fahrnberger.net

Young companies need to focus on strategy and on growing their business. That’s why it is important to properly investigate before you choose a new brand or company name and register it. But even if you do you can never be sure no one will dispute your right to use it. We decided not to use our money and energy on such a dispute when another company claimed its exlusive right to use the letters “cp”

Before:

After:

What’s really important though is that we are growing like hell and that we are having fun doing it.

A recent quite non factual discussion at slashdot.org exaggerates what has been a problem since the invention of IT.

ZombieLine asks: “The IT department at my company (approximately some 500 people) is showing signs of incompetence, and has been ignoring knowledgeable user input for about a year. Additionally, they haven’t been able to sell needed changes to senior management. Unacceptable server down time, maxed network storage, and no backups systems have hit the bottom line, and those on top are starting to notice. We users are staging a revolt to make IT more responsive to users by creating a group from the company divisions and IT to discuss needs and solutions. What would you put in our charter?” What services and responsibilities would you demand out of your IT department?

ZombieMime asks: “The non-IT employees at my company (approximately some 5,000,000,000 people) are showing signs of incompetence, and have been ignoring knowledgeable technology input for about a year. Additionally, they haven’t been able to accept needed changes to senior management. Unacceptable computer usage, maxed bandwidth usage, and no common sense have hit the bottom line, and those on top are starting to notice. We geeks are staging a revolt to make users more responsable to IT by creating a group from the company divisions to discuss needs and solutions. What would you put in our meeting room to kill as many people as possible?”

And Christopher Koch thinks he knows why IT and users hate each other and also came up with some helpful solutions such as setting up structured relationships between IT and business and seperating IT operations from the help desk.

And also Rick Sherman at the Data Doghouse gives some very practical advice insinuating at the cited posts.

I believe however that in many companies the problem is far too big to be solved at this level. When a pattern like this one is visible it is likely that the organisational culture has led to a self-conception of people within a company that does not contain principles such as customer orientation, learning organisation, a collective will to win or teamwork.

When you walk into a company you will immedeately catch the spirit. It’s black or white and only management can induce a change. IT departements should be service departments to support the overall goal of an organisation. To gain and keep customers while keeping the costs low. IT should be equal partners to all other departments in the efforts to achieve the corporate goal. Here an example mission statement I like:

We will evaluate, integrate and support innovative technologies to help internal and external customers achieve their goals, while effectively maximizing return on resources and providing cost effective methods…

Sounds apparent - but reality only too often is different. Many IT departments are centres of power whose primary objective it is to maintain and expand their power. Purpose perverted. Management to blame.

Technorati tags:
Organisational Learning
Corporate Performance Management
Management

Via infoworld:

Microsoft RFID (radio frequency identification device) package for postal services at a stamp exhibition in Taiwan, hoping to woo the government’s post office and potentially forge a new line of business for the software maker.

The technology Microsoft has on offer here allows a postal service, the package sender, and the receiver to view exactly where the package is at all times. It also notifies a receiver when the package will arrive and alerts senders via MSN Messenger or a mobile phone SMS (Short Message Service) after it has been signed for at its destination.

“Most postal services worldwide are trying to adopt this (type of) technology. Microsoft paid some sponsorship for this show because we’d like to provide this technology to Taiwan’s post office,” said Dragon Shyy, a senior consultant at the Microsoft Technology Center in Taipei.

With SAP and Microsoft in the game RFID seems a safe bet for the next business hype…

Just stumbled across this essay by Scott Berkun. Very striking. If it wasn’t so serious I could *rofl*…

Here’s how to find out whether you are / have a bad manager:

There are many different factors that contribute to negative opinions of managers. It’s not the goal of this essay to list them all, but here are some of the basics:

* Inconsistent: Says one thing, does something else.
* Arrogant. Always believes they are right, and makes sure you know it.
* Egocentric. Makes every issue and decision about them.
* Doesn’t listen: is offered advice but ignores it before even considering it.
* Self-centered: Doesn’t support, encourage or look out for their team.
* Mean/Abusive: Makes people feel bad for no reason.
* Micro-manager: Refuses to delegate anything, despite what they say.
* Coward: Backs down whenever challenged.
* Isolated: doesn’t involve others in decisions, and rarely looks for ways to support/encourage the work of their team.
* Incompetent: Lacks basic communication, intellectual, or emotional skills needed to for their role.
* Checked out: Isn’t committed to their work or their team.

…sounds all too familiar.

Nachdem ich jetzt 2 Jahre lang in England gelebt habe und dort von den Kundenprozessen der meisten Banken, Versicherungen, ISP’s, Telekoms etc. schwer beeindruckt war, mache ich nun die ersten schmerzlichen Rückkehr - Erlebnisse. Tele2 / UTA beispielsweise schickt mir ein Schreiben mit der Post, obwohl bei der Anmeldung als bevorzugte Kommunikation e-mail und Telefon angegeben war, antwortet überhaupt nicht auf eine zwischenzeitliche e-mail Urgenz und teilt in Ihrem Schreiben, in dem es um die Freischaltung meines beruflich benötigten Breitband - Anschlusses geht, lapidar mit: Wir werden uns in den nächsten 2 Wochen mit Ihnen in Verbindung setzen, um Ihnen mitzuteilen wann der Anschluss freigeschaltet wird! Eine Woche fürs Schreiben, 2 Wochen fürs Nachdenken wann wir freischalten und dann wie lange bis wir freischalten? Das ist zu langsam liebe UTA. Diese Prozesse lassen sich auf längstens 2 Tage verkürzen.

Während ich diesen Artikel in der Computerwelt las unterbrachen mich ein e-mail, ein skype chat und ein Anruf :

Laut einer Studie überprüfen 62 Prozent aller Erwachsenen fast manisch ihre E-Mail-Accounts auf neue Nachrichten - egal, wann und wo. Die Hälfte hat zudem das Gefühl, auf Nachrichten spätestens innerhalb einer Stunde antworten zu müssen. Der Journalist Carl Honore hat ermittelt, dass Büroangestellte alle drei Minuten eine einkommende Information wie etwa ein Telefonat, eine E-Mail oder eine SMS erhalten. Problematisch daran sei, dass der Mensch rund acht Minuten benötigt, um sich wieder in die ursprüngliche Tätigkeit einzufinden. Das heißt, dass die digitale Kommunikation Menschen ineffizienter macht und dazu führt, dass Mitarbeiter ihre wichtigen Aufgaben nicht mehr im gegebenen Maß erfüllen.

…ich denke wir müssen einfach anfangen , den Mail - Client nur mehr periodisch zu öffnen und e-mails konzentriert zu bearbeiten, das Mobiltelefon auszuschalten, Instant Messengers zu deaktivieren etc. um die neuen Kommunikationstechnologien wirklich produktiv zu nutzen…