2013-05-25T01:18:31-04:00 Nelson Phillips http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/author/index.php?author=nelson-phillips Copyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Nelson Phillips Good old fashioned elbow grease. tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.2820482 2013-03-14T11:17:20-04:00 2013-05-14T05:12:01-04:00

Nelson Phillips http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nelson-phillips/
Taking the organisational aspect first. I've commented before, here on the Huffington Post, on the challenges businesses face to support continuous operation and information availability. The past year has provided a perfect storm showcasing how diverse and unpredictable these hurdles can be. We've had extreme weather, major technology failures from global brands, significant security breaches and workplace disruption. We've even had a blackout at the Super Bowl.

The severity of these challenges is highlighted further in recent research from SunGard Availability Services, finding that 80% of organisations across the UK, France and Nordics, admit to not having the right resources to completely manage business availability and operations effectively. The repercussions of this extend beyond purely business operations, overlapping into staff satisfaction and morale - the research also found that the majority of companies admit that customer and employee expectations of availability are not always met, due to this lack of resource.

Successful businesses are those that can achieve a balancing act; juggling the management of technology with the interests of staff and workers. In today's connected culture, IT resources are more important than ever - acting as the hub connecting workers, data, processes and operations. The Cillit Bang incident, which caused system failures and £32,000 worth of damage to the company, illustrates exactly this - take out the computing power and a company can be crippled. However, there's no escaping the fact that staff remain the most valuable asset to any business. What's absolutely crucial is that management strategies take a holistic view, where the integration of technology is done within the context of its impact on the workforce: how it will impact the way staff work, what skills will they need to learn, what will it mean for their daily responsibilities?

Regarding the people aspect, the priority should be that workers do not feel displaced by the growing dependency on technology. This is a collective task. Businesses need to educate staff on the opportunities that modern technology can provide: increased productivity, a greater variety in how they work, more choice in the ways they deliver value to a company. From the worker's perspective, there's the need to be vocal and demand training and clarification on the ways in which their roles could change, and the ways in which their business is evolving to deliver 24/7 availability.

As Isaac Asimov, American author and professor of biochemistry, famously said; "I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them." What was true then carries even more weight now, as we become more dependent on technology and IT, in our business lives and personal ones. This obviously brings with it potential benefits such as 24/7 availability, truly mobile operations and new ways of working, but also a significant shift and period of transition, which we all need to adapt to.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.2448537 2013-01-10T11:26:44-05:00 2013-03-12T05:12:02-04:00

Nelson Phillips http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nelson-phillips/
In reality, a lot of 2013's developments will be an evolution of what's gone before, rather than a revolution. And so, as 2012 saw the emergence of an increasingly tech-savvy workforce and the rise of the 'digital native', employees and consumers enter 2013 expecting to see high levels of availability across all services, with extremely limited tolerance for downtime.

In light of this, I sat down with Keith Tilley, UK&I managing director and executive vice president for Europe, SunGard Availability Services, to identify the major industry trends that will be key to organisational success in 2013:

1. Prevalence of Social Media: Bad news travels fast and companies cannot afford to let availability slip down the agenda as their crises now have 'wings'. Social media has opened up completely new channels of communication with a global reach. Brands can be made or broken by how well they manage public disruptions.

2. Customer Loyalty: There are very few things that are truly unique where customers can't get a similar service elsewhere - there is always competition. Although it may be relatively easy to attract new customers, the only way to keep them is by giving them excellent service. Customer loyalty relies on availability and the service you are offering them - you can't provide a service without availability in an age where the competition is perpetually one mouse click away.

3. Flexible working: A longstanding trend that is set to increase, again driven by employees' expectations of being able to work anywhere. Smart devices and a 'connected' world mean people want to work in a more mobile fashion and businesses need to support this. The gains are not just for time of disruption either, as flexible working is a talent retention / acquisition strategy as much as anything else.

4. The growth of Bring Your own Device (BYOD): BYOD is being driven by employee expectations despite its implications for security and availability. Organisations should be looking to attract the tech-savvy talent that can help drive availability within the organisation. By the end of 2013, six out of 10 companies will have a BYOD strategy in place - the challenge for CXOs is how to harness the business advantage without relinquishing availability or control.

5. The influence of 'Big Data' to the customer: While it's a term we heard being hyped throughout last year, for many organisations, effective big data - or business intelligence - strategies will be similar to the cloud, a case of dipping their toe in and gaining experience before really understanding the full benefits. In 2013, those companies that successfully deploy a big data strategy will be ones that understand the importance of keeping information available and flowing through the organisation, and how this can be exploited to add value to the overall business.

As Keith says; "Smart organisations see availability as a differentiator and will use it to gain a competitive advantage. Those businesses we expect to succeed in 2013 will be the ones where people, processes and technology are closely aligned to support employee and customer needs in new and core markets, 24/7."

If you'd like to learn more on this, click on the link below to see a conversation myself and Keith had on predictions for organisational availability in 2013: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEyd4VeAXpg&feature=youtu.be]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.2165673 2012-11-20T11:33:32-05:00 2013-01-20T05:12:01-05:00

Nelson Phillips http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nelson-phillips/
It's a controversial issue that's never quite out of the spotlight. Just recently, Nick Clegg unveiled plans to overhaul the family-friendly leave system and enable women to share maternity leave with their partners, in order to help working families. Some have supported the action, others have criticized it, and many have highlighted the logistical challenges of implementing it. What has been frequently referred to, throughout, is the cultural change taking place in organizations that is dictating the need for more emphasis on flexible working strategies.

Parents might have hit the headlines recently, but there are other demographics driving change in the way businesses operate. I recently worked on a report with SunGard Availability Services, finding that young, technology-savvy and mobile-ready employees are entering the workforce with new expectations for 24/7 access to resources and applications, regardless of time and location. Initially at odds with older, more established workers, entrenched in company culture and their specific ways of working, the top new talent of 'Generation Y' is challenging the way organizations go about their business.

The overarching trend behind this is the new expectations we all have towards businesses and their services and offerings. We're digital, we're social, we're global and completely connected at all times of the day, meaning there is literally no window for companies to be less than fully functional.

Fortunately, technology and resources have developed to match this demand. BYOD is no longer just a buzzword - tablets and smartphones have become more advanced, offering the latest technology in the palms of workers' hands, enabling them to be truly functional on the move. What's more, ongoing developments in 4G and network connectivity are ensuring data-heavy files and applications can be effectively accessed from practically any location. We're also seeing companies like Regus, the world's largest provider of flexible workplaces, partner with companies like SunGard to offer a greater amount of temporary workplace facilities, if companies do need to relocate for a certain amount of time.

The bottom line? Resources can now be put in place to close the book on companies suffering from downtime. It's now over to the senior management to listen to the various demographics of their workforce and accept that change can be a positive, rather than purely disruptive force. Finally, resources need to be put in place to cater for new ways of working, so that more can enjoy the flexibility and productivity we had during the summer of sport.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1985565 2012-10-22T11:21:00-04:00 2012-12-22T05:12:01-05:00

Nelson Phillips http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nelson-phillips/
As part of my on-going work and focus on business information strategies, I recently took part in a roundtable event where a panel of business experts discussed the most pressing issues surrounding business availability and the challenges organisations face when keeping people and information connected. Supported by 'Delivering the Available Enterprise', a new report by myself and SunGard Availability Services, and drawing on senior expertise from industry analysts Intellect, accounting firm BDO LLP and medical software firm Ascensus, it was concluded that the demand for unfaltering, 24/7 information availability is predominantly being driven by today's young, technology-savvy and mobile-ready workforce.

It also emerged that the biggest challenge for many businesses is the generational divide that exists between those demanding the technology and those who are paying for it. More often than not, the staff that hold the purse strings are also the oldest in the organisation - those 'digital immigrants' who don't often completely understand emerging technologies and the profound changes to business practices these bring. We've reached a hugely interesting point, where the traditional management mind-set is under increasing pressure from a younger workforce for always-on IT and accessible information.

The reality is that the failure to adapt to new ways of working and 24/7 availability will have a direct impact on a business's bottom line, as both customers and top employees look to jump ship to more dynamic organisations. Information is the lifeblood of any modern company, and availability is its heartbeat - both are essential components in delivering the best possible service.

According to John Turner, IT director at BDO LLP and a key member of the aforementioned panel, "availability is a 'hygiene factor' that has to be constantly has to be maintained. The pressure to deliver continuous resources and access has always been there, but it's increased hugely over the past 12 months. It's not even a competitive advantage anymore; customers expect it and you simply have to have it - especially when you're in an industry handling sensitive data."

Any issue with delivering service or value, no matter how short-lived, can undermine the trust built between your business and its customers. If it goes wrong, a relationship that has been nurtured over a number of years can come crashing down in mere hours. Truly getting to grips with the delivery of complete information availability is the first step in preventing this. Businesses must enforce a cultural shift in the upper management, and throw out traditional attitudes towards IT when needed.

To quote Henry Ford: "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got" - and in today's increasingly competitive environment, businesses have to question if this is enough. With new, improved ways of working possible, the opportunity to deliver change to drive greater bottom line success has to be taken.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1880382 2012-09-13T09:15:48-04:00 2012-11-13T05:12:01-05:00

Nelson Phillips http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nelson-phillips/
Put simply, businesses no longer seem to consider customer satisfaction as their top priority. Despite public uproar about recent downtime, only 40 per cent of UK organisations think an inability to deliver availability will result in them losing customers. The research, conducted for SunGard Availability Services, also found that, while companies prioritise availability, they do so with regards to the financial bottom line rather than customer satisfaction and service.

Additionally, the results suggest issues of availability are not confined to the UK as a staggering 80% of organisations across Europe admit that they do not have the right skills and resources to manage availability effectively. As a result, the majority of companies in the UK (87%), France (83%) and Nordics (86%) concede that customer and staff expectations of availability are not always met.

It's a worrying trend. And with businesses expecting that the majority of both customers (66%) and staff (61%) are going to demand yet more availability over the next five years the situation is likely to get worse if something is not done.

We are better connected than we've ever been, in every sense of the word. Smartphones and increased network coverage are enabling us to consume services as and when we choose, while social media has opened up completely new channels of communication with a global reach. Therefore, if an organisation is unable to deliver what is expected, the potential backlash they face can be instantaneous and communicated to millions of customers across the globe within minutes. Businesses must take note: a satisfied customer base is one of the safest bets in helping to guarantee a healthy bottom line.

There's no quick fix solution, but businesses must look to re-evaluate their strategic priorities and resources to support the customer 24/7. There needs to be a cultural shift to create an 'Available Enterprise' mind-set, where availability is central to the organisations plans and objectives. Starting from the top and working down would also be wise: 52% of senior IT directors believe that their board must commit more time and resources to availability, with 39% confident that the board does not understand the level of investment required to deliver it. This comes despite the finding that 96% of the board reported to be interested in the issue.

Ultimately, by concentrating solely on the financial bottom line, companies have inadvertently pushed customer satisfaction down their list of priorities. As any successful business leader will tell you, this is not a sustainable policy for business growth, especially in today's connected customer base with access to countless channels to spread negative experiences.

Businesses must get back to basics and place relationships with customers at the top of their list of strategic priorities. Anything less and a business risks finding itself losing vital ground to its competitors, a dangerous position in any climate, especially the one we operate in today.

To help address the issue, today sees the launch of the 'Delivering the Available Enterprise' report, looking at the challenges organisations face when keeping people and information connected in our changing business landscape.]]>