Entrepreneurs in the area of Small and Medium Business are constantly looking for opportunities. There is no room for long lasting research and development projects. Invested money has to return to the business as soon as possible. Still a lot of innovations are rooted in Small and Medium-sized enterprises.
A lot of these companies where run by hand till during the 80's the bigger enterprises developed the competence to build their own information systems. It took a long time to figure out how to capture the business information logistics into these systems. The information and communication technology industry realized the processes where structured a lot alike and developed the BIG configurable enterprise systems. Business grew huge.
We still remember the problems that came with it. Implementing these systems was not a walk in the park. It took some time till less complex systems where introduced and implementation of these systems could fit the needs of the small-sized enterprise.
Meanwhile other systems where developed. They targeted specialized information processes like finance, or less structured objects as 'the market' or 'the customer' instead of the amount of products in the warehouse. It is not easy to capture information about these more organic processes and objects. Tasks to manage this area are carried out by a team and rarely at the same time.
The support of the information logistics needed has changed. The '
C' in the ICT of the 80's has to support
Communication as well as
Collaboration.
Information is less structured, we call it
Content and the information worker has to be able to
Create it. The co-worker has to be able to access this Content, when needed at a location of choice, preferable with a device of choice cross the platform.
These developments are particularly evident in the large companies, but are these also adopted in the medium-sized enterprises? Has the economic crisis supported adoption and are Small and Medium-sized Businesses prepared to change their way of work? If the 'I' in ICT became less structured and the 'C' in ICT has changed, what happened to the '
T'?
T is still Technology
Technology is complex or is it? Well when building an information system, you need technology to create, store and access the information. You build this technology on a stack starting at the bottom - electric wires and iron. When we reach the top of the stack we discover the application that provides us with the functionality needed to implement the technology into our businesses in order to boost productivity.
Recent developments are showing that the underlying technology is becoming less important to explain. These developments are compared a lot with the development of electricity power stations. In the beginning the large companies build their own power station, which was then deployed more efficiently by sharing the central. The same development is going on within the ICT industry. Data centers are shared. It becomes less important to deploy and manage the tactical cost center and is becoming an utility.
These developments are bare technology, still no productivity in the sence of creating and sharing content. When we take a look at the top of the technology stack where the functionality is provided, a broad set of platforms become visible attempting to get you choose for the product. It would take too long to deal with all the available platforms and products. I will try to explain two sites and some of the developments of the productivity platform. I choose in this case for the products and aproach of Microsoft, because in my experience they provide the most complete vision and set of products to fullfill the need:
• Server site
• Client site
Productivity server platform
Last Fisical Year of Microsoft was a year full of new releases in the server system area. A small but not exhaustive list encompasses:
• Windows server 2008 R2
• SQL server 2008 R2
• SharePoint Server 2010
• Exchange Server 2010
Soon to be released is the product Office Communication Server (OCS) 2010. These products are part of the classic on premise server products of Microsoft. Again it would take too far to explain all changes here but I will try to explain some of the changes most important to the set of functionalities that implement productivity.
The server products form an application infrastructure that implement a broad set of functionality. SharePoint uses SQL server as an underlying database infrastructure. SharePoint hosts sites that support team collaboration. Content can be created within a BLOG. A BLOG is a way to write an article like I am doing right now. If you like the content you can react to it, link to this BLOG, create a feed so new articles show up in your outlook. New functionality in SharePoint is that you can very quickly react by push a button 'I Like' and rate an article. This will affect the relevance of an article when searched. Besides of the supported enterprise tagging system, users have the possibility to add their own index. This again influences your interests and eventually the relevance and search results of your most close contacts. These mechanisms also apply to documents. These are also stored in the content databases hosted on the SQL platform. By implementing your organizational structure into a directory structure (DNS) and using groups a relational network is established. This structure is used as a base to 'calculate' the relationship with coworkers or social distance. This together with the former discussed mechanism provides a base for building a user centric knowledge driven productivity system. This system is self-providing when used.
In combination with OCS the platform is promoted to a communication system, which helps the user to choose the most effective way to contact someone and share information or collaborate. Presence will show the best fit or will take you to the best next candidate to ask your question and get your job done. This presence is available within all information objects, so lists, documents, emails, chat sessions etc.
Imagine now these information and collaboration is about a development and sales process, supporting the meetings needed to analyze the requirements, develop the product and services, the release of a quote and the preparation of a contract. For the right customer information the CRM system is leading and integrated as well as the information needed for the product information. These kinds of processes can take a whole lot of conversation, meetings a lot of paper exchange. Supported by a platform that support online meetings and presentations, exchange of the documents under version control within a project collaboration environment can take care of a lot of coordination en will speed up high quality collaboration and team productivity.
Productivity client products
This one is relatively easy and familiar for the most of the companies. Microsoft has a broad set of distinct applications in the office suite on top of the Microsoft Windows operating system. Well there are a lot of developments in this area. The functionality in the last two versions has become very rich. Especially the Office 2010 developments are very much focused on productivity.
Most famous of course are the products Word, Excel and Outlook in this suite, but there is a lot more. In the combination with the server functionality the real power is unveiled. The new meaning of 'C' in ICT is provided by these applications. Outlook for instance supports the information worker with an aggregated view on all communication and shared activities with coworkers. Even information sources from outside the limits of the company can be used to unify the insight accessed by this view.
When trying to contact the content owner for more information the system has the capability to help you choose the most appropriate to get in touch. Even if this colleagues is not available who will most likely be the best to contact instead. Sounds like the future of productivity? Well no this future is now!
So where is the utility part of this client side solution? Can I have this functionality without the burden of technology? Yes you can! Since last Office release these products are available as web products. No need to install these on your laptop or desktop computer. Much but not all functionality is available by accessing the application with a browser. It is of virtual no importance where or when you attempt to access the information, even not with a smartphone or a Macintosh computer the application is available. You can contact and collaborate with colleagues or coworkers from outside your company with a total freedom of choice.
The future of productivity and The Cloud
Most valuable is the developments that implement the vision of Microsoft. Every server development is designed with the possibility of an online deployment in mind. The most important server platforms are already available in a cloud version. Microsoft is delivering their products in a software as well as a service version. This is the case for server platforms as well as client products.
Microsoft believes in the Software and Services approach. Delivering software as a service is not only about a cloud deployment. It also means a whole different business model. During the old model Microsoft sold licenses, which are owned by the customer. The hardware underneath the software was also owned by the customer. Much like the electric power plant 'owning my own power production' this computing power is moving to a utility. Power is available and used whenever needed for whatever use and payed for by use. This same business model is now part of cloud computing.
Microsoft calls the freedom of choice -
three screens and a cloud, delivers
software + services and is
All In on this.
In the last years I witnessed the shift to more focus to the online deployments and I think this will be the end goal. It will take some time however to make this available to everyone and to change this industry.
Productivity is NOT about Technology
So the technology seems to be no limit anymore. So why not start immediately? The future of productivity is not about technology. It is a mindset, the courage to start to build a vision and take the first step into this future. To gain advantage of these first steps and invest these first revenues back into this future.
If we should have learned something from the last big information technology implementations and the impact on our organizations, it is the change needed to reach the predicted results. Too often system integrators didn't prevent organizations for mistakes in the estimation and the effort needed to prepare an organization for the new way of working with the system.
Know where you stand as an organization, how mature is your organization. Know where you want to go, have a clear vision and strategy for your productivity goals as part of and fitting in your overall business strategy. Know how to reach the goals you aim on; be sure you have a clear roadmap and understanding of the impact of every step before taking of.
These are open doors, but whatever big or small implementation - do not underestimate the importance of these rules of thumb. These are very worthwhile the effort and will ensure a much better return on your investment. There has been a tremendous development in the consulting methodology and tools to estimate the maturity, provide organizations with a clear roadmap and a broad set of best practice change interventions. For those organizations who are interested or are looking for a consultancy practice that has a fit with the Microsoft vision and technology stack, checkout the Impuls and Impact methods and for instance the Factor4Index tool to estimate maturity and provide an organization with a set of interventions.
New Way of Work not yet adopted by SMB
Developing a vision, adopting and implementing a new way of work and the technology needed to support that will take time. Investing time will cost money. Time is scarce and valuable. In this time of economic crisis the business has to go on more than ever. On the other site a crisis creates opportunities for the future; it is a turning point, a prelude to a new time.
The cost of the investments in a new technology or 'just' a new way of deployment can be calculated. The revenues of choosing for computing as a service instead of the tactical cost center too. Changing to a new way of work is a lot harder. We all know this change will take a lot of energy - mind the experience of the implementations of the ERP in the 80's. That took a lot more change in the way of work of the organization as was estimated and forecasted by the system integrators.
So what is a wise approach for the Small and Medium-sized enterprise? Adopt the developments now, or should investments be postponed? Is the focus on cutting cost more important than taking care of the future of productivity of the company?
In my opinion the technology is ready to take every size enterprise to the next level. The last developments and a few to be released in the very near future will enable the future of productivity within the small-sized businesses very naturally.
First steps needed are not about very big investments and organizational changes, but well-chosen smaller steps can make a big difference in the way these organizations are able to connect, share and collaborate or provide them with the possibility to engage with their existing or new markets. New deployments changing tactical cost centers into computing utility will enable these companies to reach out to much more distant markets, never imagined to be accessible.
The new way of work (NWOW) or 'Het Nieuwe Werken' (HNW) is a concept used by a lot of platform, solution or consultancy vendors. Some of them actually claim to be the inventor and owner of the name. Every vendor has its own definition of NWOW but are all trying to explain the same essence. It is not about technology it is not even new. It is about being productive and being able to be productive in this ever changing environment. Well we use technology to support the productivity, to be able to connect, to create content and to collaborate in an effective way. Most of all it should be fun, being able to choose your way of working at a time that suits you and with the means you choose.
Being able to choose the way a technology as a mean is deployed and functionality is consumed is a huge difference. The organization can invest in the change of the organization instead of rewiring the infrastructure and have to wait about a year for new functionality to be able to react to the ever changing environment.
A new way of work does not mean that employees of a company are given more freedom in the form of time, but that a company as a team has the ability to organize the work in a better balance with the private lives of the employees. A better fit in the value chain where a vendor or a customer is not your neighbor down the street by definition. The result is a better motivated employee, happier customers in which you can invest time and deliver high quality products at lower cost. Together, you, your company and your partners and customers.
So my advice is to take these developments into consideration and invest in the first steps of the future of productivity. Have fun.
If any questions arise please feel free to contact me. I'll be more than happy to help you out or arrange the contacts you need to get your questions answered or problems solved to your satisfaction.
ard.van.someren@ricoh.nl
@avsomeren
