there has been talk of 70 graduates for every available position, or record numbers of unemployed apparently milling the streets staring at the heavens and waiting for jobs to fall. In some camps there seems to be a general attitude of closing ranks and clinging to employment, with those looking for work being left out in the cold.

I attended a family wedding this weekend and was asked by a plethora of relatives whether I had yet secured a job after graduating. Even in the way they phrased the question there was a tone of premature empathy, not dissimilar to the way in which people talk about the death of a pet or some spilled milk. Luckily enough I do currently have a job so was able to return the volley with a description of my seemingly miraculous employment.

I am being a little facetious perhaps given the involvement of family, but what concerns me is the bizarre phenomenon of employment prospects becoming overly pressurised and ultimately paralysed by a perceived scarcity of jobs and the threatening axe of redundancy. Of course times are indeed hard, but shoots of recovery are beginning to show. I feel that its time for employers and employees alike to take a step change to speed the process along.

One great way to oil the wheels of the employment market is to take on interns. Historically Apprenticeships have been a great way to inject young talent and enthusiasm into a trade, and I recently met Glenn Crocker from The National Apprenticeships Service who is doing a sterling job of uniting young people with practical jobs in industry. Internships are a great equal in office based or service industries and I firmly believe its time for more to be made available.

6 months or even 6 weeks of intern work for a candidate provides a two-fold benefit. Provided the employer and intern have selected wisely then they will enjoy a mutually informative process which should yield great value for money for the company and solid experience for the individual.

Admittedly it wont always work out, and there is an overhead for an organisation of any size to take on someone even in an unpaid position. The cost of induction and training needs to be considered and offset against the value the intern can realistically provide. But the majority of Internships I have seen, blossom into full time employment because of the increasingly positive working relationship that occurs when you unite enthusiastic young people with an open minded organisation. Take the employment figures from The University of Surrey for instance. On average 97%+ of graduates are working within 6 months putting them top of UK employability. This is no coincidence, the main contributing factor being the prevalent year in industry intern scheme which plants the seeds for just such blossoming employment prospects.

What I am not in favour of however, is the trend in unpaid Internships. Companies of all sizes are watching their belts, even making use of a few new notches, but this is not an excuse to bludgeon the next generation with oppresive and unfair working conditions. We come back to my original mention of a 'closing ranks' mentality. Increasingly I hear about organisations who sustain unpaid positions telling their interns that the pot is empty, yet cranking up sales incentives and payouts for other staff, or plunging capital into ambitious expansion plans. Some would make parallels between taxpayers and UK bankers at this point, but this does not do the problem justice. A fair days work for a fair days pay. It's not just a third world problem.

The Sharing Compulsion

We've all done it, fired off an interesting email, plastered a link on facebook because we think it might interest others, or taken a picture and uploaded to show the world your latest visual treasure. Perhaps even just clicked "like" or now "+1" against a particularly interesting Social Media titbit (unwittingly promoting and sharing it with your own connections).

With the currency of internet sharing now flowing freely, it got me thinking about how this human behaviour came about. The idea of electronic or internet sharing is of course a relatively modern concept, however upon consideration the human compulsion which drives it is not new at all. For hundreds of years we have basically demonstrated our appreciation of interesting material through the medium of clapping or cheering. When we witness something that is sufficiently compelling, we put our hands together in a spontaneous (and public) demonstration of our endorsement. Likewise we have been compelled to praise high achievement or interesting content in the form of newspapers, television and radio for many years.

My suggestion is that the subconscious rationale for public endorsement is ultimately the same in all the scenarios above, and what we now witness daily online is in many ways the most natural extension yet of the human disposition for sharing. There are a huge range of ways to quickly share information between your internet peers. A few great examples I have come across are below:

The Google Chrome Share button extension

A great tool for quickly sharing a webpage or content to any one of your networks or email accounts. Auto populates the subject field or post description saving precious seconds for the avid sharer.

4shared file sharing system:

Well integrated and cleverly designed, 4shared gives you an easy way to share and access files accross desktop computers and mobile devices alike. Perfect for those wanting to share larger files or something only stored locally on your machine.

Pinterest online pinboard

A recent find for me, an easy signup online personal pinboard. Allows you to quickly and easily add visual content you would like to share and also pick up on others shared images. A great way to chuck out some of your visual treats and the design of the site makes it a hotbed for sharing without being overwhelming.

By no means do I profess to be an expert in the psychology behind the sharing compulsion. However the New York Times recently knocked up a study that explored the motivation and personalities involved in our latest gregarious revolution. One interesting point raised is that 85% of recipients said material which is shared multiple times gains a sort of human hallmark from peers which allows readers to better grasp and understand the information. A really interesting concept for those using social media and sharing to promote their brand material.

The study also highlights a kind of 'socially responsible sharing', with 94% saying they are careful about what they share and how useful it might be to others, and 84% sharing to show direct support to a cause which is close to their heart.

So the culture of sharing develops in our bustling online world. Ultimately it would seem that the trend will only increase, hopefully improving the wealth of knowledge we can digest as individuals, but also providing increasing capacity for brands and Businesses to grow through engagement with people who are genuinely interested in their offerings.

The Twitter Animal Kingdom

Since my conversion in January of this year I am now a big Twitter advocate. Along with the majority of tech-savvy Businesses and individuals I now regularly converse with Tweeps and am more than happy wallowing in hash tags. The increased exposure has yielded an interesting observation however, that much like most collections of Human Behavior, those using Twitter seem to fall into one of a few categories.

When I pick up a follower notification or stumble upon an interesting looking character, I now found myself slotting them neatly into a group. Not an online group, or even a Twitter list, just an amusing demographic yard stick to try and make sense of the 140 character universe. My Attenboroughs guide to Twitter birds is below...

The Kukaburra - Spammers or self promoters. Users who are either spam-bots or the human equivalent. Senseless and shameless hammering of the same tweets, retweets, or links. Noisy and obnoxious, quickly become tiresome. Naming and shaming @DamnTeenQuote, @Florinemuo, and @jamesvimcmorrow

The Woodpecker - The possessed and deranged account of a hacked user, forced to send bizarre messages and replies to everyone attached to that account like "ROFL this pic i found of you had me dying lol http://t.l9pI". Mindless and irritating, and happy to lay its tweet eggs in others nests. Most recent encounter of this was from @LittleTheatreUK, hope they sorted it out.

The Magpie - A lover of all things shiny, our Twitter Magpies spend most of their time scouring the great web outdoors, looking for an assortment of shiny objects and links to interesting topics. Invariably their news feed will largely be filled with just such little gems and not much else of their own creation. Sometimes guilty of this: @peterwillb and @leepaulkennedy

The Peacock - A frustrated male or female Tweeter who has the urge to display themselves. Using Twitter as another forum to show off their plumage their twitter feed and their image links will be tantamount to a models head shot catalogue of variable quality. Nice enough to listen to, but one too many picture of their guns or their cleavage will most likely have you wanting to fly the nest. Some classic examples from @honeystweet7 and @BigRonColeman.

The Robin - Nice to look at and keeps themselves busy. A general all-round "brighten up your day" tweeter, unfortunately rather rare in the natural environment. Some examples of the endangered species: @TextTonic and @Seema_Shariat , let me know if you find any more!

The Seagull - A glutinous sort, tends to eat a lot and then make a lot of noise about how much they are enjoying themselves. Normally found tweeting about how great their cup of coffee was or how much they are going to enjoy a takeaway tonight. A strange breed without much to actually say, but plenty of enthusiasm to say it. Plenty of examples, you know who you are.

So there you have it, a journey through the unpredictable Avery that is www.twitter.com. How would a twitter ornothologist classify you I wonder?

Beware the Mobile Malware

Our home PC's have long since been besieged by a threatening armada of security threats. Ever since I can remember picking up a mouse there has been a looming threat of Viruses and more recently breeds of mal- and spyware which can run amok in an unsuspecting users machine.

I suppose inevitably enough the scourge has spread to our beloved Smartphones. With the discovery of a particularly unnerving breed of Android Malware which can record and export calls, SMS and even phone location the Mobile world is becoming another battleground. Android and iPhone users are now recommended to install and maintain anti-virus software on their handsets in order to protect their pocket device. With huge amounts of data being hauled around in a device which might wrongly be considered immune, it is probably time for us Smartphone users to tighten our belts.

Details in a recent report show Android users are now two and half times more likely to stumble onto Malware in the Android Market than they were in January. Apple iOS users who rely on manual connection to iTunes are also lagging behind on firmware security updates which is unlikely to change until the impending 'over-the-air' update mechanism rolls out in iOS 5. In true Corporal Jones style there really is no need to panic, however the general advice (as with PC users) is to take precautions by installing some protection software.

I have tried a few on the Android platform and heres my low-down...

Lookout Mobile Security - https://www.mylookout.com/

I first tried this one when it was in Beta early last year. A complete security offering which is now offered in a slimmed down free flavour, and a premium full featured package. After installing the app the user is able to remotely locate, lock, or wipe their handset. Anti-virus and on demand scanning come as standard and data backup and restore is also offered through over-the air transmission to lookout servers.

I tested the locate function on Android Gingerbread this morning, whilst it took a little longer than expected (5 mins+) it duly prompted my that it had found my phone with a convenient and accurate email notification. The security scanning seems slick and reliable so far which is the important part.

Available on Android, Blackberry, and Windows Mobile platforms, the majority of smartphone users are protected.

Verdict: 8/10. A reliable solution for security and loss/theft options and has come a long way since beta. Good value at $19.99 a year and will help give you peace of mind that your handset is protected and retrievable above and beyond a standard keylock and insurance policy.

McAfee Mobile Security - http://www.mcafeemobilesecurity.com/

After picking up mobile security pioneers Wavesecure last year McAfee have been quick to put together an offering to keep mobile users secure alongside their desktop and server protection. Building on the original Wavesecure concept which centered on remote locate, lock and wipe functions McAfee Mobile Security provides real-time scanning alongside a comprehensive online portal allowing extensive remote control of the device.

Supporting Blackberry, Symbian, Android and iPhones, this is a solid offering for mobile users across the board. The feature of remotely shutting down a phone but extracting your personal data covertly over the network before ordering a "nuke" of the phone is certainly a feature which will put some more troubled minds at ease.

Unfortunately however, my experience with this software on Android certainly takes the shine off. Remote requests are issued via text messages. For some reason which is not abundantly clear McAfee have retained Wavesecure's Singapore messaging servers. A request from your online account will therefore prompt a costly text message from an international number in order to kick your phone into action. Simply testing the locate and lock I managed to add £3 to my bill. On top of a $29.99 yearly subscription you might start to wonder if its worth it.

Verdict: 5/10 Nice idea and looks great to start with. Execution and reliability seems poor, although with some tweeks and reduced cost this is probably the most comprehensive solution available. Shame really...

AVG Mobilation/Anti-virus Free - http://www.avgmobilation.com/

A more recent contender in the market, the product of AVG and DroidSecurity is the AVG Mobilation package suitable for Android smartphones and tablets. On first installation and to the discerning mobile app user the visuals of the app are a little unnerving. Pale white screens and non-branded app logos make this offering look like malware itself. However pressing on I discovered a comprehensive scanning functionality which delves deep into settings, emails, SMS, contacts and even bookmarks.

Assuming you trust AVG's signatures, this looks like a pretty watertight solution for the security minded Smartphone user. The on-demand and real-time scanning features are also lightweight and efficient so you dont have to worry about your Smartphone real estate being gobbled.

The free trial of the pro software lasts 30 days which should give you ample chance to test if its for you (full version license £6.15) Alternatively there is Anti-Virus free which offers continual free (albeit slightly slimmed) protection.

Verdict: 7/10 Looks to be a great option for comprehensive threat protection, cant help feeling that one of the 'all-round' solutions offering remote locking and location offers a better investment if you want to spend cash on protecting your handset.


So there you have it, a whistlestop tour through Mobile security, for a full run down check out this from Top Ten Reviews.

Happy (and safe) Smartphoning!

The Instant Relevance Age

Social media as a concept has revolutionised information sharing and growth of communities online. Being a largely wholesome pursuit, an appreciation of a softer side of marketing and more personal communication which Social Media embodies has been a positive influence for Businesses and individuals alike.

Platforms such as Facebook and Twitter provide not only instant communication (which is expected as a minimum in our digital age) but relevant and immersive methods of engaging with groups of people according to their relationship with you, or common interests. Personally I believe the point at which the internet was at its broadest has now passed. A content explosion spurred on by multiple social media platforms coming to maturity in the past 5 years is now coming into some form of order. Whilst it is exciting for a single internet user to behold a potentially limitless bounty of content, the time has come for relevance.

Increasingly content hosting websites across the globe and from all sectors are striving to provide a more personalised experience, acknowledging that users want information useful to them, not endless streams of data. BBC iPlayer allows users to save favourite programmes and makes recommendations based on these preferences. Twitter provides its lists function which facilitates the amalgamation of streams into a single interest area. Facebook groups currently provide the best forum for informal but closed information sharing within a like minded set of individuals. And of course Google have spearheaded their social media offering with the Circles concept, encouraging selective and tiered sharing of content to ensure maximum interest for those at both end of the exchange.

So as Internet users we can now enjoy a highly tailored yet rich immersion into content which we enjoy. Yet this is not without its price. By the nature of expressing and recording a preference we are placing more of our personality into cyberspace. For instance, if you were to take advantage of all the forums listed above, someone who gained access to your accounts would quickly be able to garner your friendship groups, your relationship with colleagues, and even your favourite television programmes. The increasing concerns surrounding identity theft highlight readily available photos, personal preference information, and location data to be serious exposures for the average internet user. This friendly infographic from mashable spells out the considerable cost of the new criminal pastime.

And the undercurrent of online persona has not gone unnoticed by society as a whole. The recent London riots have in part been attributed to the almost military grade communication mechanisms now available to the average phone user. The ability to secretly share instant group messages whilst on the move is a powerful tool and one that realistically has only just come into widespread existence. Whether or not it facilitated the recent mob violence it highlights the potential power of limitless social communication and might be a sign of things to come.

I thought Spam went out of fashion?

As consumers we have the not inconsiderable burden of choosing where to spend our money. This dilemma is presented on a daily basis as we go about normal pursuits and routines. A sizeable faction of retailers and salesman are not content with letting the money fall from our purse in good time however, they instead feel that the only way to secure our hard earned cash is with a brute force approach.

As a child I remember seeing junk mail pile through the letterbox, only to be thumbed through and discarded. I always found it amazing that companies who spent a small fortune sending out thousands of unsolicited letters could make it worth their while. Presumably enough people must have been signing up for credit cards and cash prize puzzle competitions to cover the cost of the vast amounts of paper that end up in the bin. At least in this sector the evident underlying profitability of the operation provides some reassurance of the senders logic (providing we swerve the environmental hot potato on where all the waste paper goes).

Of course the modern age has heralded modern methods of purveying mass commercial plugging. The birth of 'SPAM' email is considered to be in 1978 when the same email was sent to 300 recipients without being personalised as was the trend at the time. Of course this made those diligently watching their inboxes more than a little upset. How dare the sender on this magical new system not take the time to write something which was addressed to them by name and had some relevance to what they might be interested in? If only they knew what was to come. By 1988 the first chain mail reared its head, "Make money fast" bore all the hallmarks of SPAM to come.

Unsolicited bulk email now makes up 80-85% of all emails sent worldwide. To this end both individuals and corporates spend significant time and money to filter out this bulk of chaff, to leave them with a workable system for communication. There is a worldwide contemptuous attitude towards such mail, with even the less internet-savvy individuals being able to spot most scam or promotional emails a mile off and send it reeling off into the ever-present Junk folder.

So how and why do the senders persist? Re-applying the metric of profit from the Junk postal mail story, it is reasonable to assume at least a few recipients must offer their wallets. What is different with email is the cost per send for the Spammer. With little or no overhead and the ability to be invisible as a sender, even one or two sign-ups from 2 million mail outs proves to be a good day at the office.

The only real solution is for the Internet community to form consensus and crack down on what is heralded as a free, easy and cheap solution for global communication. A strict opt-in service for inbox owners or lock-down of acceptable recipients would go some way to cleaning up our daily e-post bag. I am not sure the problem will ever go away, but with spending on combating SPAM estimated at upwards of £150 per Business user per year, can we really afford not to tackle the root cause?

Calculate the cost of SPAM to your Business with this nifty calculator... http://www.commtouch.com/spam-cost-calculator

The Great Carrier Bag Scandal

In a time of unprecedented ecological concern and constant reminders to be green, we as the UK general public have made a respectable stab at washing out our jam jars and turning down our thermostats. Whilst there will always be gaping holes in the sustainable practise of the nation with old-school industry and air-conditioned office blocks, the last few years have seen a conspicuous improvement in the attitude of consumers towards waste. Most importantly, we seem to still be happy enough, perhaps demonstrating that consumption and waste is not the only source of enjoyment in Western society.

In fact the recent drive to be "green" from both manufacturers and our peers has spawned a die-hard elite of frugalists and return of the 'make do and mend' brigade. The old British adage has been revived in a recent BBC remake where handy sowers and resourceful cooks provided lessons on how to reduce waste and save money.

The combination of belt-tightening and the dawning revelation that we might be actually be knackering the planet has prompted the almost ubiquitous 'war on carrier bags'. Once a time where triple bagging heavy items was actively encouraged by the teenage checkout assistant, punters now have to wrestle a few measly bags from the attendant just so they can get their products out the door. Instead loyalty points and growing sense of smugness are provided as recompense for bringing your own scrumpled carriers or buying into the bag for life scheme. All in all, a sustainability success you might say.

So how is it that logic still evades us in such glaring ways in other areas? I recently saw a pile of Argos catalogues which had made their way half a mile down a high street and subsequently been rained on providing enough material to create a sizeable papier mache sculpture. I am presuming that the culmination of 3000 pages of printed product adverts was not used before being discarded, instead providing a massive waste of energy and effort. What's more someone has to then be paid to clean it up.

Levels of product packaging seem to have also escaped the chop. Apart from my annoyance with the fact it often takes me 20 minutes to wrestle open stubborn plastic blister packs, there is simply no need to wrap things 4 times in a packagers almanac of different materials. Some of the worst offenders are listed over on Business Insider, with my personal favourite being individually wrapped bananas...

All this makes me worry that it doesn't really matter whether I only use one sheet of toilet paper, or whether I get some nectar points for bringing a smelly carrier bag for my shopping. In the grand scheme of things it feels like we need to do a lot more if we are serious about not living in a planet-wide rubbish dump before the next century.

The Chewbacca E-mail Defence

After four years of University and working in Industry I have come to notice a strange phenomenon which seems to afflict everyone from the lowest administrator to the highest director with equal virility. All of us have experienced the moment where all eyes turn in your direction on the revelation that an expectation has not been achieved or a target has been missed. Whether its coursework past its deadline, or a long overdue action point from a rather tedious meeting there is a stock standard defence which seems the commercial embodiment of the 'Get out of jail free card'.

"I sent you an email". A few small words so innocently placed, but covers all manner of sins. I don't really understand how it is that a Director on the Warpath or a Lecturer hell-bent on docking marks can be so easily subdued by the timely delivery of the phrase. Whether the purveyor of the excuse is telling the truth or not it I have seen devastating delivery causing instant disarray in those who are turning critical eyes.

On more than one occasion I have seen students excused timely coursework submission due to perceived uncertainty surrounding the delivery of electronic mail. I have even used the excuse myself to cover tardiness when contacting clients at work, professing that "my email didn't send the first time". And of course who could forget the classic Sales Rep tactic of insisting that they speak to the intended recipient in person, just to check if they got that email containing "A really interesting offer".

In an age where E-mail is ubiquitous and largely seen as superior to paper mail, are we really that uncertain as to the quality of the delivery mechanism? Surely if there was genuinely this much doubt as to whether Business-critical documents will arrive when we click 'Send' then we would save some of our raging contempt for Royal Mail, and vent it at E-mail providers instead.

Perhaps it is the lack of per-send cost associated with most E-mail services which lowers our expectations, or perhaps we enjoy the dance of uncertainty surrounding our merry distribution of scores of emails every day. Of course who would forgo the amusing back and forth whilst trying to dictate an E-mail address over the telephone prompting 4 failed emails and one Nigerian scam respondent before finally getting the message through.

Either way it makes me wonder how long before we start to demand more from our best electronic friend. With so much of Business and Personal life depending on timely and safe delivery of Electronic Mail, I think it might be time to iron out the kinks and fire some of these incompetent digital postmen.

There are even some hailing alternatives to E-mail altogether. Could RSS really be a replacement?

PS for those of you pondering the relation to Chewbacca, see this video for a likeness to many a meeting where the E-Mail diversion defence has been employed...

The perils of E-Commerce

In a retail culture where consumers now expect any self-respecting outlet to have an on-line store and delivery service, it is hard to imagine a time when 24/7 shopping was not available.

 'E-Commerce' as it has become known is the process of using ICT to support Business Activities. By allowing connection to customers, suppliers and the market place as a whole, organisations can gear up their sales and market reach with a relatively small outlay. E-Commerce was shown to have increased by an impressive 25% between 2008/09 (Office for National Statistics). 76% of Businesses in the same year had a website with many of them providing E-Commerce options to their customers, either as their primary route to market or as a subsidiary to a high street operation.

The rise of this new form of commercial interaction has stemmed from a drive for customer convenience and rapid service. In theory a well designed retail website will allow a customer to browse full details of a product, compare the prices on the entire market with a simple click, and place an order to be delivered at a time convenient for them.

Unfortunately however, all is not rosy in the garden of on-line sales. There are a wealth of considerations which need to be addressed in order to satisfy the customer and unfortunately many contenders are falling well short, often resulting in their ultimate demise.

Many E-Commerce websites are plagued by poor design. Considering the budgets behind such projects,and the importance of getting it right, you might expect on-line offerings of some major players to be flawless. As one of Britain's biggest supermarkets Tescos presents a clinical and cluttered home page followed up with some pretty customer login facilities. Similarly I don't know who told BHS that scrolling 90's-style neon was a good idea...

It also appears that many organisations who have taken the E-Commerce plunge also struggle with the fundamental logistics of the operation. Stock management and delivery as promised are fundamental elements which the retailer must get right if they are to offer any real benefit over simply visiting a high street store for the same product. Unfortunately however many retailers seem to be caught on the back foot all to often, leading to delivery delays and frustration. A quick search of customer forums yield all sorts of discontent. Recent experiences with both Mobile Fun and TotalPDA would lead me to join the rabble after some seriously poor delivery experiences.

Fundamentally the convenience and value of shopping on-line are all too often marred by the lottery of selecting a product sight-unseen, and the crossing your fingers whilst you hope the product turns up. I would hope that this will not always be the case, as with more and more commerce moving to the Internet, we deserve better.