Whose Head Rolls If Your Company Sustains a Data Breach? Yours? IT managers should expect firings and other harsh disciplinary actions to become more common as organizations face increasing public pressure to address data breaches that they suffer, says Robert Scott, managing partner at Dallas-based law firm Scott & Scott LLP.
"In order for companies to have a credible position in the marketplace, they're going to have to explain in a public way what they have done to address the issue," Scott says. "The risks that companies face from a liability and a reputation perspective are such that when breaches occur, people will not only need to be held accountable, but heads will have to roll."
Such "forced accountability" is at least partly the result of the intense media scrutiny that data breaches now receive, says Bob Hartland, director of IT, servers and networking systems at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. The attention has heightened public concerns and "made a lot of people nervous," he says.
Source: Computerworld, http://computerworld.com/
Unified Messaging Is an Advantage of VoIP, But Rollout Costs, Voice Quality Can Be Problematic
One of your many jobs as CIO is to ensure the free flow of information across the company, regardless of communications platform. But as your workforce expands numerically and geographically, how do you keep satellite offices and remote employees in the loop? Voice over IP (VoIP) could be the answer if you can look past some of its challenges, which include high implementation costs and occasional lost or delayed packets.
On the upside, using a single network for both voice and data lets converged communications applications streamline the tangle of voice, instant-messaging (IM), and E-mail channels. Current IP PBXes are viable replacements for circuit-switched telephone systems based on time-division multiplexing. IP has already established a stronghold in the marketplace, and its role should expand.
One key advantage of IP PBXes is that they ease deployment and provisioning, especially for companies with mobile workers, or those seeking to connect new employees quickly or to move people to new locations. All a worker needs is an Ethernet jack and a handset or softphone, a software-based phone for VoIP that's installed in the user's PC.
Source: Optimize, http://optimizemag.com/
Gartner: Many Will Save Money on VoIP Only to Waste It on Costly Screen-Based Phones
Businesses will waste $20.3bn on over-expensive internet protocol (IP) telephones over the second half of the decade, according to Gartner.
The analyst firm warns that many companies will invest in phones that will not be needed, resulting in a huge waste of money.
In Europe, the Middle East, and Asia (EMEA) alone, the waste is likely to total up to $5bn, the analysts warn.
Many companies are replacing old phones with fancy, screen-based IP phones, however, most users will continue to use the new phones like their old phones, only with a few new capabilities, such as viewing missed calls or for directory dialing, says Gartner analyst Bob Hafner.
"Ironically, in most businesses, the IP screen phone is placed on the desk beside a PC that has a much bigger and higher-resolution screen," he said.
Over the next five years Gartner estimates businesses worldwide will buy more than 150 million IP phones, with 50 million purchased in EMEA alone.
In both regions, for 75 percent of those purchases, companies are spending at least $150 more than they need to as they focus on purchasing IP screen phones.
A better idea might be to buy low-end IP phones without a screen and use PCs with unified communications applications, Gartner suggests.
Source: CRM Daily, http://www.crm-daily.com/
Survey Shows U.S. Consumers Don't Like Call Centers with Accents. Is It Really That Simple?
American consumers would rather have to deal with a rude or condescending customer service agent on the phone than one who speaks with a foreign accent, according to a survey released earlier this year.
The survey, which was conducted for NetReflector, a provider of customer feedback applications, seemed to indicate that the arguments against outsourcing of certain operations—from manufacturing to customer service to back office—had hit a new low.
Respondents ranked speaking English with an accent as the worst possible flaw — not only over agent rudeness, but also over excessive wait time on hold and sales spiels that force callers to become captive listeners before they can move to the next step.
No doubt there was a touch of xenophobia driving those findings, as well as a healthy dose of fear over losing a job to a foreign counterpart. However, people that work in the outsourced customer service space offer an alternative and intriguing explanation for the trend, which has led to firms such as Dell reducing their customer care operations in foreign locations.
"I don't think the issue is culture or the difference in time zones or even the accent," Patrick Morrissey, senior vice president of Savvion, tells CRM Buyer. "Rather, the issue is, is the rep equipped to solve the problem when the customer calls? Can he or she fix the frozen computer or find out where the order is?"
Too often, Morrissey continues, that answer is no.
"It's not that the customer doesn't like the accent. The issue really is, the rep doesn't know the customer, doesn't understand the problem, and is not equipped to solve it anyway." The simplistic explanation for the customer's frustration—according to this view—then becomes the accent.
Source: E-Commerce Times, http://ecommercetimes.com/
Many CPG Companies Don't Know What to Do with Demand Data They Gather Downstream
Sales data that once were difficult to obtain are now more easily available and accessible to suppliers from those downstream in the supply chain, usually at no charge. Unfortunately, it doesn't always get put to use in a timely fashion. In the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry, for instance, 56 percent of companies take more than two weeks to sense demand, according to analyst firm AMR Research. And while 70 percent of CPG companies gather downstream sales data, less than 3 percent are able to use this information to not only sense demand, but to react to it.
AMR reports that in a recent global survey of 120 CPG manufacturers, the average planned spending on improving demand response through the use of downstream data is $1.4m in 2006. Already some of these manufacturers are showing results. One CPG manufacturer with total sales of $1.3bn was able to increase its sales of products at retail giant Wal-Mart by analyzing point-of-sale data for its top 50 items. By reducing stockouts and operating with leaner inventory, the company projects a first-year return of $15m.
Source: Industry Week, http://industryweek.com/
The Results Are In: Scheduling, Optimization Tech Makes Field Forces More Productive
There really is no longer an excuse for field service companies not to have scheduling and optimization technology. First of all, the benefits are clearly proven. A quick review of recent case studies shows this. In one story, a company saved $600,000 in data entry labor costs; in another, the company saved 32 man-hours per day; and in another, the company was able to respond to 15 percent more calls per day without additional hiring. A recent report from analyst firm AberdeenGroup, Best Practices In Mobile Field Service, shows that the average improvement in the key performance categories of worker productivity and overall profitability are 27 percent and 17 percent, respectively, when a field service automation solution is implemented.
Source: Integrated Solutions, http://integratedsolutionsmag.com/
Does Your Overseas Outsourced Service Provider Meet International Security Standards?
Firms should be vigilant about the security of their data, physical buildings and employees when looking to outsource operations overseas. Outsourced service providers can be maniacal about security, and it's in their interest to be protective of your data and other assets. The last thing a big name service provider needs is a well publicized security breach at its facility. Nevertheless, not all overseas facilities employ stringent security measures. Also, differing legal regimes and enforcement standards can be a problem as well.
For these reasons, firms that outsource sensitive business processes should look for a provider that has met certain certifications, advises London-based Suvradeep Bhattacharjee, principal analyst at the business process outsourcing consultancy NelsonHall and the person responsible for its customer management services program.
"Legislation and regulations are different, of course, around the world," says.. "That is why it is best to look for a facility that conforms to international security standards."
Source: CRM Buyer, http://crmbuyer.com/
Here's What You Need for a Good IT System Implementation. What Are You Waiting For?
Good system implementations are about the right people, processes and business culture—not pandering to individual departmental requirements and certainly not just the IT folk, at least not at the beginning. Strategic business thinking and vision need to come first.
And following that you need excellence in management leadership, communication, education, training and change management. You also need to understand the scale of workforce commitment required, and make proper provision for day jobs in order to keep the existing business alive.
Ignore any of this and you won't just get a system that fails to meet expectations. You'll also miss opportunities, see costs and timescales escalate, disappoint your stakeholders and have every cynic on site your saying "I told you so."
Secondly, while on the subject of time, don't procrastinate. The IT world is littered with organizations that took "due diligence" way beyond what's reasonable. That's serious waste of business time and effort. It's also an unforgivable opportunity cost—management time and money wasted as well as business benefits and competitive advantage damagingly delayed.
Source: CIO Today, http://www.cio-today.com/
Business & Cultural Differences: When 'Yes' May Not Exactly Mean 'Yes'
As more and more companies expand their supply bases outside their own borders, they're learning that an understanding of cultural differences—such as the desire in some countries to avoid conflict—can be as important as proficiency in their own technology if they're going to be successful. China is often cited by purchasing executives as a place where business practices and expectations are vastly different than in the West. And those differences extend beyond the peculiarities of dealings with language translation and engineering specifications. They show up in such things as attendance and conduct at meetings, and even in interpretations of the meaning of the word “yes.”
Source: Purchasing, http://www.purchasing.com/
EU Says European Companies Likely to Catch Up to U.S. Rivals in R&D
Companies in Europe are digging deep and upping their research and development budgets—and may even catch up with their U.S. rivals. According a European Commission survey, businesses in the region plan to up their R&D spending by five percent per year over the next three years.
The EU said that at that rate, European companies would—for the first time in several years—be doing at least as well as their U.S. counterparts in terms of investment. Taken together, the 449 respondents to the survey account for nearly €30bn in R&D investment.
Companies like to keep R&D work in their own country, the report found, and the top locations for research continue to be Germany, the UK and France. Outside of the EU, the U.S. is the most attractive location, followed by China and India.
Source: Business Week, http://businessweek.com/
Market for SCM Applications in Manufacturing May Grow to $2.5Bn by 2010
By 2010, it is estimated that the worldwide market for SCM applications in the manufacturing industry will grow to $2.5bn, up from $1.6bn in 2005. This growth in revenues will be driven by both small to medium enterprise (SME) manufacturers and the larger enterprise manufacturers as they look to either replace legacy systems or start a new implementation from scratch. Advancing technologies such as RFID that rely upon a solid SCM suite will also drive adoption as manufacturers seek to improve their overall performance.
Over the next few years, the automotive, consumer packaged goods and high-tech and electronic industries will lead the investment rankings, with other industries such as pharmaceuticals close behind.
Source: CBR Online, http://cbronline.com/
Hey, The Customer—Whoever He Is—Is King, and We Really Mean That
Organic customer growth drives long-term profitability. So why isn't it as important to you as quarterly sales goals? The customer commitment typically falls apart because what's actively asked for, measured and rewarded doesn't always line up with what's good for customers. The easily understood and well-defined quarterly sales goals win out and stay top of mind.
A classic example is the business -to- business company that counted the number of customer accounts but not the flow or the quality. The sales team was led by an ex-fighter pilot who sent off the sales force on “speed kills,” or getting as many customers as possible, as fast as possible. But they weren't tracking the value of business each new customer brought. Customers had become widgets, with each speed kill carrying the same weight on the tote board used to measure success. As a result, the sales team exceeded their goal for new customer accounts that year, but sales became a drag on profits, which actually declined.
Source: Chief Executive, http://chiefexecutive.net/
I'm Looking for Clock Punchers, Not Creative Employees with Imagination and Drive. You're Hired
Most companies hire to fill open positions, to keep head count rather than add unique skills to their staffs. They post newspaper or online ads, and review résumés for the requisite college background, years of professional experience and the right acronyms.
With these traditional methods, they end up with a pool of middle-of-the-road candidates looking to work 9 to 5.
There has to be a better way.
Source: Baseline, http://projectmanagement.ithub.com/
Wireless Technology The push toward a real-time enterprise demands that supply chain data be collected and relayed at the point of transaction, whether in the warehouse, on the loading dock or at the customer's door. Wireless technologies are key to enabling this capability.
In the October issue of Global Logistics & Supply Chain Strategies magazine.
