Eye Tea

Time to eat humble pie.  I met Sheldon Witney last week (link below) and he pointed out that cloud technology is ready right now and feasible for knowledge-based businesses such as consultancies. And he’s already done a full cloud set-up for several businesses, and I was introduced to the boss of one of them.

‘Course it’s ready for that kind of business, especially during its start up phase or in the first few years.  In my predictions for this year I was thinking of bigger businesses.  Sheldon’s got me thinking though – is it more feasible even for big organisations than I reckoned?  Need to have a few more chats with him I think … !

What we both agreed on though is this.  We come across lots of organisations that are happy to let the ICT Manager focus on purely technical objectives – a stable, secure system, maybe cheaper, greener.  We reckon you should ask more of your IT.  It should be on the hook to deliver core objectives: process more business, faster, with a better customer experience.

There’s a lot to gain from going into the cloud, and lots of businesses are talking about it.  The smart money starts with a business-focused IT strategy.  How do you know what to buy until you know what your business and people need?

Link: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=2949469&goback=.nmp_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1&trk=NUS_NCON-updtr

Public sector procurement has a shocking reputation for being slow, expensive and ineffective, especially for new IT.  We’re really excited about the prospects for doing fast and cost-effective procurement that succeeds in creating strong competition between the bidders and a meaningful contract.  We’ve just published a press release about a recent project that’s got us quite excited about on this front – click the link below for details.

What do you think … a ray of hope for a cash-strapped age (and beyond), or a positive spin on a broken system?

Link: http://www.anthonycollins.com/news/anthony-collins-solicitors-and-nottinghamshire-county-council-show-the-shape-of-things-to-come-in-le-523.aspx

Word to the wise – who owns the copyright in the translated version(s) of your website?  Easy to get stung, easy to get it right as well.

Spend a few minutes on the web ‘shopping’ for sites that are accessible.   Which ones do you really rate as meeting every accessibility need?

I guess it’s only fair to look at big, high profile organisations that have a diverse user base – broadcasters, big retailers, public authorities.  Comments please: who are your top performers?  I don’t want a naughty list but if you spot some trends I’d be interested: “Not many retail websites do …”, “The public sector is great at …”.  My comment about websites for mid-sized organisations would be: “Patchy – not all websites address accessibility, and those that do often don’t offer a complete set of facilities”. 

Like many technology lawyers I’ve been offering ‘accessibility/ data protection/ consumer compliance audit’ services for years, so I’ve kept a lazy eye on accessibility features.  I think we’ve seen steady, quite slow growth in accessibility features on websites over the years.  I’d say it’s to do with the rise in businesses trying to learn about their customers and meet their needs, and not really prompted by the steadily increasing demands of the law over the same period.

Accessibility support is quite an easy thing for website buyers to specify,  and offers massive added value that appeals to perhaps 20% of the buying public who rely on accessibility features.  For anyone who’s spending money on the corporate website in 2011, it’s a simple but effective thing to put on the shopping list, a solid buy with a good business case at this time of slow recovery for many economic  sectors.

Getting hot on accessibility is also a pretty easy way for website developers/ providers to differentiate themselves from the competition and/or command a premium.  It could be a good return against the price of developing standard features that will appeal to many business customers across all sectors.   Sometimes legal compliance is just frustrating, whereas this one offers benefits for developer/ provider, corporate customer, staff and the public alike.  I’ve come across providers who are rolling out well thought-through features in their products this year. 

Killer apps for accessibility?  Yes, I think there’s plenty of scope for getting creative and taking it outside the ‘we must so we will’ category of website functions.   I’m not aware of anything out there at the moment – let me know if you are.   Maybe 2011 could be the year for accessibility.

I’m booked variously to speak and advise on accessibility this year so please get in touch if you’re looking for input/ support too – if we can get similar work whilst we’re on the boil it’ll help reduce our prices for everyone.  Meantime, have a look at the links.

Pesky People blog: http://www.peskypeople.co.uk/

WAI-ARIA web standard: http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/aria.php

Isn’t there a lot of talk about cloud computing coming of age this year?  I think some sectors are keen and ready for it.  I wonder if functionality in the cloud has quite come of age so that internet-based software can genuinely support business needs.  Privacy issues can be addressed.  What about:

• Interfacing and integrating with your legacy systems which are not in the cloud.
• Different cloud services ‘working with each other’ and sharing data.
• Adaptability.  Are the graphical user interfaces for online business software as sophisticated and flexible as web 2.0 can do?

I predict that lightly regulated businesses will start moving into the cloud – the business case based on cost alone is hard to resist.  There are lots of barriers for larger or more heavily regulated businesses, such as getting the internal buy-in, and having the cash available to pay for the transition.

I expect 2011 to be the year when mash ups start having an impact on online business software and services.  The ability to syndicate content from all over the web, and do what you want with it for your business, offers some real benefits for business over any above what legacy software can offer.  Could that provide a competitive edge and make a transition to the cloud hard to resist?

I’m fresh back from the Housing Quality Network’s conference on customer profiling which was held in Manchester today.  Fresh is the word – it was perishing cold all day in Manchester, and snow was falling heavily when I left.

There’s a single thought at the top of my mind.  The Tenant Services Authority is pushing social landlords to use customer profiling to help adapt their services to customers’ wants and needs.  The regulator is refreshingly averse to tick-box compliance, which offers landlords a real opportunity to demonstrate passion, creativity and sector leadership.  But landlords could be forgiven for thinking they’re being asked to walk to the first floor before the stairs have been built.

There’s lots to be gained here – desirable outcomes for landlords and the regulator.  There’s also a real risk of the wheel being reinvented several hundred times over.  Online and supermarket retailers have been developing know how on customer profiling for years now.  The worst case outcome would be for the social housing sector to ignore that and build new know how by trial and error.  A better route is to buy/acquire the retailers’ expertise and graft it over.  But it’s surely preferable to buy it once and share it within the sector, or at least within districts.

The same goes for data protection law, which is what I have to contribute on this topic.

Here we go again, then.  The benefits of co-sourcing ICT (for example), and whinging about how few organisations see the light on this, are two of my pet themes.  I’m not the first to apply it to customer profiling in the social housing sector.  I heard it first today from Donna Hall, Chorley Borough Council’s Chief Executive, who chaired the conference.  Needless to say, I think she’s spot on.

The TSA is running pilots and by the sound of it will publish some guidance saying what worked and what didn’t in the pilots.  I look forward to seeing that, and hopefully some of the pilots have drawn on retail sector experience so that it feeds through to other landlords that way.

Whilst we’re waiting for the guidance or regulatory comment on the pilots, or if the pilot outcomes aren’t very helpful, the smart landlords will pool resources to develop and share best practice.

Happy New Year and welcome to the first post on our blog. Ever!

You probably don’t remember Steve Taylor’s album, I Predict 1990. I’m not sure that I should, either, and I’m not recommending it. But it came to mind as we turn another decade and I fell to thinking about what’s on the way. Here’s what’s on my radar for the year.

• Remarkable things in IT For (s)he who seeks, I see the price of IT plummeting, and some impressive internet-based services.  On the internet I predict more sophisticated data sharing built on XML and mash-ups.  We also hope to see smarter IT procurement, through buying groups, and re-use of existing IT, both of which we have seen used to great effect particularly in the public sector in the noughties.  2010 will show us the way forward for business IT, just as we (hopefully) emerge from recession.
• Green goes commercial Kyoto comes to town this year when the UK’s carbon trading system gets going.  The Carbon Reduction Commitment will apply to big electricity users.  If that’s you, you should already be taking action.  I expect the risk of penalties will drive deeper investment in carbon-reducing measures like insulation, building management systems, and new sources of heat and power.
• Legal services on the move Within 2 years the first wave of supermarket law and outside investment in law firms will hit.  The sharpest law firms will shift on how they deliver legal services, and pricing.  2010 should see the beginning of significant change.
• Public sector IT gets smarter The public sector is grabbing the concept of cloud computing with both hands and I will be keeping a close eye on it this year.  Recent announcements suggest that using IT to make data accessible to Joe Public, and to improve data sharing between organisations.

What do you think?