Assignment Short StoriesTurning Service Development on its HeadAs part of business planning assignment for a start-up company being spun out of a university department Solidus completely restructured the service offering and its development road map. The Professor originally envisaged proving his service to individuals via a web site and marketing through a highly developed professional network. However, the service was not sufficiently automated to cope with high numbers of individual customers. As a result the proposition was changed to begin with corporate clients who could support more hands-on servicing and would fund further automation to allow expansion into the individual market. Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | Service OutlinesProgramme and Project TurnaroundSometimes a programme or project needs fresh thinking to get it running smoothly; it may be that a health check has exposed issues. Solidus has considerable experience with putting projects and programmes back on track. Usually it is a case of a project team using Solidus to facilitate an exploration of the challenges. Often the team are too close to the issues, Solidus helps them step back to “see the wood for the trees”. The client can then often resolve matters themselves. In extremis Solidus can take over project leadership until it is running smoothly. Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
Rapid Incremental Development
Short Sharp System Delivery Reduces Cost and Risks
At Solidus we have long advocated an incremental and componentised approach to business systems implementation. Judging by Jo Best’s article, Shared services: centres are over-budget and ERP overly complex, (Guardian Government Computing, 7 March 2012) the National Audit Office and other commentators are increasingly coming to the same view.
For over thirty years our view has been that a “Lego-like” approach to building systems was the way to go. It avoids the legacy system lock-in to outdated technologies and properly executed it provides flexibility to meet changing business needs. It is starting to happen; even complex web sites are built using content management systems (Drupal, Joomal!, WordPress et al) which support and encourage the use of third party components often with no need for any bespoke programming. It supports the commoditisation of business software development and all but eliminates the need for large and expensive technical teams. Business systems can simply be configured using off the shelf components by business users.
Traditional large, essentially monolithic, systems built on legacy technology platforms like many ERP systems are still being sold; the vendors have so much invested in them switching to new technology would hurt profits. Unfortunately it means the huge costs of implementing such systems and integrating them with the business falls on clients as described in the Guardian article. But it is not just the consultancy costs; it is the cost to the client of long development cycles, delays and the sheer scale of the risk they face.
The argument then supports Solidus’ other major issue with long and large implementation projects that fail to deliver real benefits. In a highly dynamic business world multi-year implementations are out of place and must be high risk. Over that time business needs change so a long-term project either has to absorb expensive change requests or it fails to meet the business objective that has moved during development. Instead serial development of much smaller functionality will deliver almost immediate benefits and at less risk. That reduced risk and more manageable scope also reduces costs and opens up the opportunity of using small and innovating organisations with reduced overheads.
Eurozone's Unintended Consequences
Is the EU and Eurozone Becoming a Cause of Conflict?
One of the objectives cited by Europeans politicians for the European Union (EU) and the Eurozone is to eliminate risk of aggression between European states by political and economic cooperation. With two major wars and many smaller armed conflicts during the twentieth century this is a laudable aim.
But in reality is the European Union driving the partners into conflict through distrust caused by unequal treatment of its members by the EU and Eurozone? Some of the reported rhetoric from politicians has hardly been collegiate. Greek newspapers have portrayed Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, in Nazi uniform. Memories of Nazi occupation are still strong and painful in Greece. It was exemplified by recent calls for reparations to be paid by Germany for the Nazi looting and damage to Greece during the Second World War. There has also been similarly stereotypical criticism of Greece and the other, especially southern European, conuntries.
The potential for social unrest in the countries suffering from the austerity plans imposed by the Eurozone puts pressure on politicians, and wider population, to seek scapegoats other than themselves.
Microsoft Project 2010 Inside Out, A Comprehensive Guide and Reference
Microsoft Project has become the de facto standard software for project management in all but the most specialised organisations. It is now a powerful tool yet many users barely touch its full capability.
With Microsoft Project 2010 Inside Out even the most experienced Project users will learn new ways to improve their use of Project. It provides a comprehensive guide to the software and the differences from the previous version. For those new to either project management or Project it will take them through the project management process in a structured way using Project 2010.
Indeed Microsoft Project 2010 Inside Out is more than a guide to Project, it is effectively a complete project management course. As a result it may feel slow, initially at least, to experienced Project users who are looking for an update on the new features of Project 2010. That said even experienced project managers will be surprised how much they will learn if they work through the detail. However any reader who perseveres will end up as a Project power user and a well-equipped project manager.
Hacking Work; Break Stupid Rules and Work Smarter, or Anarchy?
More Efficent or Dangerous Anarchy?
Hacking Work suggests bypassing stupid rules in the workplace makes individuals and organisations more efficient and effective. Or is it high risk anarchy?
Most people have been frustrated by rules and policies that make their work more difficult, often transferring time, and sometimes financial, cost to the individual for theoretical benefit to the organisation. Hacking Work attempts to show how people can bypass apparently stupid rules to the benefit of both the individual and the organisation. However, when the hacker does not properly understand the reasons for the rules there can be considerable risks for both the individual and the organisation.
Breaking Stupid Rules for Smart Results
The Big Short; Was it Fraud or Just Incompetence on Wall Street?
A Different View of the Financial Crisis
Some unsung traders saw through the sub-prime bubble to make a fortune. Michael Lewis uses the stories to show dubious practices by many banks and brokers.
Rarely does a book on economics and finance entertain in the way that Michael Lewis achieves with The Big Short. Not only is it a great read but The Big Short also explains how financial products and practices worked and effectively brought the financial world to brink of total collapse. Michael Lewis has pulled off a tour de force; he has created a financial thriller with a great story of greed, possible fraud and incompetence whilst clearly explaining complex financial ideas. In the end, a few small funds succeed in beating the frighteningly incompetent big financial institutions and for once, it is a true story.
Financial Crisis; Stories of Success and Failure
Art of SEO, Use Search Engine Optimisation for Marketing Success
The Art of SEO is subtitled Mastering Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and is an essential guide for all who own, design or write for serious websites
Web sites exist for a wide range of reasons but to be successful search queries must be able to find them and so sites need rank well in search results. Most visitors will find web pages by searching through Google, Bing, Yahoo, Baidu and others. As result, good search engine optimisation is the tool that maximises the visibility of the site and is the key to generating traffic for the site.
The Art of SEO sets out to demystify search engine optimisation and explain what search engines need to be able to rank web sites properly. SEO is often seen either as an arcane and mystical process or as a battle between web content providers and the search engines. As The Art of SEO explains in the opening chapters it is neither. In reality, search engines and web site owners with original information to share have a common interest in providing relevant information that matches web searches.
Keynes, the Return of the Master. Challenging Economic Wisdom
Skidelsky argues that Keynes’ economic theories have been misinterpreted and unjustly disregarded; he explains the cause and cure for the financial crisis.
Robert Skidelsky wrote the prize-winning three-volume biography of the economist John Maynard Keynes. As he is also Emeritus Professor of Political Economy at Warwick University, he is well placed to review the financial crisis in the context of Keynes’ economic theories and to show how it would have significantly mitigated the causes and impact of the financial crisis. In Keynes, the Return of the Master Skidelsky goes on to show how applying Keynesian policies would be the best way out of the resulting problems. Lord Skidelsky was made a life peer in 1991.