Perspectives & Strategy » Reviews

2010 a Great Foundation Year!

Peter B. Giblett — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 19:16:19 +0000

This is a very personal post and it comes from being reflective as we all are at this time of year (December). It is important to take time to look at what you have achieved and tick it off against that list of plans that you had at the beginning of the year. How many of those plans were fulfilled?

For me 2010 has been a real foundation year, a year that by itself will not look that great, yet a year that is the bedrock for future achievement. Did I become rich during this year? No, but I survived and have built a number of things which will be shaping the future for me and my family. Just a few highlights that must be included are:

☺ Assisted my son in finalising and publishing his first novel

☺ Collected my on-line articles and compiled my own book

☺ Co-Founded a Social Media consultancy

☺Completed my Competent Communicator award at Toastmasters (started in 2009)

☺ Purchased a new home

I had hoped to add to that list other significant advances, yet they will have to wait for a future time (and I am passionate about many of these so I know they will ultimately succeed).

Currently I am passionate about leveraging my skills in global corporate consulting in order to assist small and mid-sized corporations succeed whether with their Social Media or marketing or through deployment of Business Intelligence solutions, or in the area of corporate risk. Whist at first these do seem to be diverse areas in which to be creating a consulting practice, yet they are linked.

Social Media is on the surface a marketing tool, yet in reality it is an holistic tool that has so many diverse uses. Customer services is an important aspect here, none the least because social media is a great tool for building trust. Whilst many aspects of Social Media cannot be measured in the true Business Intelligence style there is a specialist form of intelligence called social media intelligence and this is an area where I am able to assist my customers in building a listening post that acts as a foundation for their social presence.

Much of what we achieve is about helping others succeed. This is one of the reasons why I have spent much time with my son in assisting with publication of his first novel; eventually getting it self published. We have had many successes, but are still looking for a partner who can help us open further markets in the books world. An in respect of helping others succeed and seeking someone to act as a mentor for in order to assist them is achieving their own greatness.

We are always looking for new customers, so if you feel that we can assist you then please call on 289 296 4089 (new number) and we shall be pleased to assist, or send me an email.

We have a few more days till Christmas and the New Year will therefore be very soon after, but I would like to wish you all seasons greetings:

But I would like to leave you with a question – What does the future hold for you and in what way has 2010 been a superb foundation year for you? Please add your own comment here or answer the associated LinkedIn Question.

Also please note that I am looking to mentor 1 person during the course of 2011. Please email me any suitable candidates. My only stipulations are that they are in the same time zone (EST) and that they speak English as a first language. I wish this to be a Social Media focused mentoring effort, so I do anticipate communicating through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or another medium.

Review: Why New Systems Fail

Peter B. Giblett — Wed, 13 May 2009 05:00:29 +0000

I have been talking to Phil Simon, who recently published a book “Why New Systems Fail“. He has been good enough to provide my readers with a preview of the first chapter.

Trying is the first step to failure – Homer J. Simpson

With more than 3 in 5 IT projects failing to realise their full potential failure is a large concern both in IT and the business. According to Simon “Organizations have been using major enterprise software for decades but… few have met their original goals and promise”. Yet we continue to use these systems. He paints a gruesome picture of a solution failure, yet each of the examples shown represent real-world problems, that tend to mount during implementation if not controlled.

Simon identifies a failure scale, of which the worst, “Unmitigated” is where an organisation spends a fortune implementing a system, then ultimately junks the system, reverting to the existing legecy system before going out shopping again. I have witnessed this a while ago when a former colleague and good friend called to tell me that his company had been axed by a client after spending $350 million on a new systems implementation. Within 2 years that same organisation was hunting for a new vendor and prepared to pay another insane amount for yet another system.

He also categorises another area of failure, the “Forthcoming Failure”. This is arguably the hardest type of failure to spot. If an organisation has met its goals then how can a system be considered a failure? Good question. Some other categories can impact the ultimate success of a system, including whether users actually adopt the new system or simply revert to their old ways, thus negating the benefits gained and painting an example where adequate testing should have avoided a costly law suit several years later.

The consequences of failure can ultimately impact the reputation of the software company and/or the solution providers.

Failure is NOT a given. Organizations often lack the necessary framework to minimize failure before, during, and after system implementations. “Why New Systems Fail” provides a framework with specific tools, tips, and insight from the perspective of a seasoned, independent consultant with more than a decade of related experience.

There are detailed case studies in the book and you will have to see the full book for these.

Further Information:

Phil Simon “Why New Systems Fail, Chapter 1”

Buy online at Author House for $22.95

Also keep up-to-date at Phil’s Virtual Soap box:

http://www.philsimonblog.com/

Review: Building ROI for the Software Vendor

Peter B. Giblett — Fri, 08 May 2009 04:37:38 +0000

For the last couple of months I have seen advertisements by Ziff Davis for a new service they are offering, the Enterprise Build ROI Program, and I thought I had to take a look at some point. The thinking that started my looking was was a publishing company offering consulting in this unique area?

Build ROI is based on the premise that “No matter the size of your company or budget, you can increase your ROI” It is focused on solution providers maximising their marketing potential. It is a pay program with the first tier starting out at $5,000 right up to tier 3 that is focused on creating a dominant presence in the marketplace.

So what does your money get you?

According to Ziff Davis “Tier 1 program offers a variety of multi-media marketing vehicles – from print and on-line advertising, to contextual sponsorship offerings, to proven lead generation”. For the service provider or software vendor it is providing access to services used by their readers use on a daily basis, this is a subscriber base of over 4 million readers. Tier 2 is “designed to get you closer to your prospects… solutions provide intimate and contextual reach that accelerates your pipeline growth” and tier 3 “Create a dominant presence in the marketplace… long-term lead generation programs, lead nurturing and scoring options, strategic consulting services, international programs and a variety of other impactful vehicles.”

I have adopted the mindset of a CEO of a small software company in assessing these offerings. My first thought is that I would have loved to have access to the readers of publications like eWeek, BaseLine, and CIO Insight. There is a difference between having access to readers through RSS feeds, pod-casts etc and developing a direct connection with a prospect. I am then questioning how much value solution providers can drive via other means, e.g. access through Social Media channels. It is always possible that they could be complimentary. Tier 1 can certainly be a useful marketing tool, however to me one of the most important components of the program the “Business Value Calculators” are costed seperately from the main program offering, which is such a pity because this has the potential for being the most powerfull of all offerings.

One of the interesting things about the sight is the availability of free material in the BuildROI Resource Centre. Much of this material is very useful and can certainly be leveraged by anyone researching As with many American based sites it does forget that places do exist outside the USA, when filling in the registration form it requires that I enter a State, but does not include my Canadian province (but does accept Canada as the Country). All of this is a little odd when the report is delivered by email.

At the end of the day there will be IT suppliers that will find the program has a lot of use. I see this as an attempt by Ziff Davis to guarantee a revenue stream in these hard times, not necessarily a bad thing. However where budgets are tight I would think that many will think twice before joining the program.