New Technology

From the business (ie non-technical) perspective the introduction of new technology should be a symmetrical process.

The process should include all of the following stages:

1. Vision – what the business will achieve through the technology.
2. Business Requirements – what the business actually wants to do with the technology.
3. Functional Specification – a translation of step 2 into terms describing what the technology needs to do in order to enable the business to do what it needs to do.
4. Technical Specification – a translation of step 3 into what specific technology will be used for each element.
5. Building – assembling all the software and hardware described in step 4 into a system.
6. System Testing – testing that all the software and hardware does what was described in step 3, individually and all together and fixing as necessary.
7. User Acceptance Testing – testing that the business can do what was defined in step 2 and fixing as necessary.
8. Implementation & Review- implementing then assessing whether the business is achieving what was defined in step 1.

Project cost and time over-runs, failure to acheive expected benefits and general dissatisfaction with new technology are often a result of a failure to fully complete one of these steps.

Website optimisation

For some time the topic of website optimisation has been one of my bugbears.  Seemingly far too often what should be a 2 minute search for information, a product or a service ends up taking half an hour or more.

The easy solution, put forward by most web design firms is search engine optimisation (SEO).  This is presented as a magic bullet for that vaguely disappointed feeling business leaders frequently have towards their websites. But, as we all really know, deep down, magic bullets are belong in fairy stories and not in business.  The reality is that a website is not just an electronic billboard but a fully functioning arm of a business.  Instead of approaching it as a technical black box of wizardry beyond our control we should define, develop, implement and especially manage it as such.

In this light I have put together a presentation for business groups – the slides for which are available for download by clicking on the image below.  The slides are designed to support the presentation rather than contain it in full and therefore contain highlights and summaries rather than the full picture. If you are interested in having me present this to your board, chamber of commerce or business network group give me a call.

Website Optimisation presentation