Tags:
Strategy,
Bottom Line,
Know-how
The no-nonsense guide to software
Let’s be blunt: IBM is not the first name you think of when it comes to software. But Big Blue is the world’s second largest software provider, has the broadest portfolio of software products for business and a network of experts on stand-by. It...
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Tags:
Know-how,
Strategy,
Bottom Line
In fear of finance
Finance directors like numbers. But there’s much more to the role these days than just “keeping score”. It’s a question of “decision support” – those numbers, properly interpreted and communicated to people throughout the business, can mean the diffe...
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Tags:
Growth,
Collaboration,
Know-how,
Data management
Something to watch over you
Quick question for anyone whose organisation is growing: how many times have you, your customers or stakeholders heard the following: “Sorry about this, the system’s been slow all day”; “There’s a problem with the system – I think the IT people are...
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Tags:
Know-how,
Strategy,
Entrepreneur,
Change,
Collaboration,
Growth
Paint by numbers
When Firwood Paints, based in Bolton, won a DTI-backed e-Commerce Award in September 2005, it was as the region’s best end-to-end integrated business. The company’s new website (www.firwood.co.uk) forged a dynamic link not only between a...
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Tags:
Entrepreneur,
Know-how,
Communication,
Innovation
1,000,000 users can’t be wrong – can they?
Here’s a challenge: how do you collect the sum of all human knowledge? And keep it accurate? And make sure that everyone can consult it in a simple and accessible way? If you’re an ancient Greek, Roman or Spanish thinker (Aristotle, Pliny the Elder,...
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Tags:
Know-how,
Strategy,
Bottom Line
Everything you need to know about IT … just don’t be too afraid to ask
Barely a decade ago, you could still find taped above office computer terminals the weary legend: “Abandon hope all ye who press Enter here”. What was barely funny then is now an odd cultural artefact, and now completely anachronistic. IT brings...
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Tags:
Strategy,
Data management,
Know-how,
Collaboration
Share and share again
What does your organisation actually know? Answer: rather more than you think it does. And there’s the rub, because that knowledge isn’t being put to the most effective use. Sure, you know what’s happening. Your business has grown. It now employs sco...
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Tags:
Entrepreneur,
Innovation,
Know-how
Living free and uneasy
The Renaissance represented unprecedented activity in the arts and sciences across Europe. New ideas erupted, disrupted, inspired and cross-pollinated across a range of disciplines. Media flourished under the influence of the latest technology (eg...
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Tags:
Growth,
Know-how,
Strategy,
Security
Jumping the software hurdles
Start with a strategy: The right software can make a big difference to a company’s potential growth. So why are managers so often seduced by technology that fails to match their business needs, ending up with inappropriate, disconnected systems?Most...
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Tags:
Strategy,
Know-how,
Innovation
An old model for success
There’s a memorable passage in The Living Company, by Arie de Geus: “When I entered my first place of work [in the fifties]... I felt a slight level of discomfort. The theories back at business school had mentioned labour, but there had been no talk...
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Tags:
Risk Compliance Governance (GRC),
Know-how,
Strategy
The No-Nonsense Guide to IT risk
Some business risks simply aren’t worth taking – just look at Enron's accounting, BA's aircraft livery or even Coca-Cola's New Coke launch. Others are essential, sparking growth and innovative ideas – from the personal computer to the iPod. The...
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Tags:
Know-how
We all make mistakes
I admit it: I messed up. The first time I wrote this, I didn't save the document. Anyone who has ever written something on a computer knows what's coming next: the slow horror of a frozen screen, the painful realisation that nothing was going to...
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