tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87915530577096497092024-03-13T23:37:30.125-07:00The Devil You KnowComments and thoughts about technology consulting, business analysis, metrics and big data.snipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02905875088401573177noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8791553057709649709.post-6351829385518965642017-03-14T09:55:00.000-07:002017-03-14T09:55:26.188-07:00Selling Online in 2017
As a web application developer around the start of the 21st century, I recall the beginning of the e-commerce era as being one of extremely complex and technical development. I developed and taught e-commerce/ e-marketing programs at Holland College and Nova Scotia Community College from about 1998 through 2003 when the depth of technical knowledge that both developers and business owners snipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02905875088401573177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8791553057709649709.post-40004686649988449952015-08-24T10:07:00.000-07:002015-08-24T10:07:19.284-07:00The Seven C’s (and one D) of Leading and Managing Professionals
Forty years of management and membership in professional teams has allowed me to observe valuable leadership skills and characteristics in diverse environments including Banking, Sales, IT, Community Services, and Academia. A hoped-for "C"-based mnemonic for those qualities was dashed by my great favour for "delegation". So, it’s seven C’s and one D to describe these skills and for what snipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02905875088401573177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8791553057709649709.post-31180578169017073632013-08-28T06:10:00.004-07:002013-08-28T06:17:11.714-07:00Music as Catalyst for Technology Talent
When I was completing my IT diploma at the Information Technology Institute (ITI) a few years back,
our class often socialized together – most often at various venues on Spring
Garden Road in Halifax, but also occasionally at one of our classmates’ homes/apartments. I was pleasantly surprised that the ability to pick up a guitar, electric piano, harmonica,
etc. and to play snipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02905875088401573177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8791553057709649709.post-43184676127435604412013-02-11T14:34:00.001-08:002013-06-02T05:40:11.011-07:00The Myth of the Free Lunch
Something for free always sounds better than something for cost, doesn't it? Well sure, it sounds better, but is it really? Can the free lunch truly exist? I got caught in the trap of the benevolent vendor recently when I offered "free services" to a local community association for as long as I was a member of their board. I made it clear that when I left, I would have to snipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02905875088401573177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8791553057709649709.post-4337792514570572272012-11-06T09:22:00.003-08:002012-11-06T09:22:49.404-08:00Tail Wagging the DogThe engagement of technology to solve organizational problems often fails in either ineffective tool selection or poorly-planned tool implementation (or both). In either case, the disenfranchised stakeholder will see the imposition of the technology as the tail wagging the dog. Invariably, bringing a new tool to bear on a problem means change, and that will require appropriate change management snipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02905875088401573177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8791553057709649709.post-33241446076894309392012-10-29T19:29:00.004-07:002012-10-29T19:32:09.506-07:00ROI & Decision-Based Evidence-MakingI was a sales rep for Atlantic Lottery in Newfoundland (in another life, it seems) and I recognize that experience provided more real "education" than three university degrees have done for me since. A great lesson came one summer's day in the town of Lawn on the province's south coast. A particularly resistant shop owner was testing my Xerox and Dale Carnegie sales training techniques to snipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02905875088401573177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8791553057709649709.post-64405076641523911212012-10-22T05:48:00.001-07:002012-10-22T05:48:05.784-07:00Square Pegs and Round HolesA few years ago I attended a conference for SMEs seeking eBusiness advice for their operations. The speaker (a self-professed expert on eBusiness) suggested that building a custom application in this day and age makes no sense when off-the-shelf (OTS) applications are available for nearly any conceivable function at a fraction of the cost of custom development.
My disappointment at her remarks&snipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02905875088401573177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8791553057709649709.post-25044750971555842142012-10-09T07:04:00.000-07:002012-10-09T07:04:04.144-07:00Rambler Mansions & The Butterfly EffectWhen my wife and I began looking for a house about 6 years ago, we visited a number of century homes and "rambler mansions"-- you know the ones that were built in the early 20th century, added a wing in the 1920s, a garage in the 40s, a new porch and veranda in the 60s and a studio in the 90s. While touring one such home, it occurred to me that many of the web applications we have provided seem snipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02905875088401573177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8791553057709649709.post-36470794710885313392012-10-01T18:03:00.000-07:002012-10-01T18:06:28.005-07:00Hugs and CRMMy father supervised a busy Air Traffic Control centre when I was a kid so sometimes I'd drop in and observe him in action (these were days before the current high security on air traffic control centres). I was intrigued with the interaction he had with his staff. My parents were both affectionate, prone to lots of spontaneous hugs, and my father seemed able to use touch as an effective snipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02905875088401573177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8791553057709649709.post-87191920200716589042012-09-24T13:10:00.000-07:002012-09-24T13:10:17.154-07:00Sunkist and SEOI am sometimes amazed at the effect the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) craze is having on many companies these days, prompting odd strategies and unnecessary costs - all to get their names in the top ten at Google and Yahoo!. I am reminded of a commercial for Sunkist oranges a few years ago showing a series of people variably squeezing, smelling, rapping, and tossing fruit to determine its snipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02905875088401573177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8791553057709649709.post-1885954129993534792012-09-17T18:21:00.000-07:002012-10-01T18:20:05.358-07:00In Bed with a Mosquito
My wife placed an Anita Roddick quote under a magnet on our fridge. It reads "If you think yourself too small to be effective, you've never been in bed with a mosquito". It got me thinking again about the many small businesses we have consulted with and for whom we have been able to discover and create new value in eBusiness processes and technologies. Many of them felt at snipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02905875088401573177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8791553057709649709.post-49757525026015719602012-09-10T09:50:00.001-07:002012-09-24T18:49:24.046-07:00The Emperor's New Clothes (life beyond the website)Sometimes the value of eBusiness web services can seem a little ethereal. The inspiration for today's column title comes from a conversation I had with a visitor to a recent Downtown Dartmouth Business Commission networking event.
"So what is it your company does?" he asked.
"We develop internet-based solutions that help small businesses leverage web services to reduce costssnipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02905875088401573177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8791553057709649709.post-38234723043202446562012-09-03T07:56:00.003-07:002012-09-10T12:15:24.363-07:00The Devil You Know
An old joke tells of the dandy who won a sheep, betting a farmer that he could use his technical gadgetry to determine the exact number of animals in his flock. Combining technology from his laptop, a handheld, cell connection, satellite imagery and an artificial intellgence system, he got the right number and grabbed one of the animals for his prize. Before he could stuff the poor animal into snipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02905875088401573177noreply@blogger.com0