Social networking for businesses – managing visitors' comments

I mentioned last week that British Airways had set up two Twitter accounts, BritishAirways and British_Airways which they still actively use.

They also set up some Facebook accounts last year. These include two accounts, “British Airways” and “British Airways plc”. Both now say “We currently aren't commenting on this site”. How are these being used? What lessons can be learned?

People can click the “Like” button on a Facebook business site to become a “fan”. This allows fans to add comments.

BA have stopped fans from adding comments on the BA site (after some had been added), but comments are still allowed on the plc site’s wall. These comments are of three types:

• A few messages of support for BA
• But more people complaining about BA or the strikers
• People advertising their own business or passions

Stopping fans posting to your wall doesn’t stop you making your own postings (BA have simply said they are not going to do so any longer). It is also possible to delete fans’ individual postings. But people can return to add their comment again, so it doesn’t necessarily stop the problem.

So is it wise for BA to allow comments on their wall? What about your own business?

Escaping “Excel Hell” for Forecasting & Budgeting

In simple situations, Excel is a great tool for producing forecasts and budgets:

• Linking P&L to cash flow and balance sheet (if well compiled)
• "What-if" modelling by changing key variables embedded in formulae
• Flexibility as the budget process develops
• Wide-spread availability and familiarity for budget-holders to compile their section of the budget

But as the situation becomes more complex, Excel’s weaknesses become apparent:

• Excel itself is not designed for multi-user collaboration
• Version control is difficult
• Multi-dimensional analysis of products, locations, projects, etc is difficult
• Co-ordination and consolidation is tricky
• Mistakes are therefore easy to make (as are SUM ranges missing important costs!)
• Models are time-consuming to use, for each and every change
• Drill-down from reporting systems to the composition of the budget is not easily available

In many businesses, the budgeting and forecasting process has become “Excel hell” – difficult to administer and taking far too long for each forecasting cycle. Nonetheless some 50-60% of larger businesses still use Excel as their principle forecasting tool.

As a result, requests are common for tools to help automate and manage the budgeting processes. Why are so many businesses still using Excel?

There are a number of good choices for budgeting and forecasting:

• Modules available alongside financial software suites
• Specialist systems using their own interface
• Specialist systems using Excel as a front-end
• Specialist systems using a web browser, available “on-demand” in the cloud or on-premise.

How can these tools be used successfully? There’s a 5-step approach:

1. Analyse the key aspects of the current Excel models
2. Establish other user requirements, such as links to reporting and accounting systems
3. Identify and assess the options available
4. Shortlist realistic options and choose a solution
5. Implement the software swiftly and professionally

If you’d like to talk further how to do this, please contact me.

Do feel free to comment about your own experiences.

Management dashboards – graphs or figures?

A picture’s worth a thousand words.

But should a management dashboard include figures, graphs or both?

Is this a good example?



Once KPIs have been determined, at each level of management, then dashboards for each director and manager need to be designed.

Simplicity and clarity must be foremost, to impart information “at a glance”:

• Limited number of true KPIs (both results and drivers)
• Comparison against target, budget, forecast or comparative period
• Colour coding to highlight success and issues
• Absolute values (perhaps displayed as dials)
• Graphs to show trends over time

The key is to focus on headline numbers, with the option to drill down to the detail and further analysis. Overall then, there needs to be a mixture of graphs and figures.

Some of the KPIs may also benefit from verbal commentary. How about “tweets”? Not by using Twitter but by showing a set of comments, each within 140 characters. For example: ”YTD profit before tax up 15% on last year at £2.4m, £0.2m up on budget. On track to exceed £3.5m forecast at year end.”

Individuals will have their own preferences. It’s worth taking those views into account when designing the individual dashboards.

What preferences do you have?

Cloud Computing – Benefits vs Pitfalls

or

?

Cloud computing has been around for 10 years at least, under the guise of ASP (Application Service Provision) and SaaS (Software As A Service).

In some areas, such as CRM (customer relationship management) it has taken off big time. Infrastructure and services in the cloud such as eMail are becoming increasingly popular. In other areas, such as financial software, take-up is less common. Why?

The key is the balance of benefits to the pitfalls and risks. That assessment will differ by application. Is it core and/or business-critical? It is also dependent on users’ attitude towards identifying and accepting those pitfalls. Or whether users are prepared to wait for in-house systems (be they packaged or bespoke) when cloud applications are immediately available. Perhaps sales directors are inherently more prepared (and driven) to use cloud applications than finance directors!

So what are the key benefits and pitfalls to consider?

Key Benefits

Cloud applications provide several key benefits, which include:

1. Functionality can be shared from any location with an internet connection. This allows remote access from multiple sites, by mobile workers, and collaboration with third parties (including customers and suppliers)
2. Functionality is available that would be completely unaffordable if it had to be run in-house.
3. Otherwise functionality can be available at a lower cost
4. There is no need for the cost (and headcount) of specialist internal resources to maintain the systems, other than basic end-user administration
5. Users only need a compatible web browser on their PC or mobile device
   
6. Services can be up and running in hours or days, not months, by short-cutting the procurement approval and acquisition process
7. The cloud is scalable. A sudden, temporary or ongoing increase in activity can usually be quickly accommodated.
8. Regular upgrades provide new functionality more quickly, without the hassle of installing them
9. Backup and disaster recovery is handled automatically
   
10. Cash flow advantage. Payment is usually made periodically, rather than all up front

Key Pitfalls

On-premise software is not without risks, and these need to be managed. Indeed good cloud systems can address some of those risks.

However there are new pitfalls and risks with cloud computing. These need to be mitigated to an acceptable level if cloud computing is to be a viable option for a specific application. Let’s look at the cloud situation, and compare it to on-premise, to see what to consider when assessing cloud applications and specific offerings:

1. Cloud applications as packaged software
2. Providing internet access to the data
3. Cloud computing as an outsourcing arrangement

Cloud applications as packaged software

The software running in cloud applications is packaged software i.e. standard functions used by a number of different user groups. However using a package in the cloud is different from running one in-house:

• Upgrades: Usually applications are on a “multi-tenant” shared basis, with no option to opt-out of a new release (With on-premise, users often wait to hear if there are any issues with a new release). How often are upgrades planned? Released at sensible times? Will you get a heads-up on changes, such as may affect user procedures? Is there an opportunity to assess and pre-test a new release with a copy of your own configuration and data (and feedback any problems before release)?
• Integration: Integration with other cloud or in-house applications may be more difficult – is this needed and available?
• Configuration: Packaged software usually has a number of configuration options. Will the rush to implement in the cloud bypass the usual help from a specialist, and not produce available benefits? Or raise the risk of a high-speed mess?
• Customisation: If you expect to customise the software now or later, then this is not usually possible with cloud applications, though worth asking
  

Providing internet access to the system

Many organizations allow internet access to their own on-premise systems. Allowing internet access to cloud systems is in principle not much different, but.

• Availability: Internet access is not universally available around the world, or even around the UK. The cloud is only practical if access speed is adequate for everyone that needs it.
• Loss of availability: Internet access can be cut (in some cases literally!). Contingency plans are essential, using 3G services and/or alternative premises
• Access: With on-premise systems there tends to be two-level control – access onto the network and access to specific applications. Internet banking software always has multi-level access control, using additional passwords and physical devices. Is a simple user id and password enough for your application?
• Leavers and transferors: For on-premise software, many users will not have remote access. With a cloud they all do. Are your procedures tight enough?

Cloud computing is an outsourcing arrangement

Outsourcing the IT systems has been common in the corporate world for some time. The use of cloud computing is very similar. Here are some of the issues:

• Trust: Is the cloud provider inherently trust-worthy? Do they promote security, performance and availability as part of their sales process?
• Data visibility: Data is held by the outsourced provider. Does it need to be encrypted, so no-one there can see it? (and potentially be more secure than holding it in-house).
• Access to data: Is it logged and auditable? Is this needed?
  
• Physical security: Are the data centres sufficiently secure?
• Location: Is the data only stored in Europe? If not, are the arrangements acceptable from a Data Protection and compliance perspective (such as the US Patriot Act)?
• Recovery: Are the backup and recovery arrangements adequate? Can they be trusted, at least as much as you could trust internal systems?
• Short of cash?: What if your business goes under, or struggles to pay the fees?
• Loss of service: Lower costs and deferred payment puts more pressure on the cloud supplier. What would happen if the provider went out of business? Or decided to drop the service, perhaps after acquisition? Do they offer a contingency plan?
• Data porting: Can you get your own copy of the data, in a form that could be imported into another application?
• Contingency plan: What other contingency plans can you make yourself?

IN CONCLUSION

It is clear that cloud computing can provide significant practical and cost benefits over on-premise. Cloud systems can reduce some of the risks of on-premise systems. But there are new pitfalls with the cloud which need to be mitigated to acceptable levels for a specific application.

Where that is possible, cloud computing can be a great way to operate. Otherwise, on-premise may be the only acceptable approach.

There are a number of other considerations and solutions, which there isn't chance to include in this article. Do contact me if you would like to discuss the issues, specific situations, or would like to review your approach to cloud computing.

News Review - Apple iPad – fashion fad or business workhorse?

Reviewing the business technology news for this last week, one item stands out – the launch of the Apple iPad in the UK. Pre-orders start today (10th May) at the Apple Store, for delivery by Friday 28th May.

Pricing had been announced for outright purchase (see below). Some models have a slot for a micro-SIM card, to access services via 3G. At the time of writing, Orange had announced data plans for the iPad, with other operators to follow. News is awaited whether the device will be available under a combined monthly hardware/SIM contract, like an iPhone.

The iPad is a “tablet” / “slate” computer, with a screen comparable in size to a small laptop, notebook or netbook. The screen is embedded on the surface of the device, rather like an iPhone, and is touch sensitive. Indeed the iPad is based on the same technical platform as the iPhone, and can run the same "apps".

Reports from the USA suggest people are now attending business meetings with their iPads rather than laptops or notebooks (or indeed their 90s filofaxes!).

So is the iPad really for business?

Is this a fashion fad, or is the iPad a business workhorse? Is it a reasonable alternative to a laptop, notebook or netbook? Or will we be carrying both?

Despite this being by no means the first tablet computer, the first million iPads were sold in the USA in 28 days, less than half of the time for the first million iPhones. Many iPads will have been bought by businesses.

Apple is certainly trying to woo business users, with special business functionality, and a sales team focused on corporates.

Consumer focus

But it’s clear that the iPad is aimed principally at mass-market consumers. The iPad’s minimalist design is both aesthetic and practical, but geared principally to “consume” ebooks, videos, music and web content. (Much of this list is being sold by Apple themselves, so the iPad is a conduit to these additional revenue streams.)

The interactivity of Web2.0 is secondary. The touch-screen provides an on-screen keyboard, but this is best kept for occasional use. An optional external keyboard is available, as is a cover cleverly designed to prop the iPad up at a table to make it easier to view the screen and type on it. See the accessories at the bottom of this page.

Much has been made of other limitations, such as lack of multi-tasking (but then that might suit us men!), and lack of the normal input-output mechanisms you might find on a laptop or notebook.

Connection to the internet (or an internal network) is made via wireless (Wi-Fi). Versions are available with 3G micro-SIM cards to access the internet on the move when Wi-Fi is not available.

The amount of internal storage is limited by modern standard (maximum 64GB). But if you able to use remote cloud applications and/or store files remotely, this should not be a problem.

Can it be used for business?

Yes it can, in two ways:

1. General business applications
2. Niche applications, such as storing the documents that would normally be taken to a meeting so that “the other side” can view them

Apple themselves promote the iPad as a business tool:

• Linkable to corporate email, calendar and contact systems, such as MS Exchange
• Business applications from the Apple AppStore, including “iWork” presentation, word processing and spreadsheet options
• Making 1-2-1 presentations, and with optional VGA link to show sales and other presentations to larger groups
• Remotely wipe everything from your iPad instantly in the event of theft or loss (provided of course it’s switched on and accessing the internet)

The “iWork” applications are not PowerPoint, Word or Excel. Alternatively it is possible to access web “cloud” applications like GoogleDocs. However compatibility with the iPads “Safari” web browser will be an issue for accessing some websites, as is the lack of Flash and Java support.

With similar products that are fully Windows compatible coming from other manufacturers, they may be better business tools.

Is the iPad significantly dearer or cheaper than laptops?

iPad pricing is comparable to many business laptops and notebooks. There are 3 versions with different amounts of internal (flash) memory, each with an optional 3G micro-SIM slot:

Memory:	16GB	32GB	64GB
Wireless (WiFi)	£429 (£365 ex VAT)	£499 (£425 ex VAT)	£599 (£510 ex VAT)
Wireless + SIM**	£529 (£450 ex VAT)	£599 (£510 ex VAT)	£699 (£595 ex VAT)

** Monthly data contracts are available in addition. Contract pricing for iPad + 3G connectivity is yet to be announced.

SO IS THE iPAD A FASHION FAD OR BUSINESS WORKHORSE?

With significant limitations compared to a laptop or notebook, the head says that an iPad is not as good a business tool, and is not a replacement. However there are some niche business applications, and many business people will find it useful as a personal tool. Having held one and used one, the heart says it’s a must have!

The iPad is clearly a version 1.0 device. This and similar offerings from other manufacturers is a step in the right direction. I’m waiting for the day when a pocketable device (like a mobile phone) will hold internally all the software and data I ever need, and can be easily slotted into a desktop or a portable chassis like an iPad or laptop to provide a decent screen, keyboard and connectivity. How long to wait I wonder?