IT Industry News for August 2010

This is my 30,000 foot look at events in the ICT industry for August 2010. What you see here is a précis of the monthly report I produce, which is available in more detail at the News section of the Eagle website, where you will also find back issues.

I think its interesting to look back and see what was news in previous years, and how it might affect news today. Perhaps one of the most noticeable things I see is that some of the most successful and largest companies have a track record of growth through acquisition, and with practice they get very good at it!

Four years ago in August 2006 IBM was busy buying four companies ISS ($1.3B), FileNet ($1.6B), MRO Software ($740M) and Webify; Sandisk bought M-Systems ($1.6B) and LogicaCMG bought WM-data Nordic ($1.5B). There were also a number of announced layoffs at CSC, CA, AOL and Sun. Three years ago in August 2007 Acer paid $700M for Gateway and Wipro bought US company Infocrossing for $600M. Hackers were in the news having scooped 1.6 million records from Monster and a study suggested hacking attempts on banks were up 80%. Two years ago in August 2008 Ricoh paid $1.6B for Ikon Office Solutions, Bae (UK) bid $1B for Detica Group (UK), and Compucom bought Getronics (former Wang) to form a $2.1B company. Hard on their heels was a big move by Indian outsourcing company Infosys, paying $750M plus for Axon group in the UK. A biggish one for Canada was the private equity buy of Q9 networks for $360M by CDC. Last year in August 2009, the weather was lousy (in contrast to a great Summer this year) but there was some optimism about the economy in the air, even though unemployment news was still bleak. There were some household names making acquisitions, but no huge deals … Facebook bought Friendfind and Myspace bought iLike. Google enhanced its video capability with the purchase on On2 Technologies; Rim bought a mobile browser company Torch Mobile; and Fluke Networks improved its wireless capability with the purchase of Airmagnet. CSC grew its Brazilian operation through the purchase of bankrupt Bearingpoint’s local operations.

All of which brings us back to August Twenty-ten and here in Ontario as we continue to enjoy great weather we remain fairly optimistic about our economic future. Certainly if M&A activity is an indicator then August would suggest that we are well on our way … it was a very busy month for acquisitions.

Google made the most buys this month, bulking up with five acquisitions (Socialdeck, Angstro, Slide, Jambool and Like.com). Having said that Intel spent the most money … paying $7.7 billion for McAfee AND $1.4 billion for Infinion Technology’s wireless division! IBM made a couple of buys (Datacap and Unica Corp); HP bought Fortify Software and Stratavia. Another big dollar purchase was the $900 million paid by 3M for Cogent; CA paid $200 million for Arcot Systems; Rim, Cisco, Citrix and Nokia were all out shopping too! I think that makes August the busiest M&A month for a long time … and even on the last day of the month HP and Dell are “duking it out” to see who will by 3PAR, with the latest price in the $2 billion range.

HP made their two acquisitions above and are in the hunt for 3PAR but they had a tough month, losing CEO Mark Hurd to a scandal and paying a $55 million fine for alleged kickbacks on government contracts. Another company with some challenges this month was RIM, which is “under attack” in several countries who have issues with their security … Saudi Arabia, UAE and India are all having issues with RIM’s blackberry service.

There were some good indicators of recovery from Europe, the US added 42,000 jobs in July while Canada lost 9,300 … all supporting the consistent message that the recovery is a two steps forward and one step back kind of process! Another interesting month on the long road to economic recovery! … hope this has been of interest to you.

That's what caught my eye over the last month, the full edition will be available soon on the Eagle website. Hope this was useful and I’ll be back with the September 2010 industry news in just about a month’s time.

We Are All Different … Even Clients!

Human nature is a funny thing. One of the traits that we tend to have is that we think other people are like us, and yet we already know that there are all kinds of people!

How does this affect us in business?

We often assume that a client will react in the same way that we would. So … we “fake ourselves out” sometimes because we think a client will react negatively, because that is what we might do.

A client may ask for a discount ... we examine the situation, do some analysis and determine we can't give one. A salesperson delivering that message will often be apologetic, embarrassed or any other kind of emotion, yet more often than not the client will say, "Yeah, that's what I thought ... but I had to ask!"

A salesperson might say, “I can’t call the client too early in the day because he/she needs time to get settled in.” A classic case of projecting our own thoughts on someone else … many clients would love to get business calls early in the morning.

“I don’t think our clients will like this marketing giveaway”. What is really being said is that I don’t like it! This is a personal experience for me, I have been involved with tons of “give aways” here at Eagle, some of which I just didn’t like … but I learned early, that everyone has different tastes, and mine are not always representative of the clients! Go figure!

One of the greatest attributes a salesperson can build on is their empathy. Wikipedia’s description includes many versions of this word, this is the one I like best in this context ...

Alvin Goldman: The ability to put oneself into the mental shoes of another person to understand her emotions and feelings.

If we can truly understand what our clients are thinking, and feeling, then we can really make sure that we are giving them what they want … rather than giving them what "we would want" if we were in their place!

The best way to learn about how our clients are thinking is to get to know them well, to ask lots of questions, to be ACTUALLY interested in their answers (shock) and to work at building a relationship.

The Hail Mary

In football (the “other” football played with a rugby-type ball) the term “Hail Mary pass” is applied to a speculative long throw of the ball, in the general direction of a forward who is a long way down the field. It is often used as a last gasp attempt to get a game winning touch down in the dying seconds of a game.

In the “dot com” days people built what I deemed to be “Hail Mary companies” … they would have an idea, put enough effort into them that a prototype or “early stage” product could be shown … with the hope of a big pay day. There were quite a few people who made a lot of money in those days.

The example of that success is both good news and bad news …

… the good news is that entrepreneurs are encouraged to take a risk, and to have hope that a “pot of gold” could be at the end of that rainbow, which means that new and innovative ideas do get off the ground. Those "winners" enjoyed financial success, but they gambled and won.

… the bad news is that a lot of people (wannabe entrepreneurs?) have unrealistic expectations about the “ease” of achieving wealth, or the “return on investment” they should expect for a couple of years of effort. The vast majority of us just won't get that quick win!

Sometimes we see this same attitude in the workplace … an employee might look at the “few” examples where people excelled, were fast-tracked or had exceptional earnings and hold them up as the example of how they expect to be treated. (Probably with no clear idea of ALL the parameters that led to that success)

The “Hail Mary” approach to life will result in success for some people … but so will buying a lottery ticket. The reality for most of us is that success will come from hard work, over a long period of time … together with a bit of luck and a great attitude.

Here are 10 steps towards achieving some success in your life …

1. Be realistic …
2. Make a plan …
3. Work the plan …
4. Revisit the plan periodically and make adjustments as necessary …
5. Measure yourself against other people so that you can strive to be better …
6. Don’t measure yourself against other people to fret about what they have and you don’t …
7. Work hard …
8. Keep a positive attitude …
9. Keep learning …
10. Don’t EVER give up …

Focus on the Good Stuff!

Every now and then we all hit a period when things are not as good as they possibly might be. We might have had a run of bad luck, or ill health or generally things haven't gone our way. Its natural to let that get us down a little ... we all do.

BUT ... we need to get over the "feeling sorry for ourselves" thing as quickly as possible;

#1. Get it out of your system, indulge yourself a little, and maybe cry on your friend's shoulder.
#2. Focus on the positive ... the good things you have, the good experiences you have had, the things that make you smile.

... and get back to LIVING!

I wrote a blog entry called One of Those Days ... with some thoughts on lifting your spirits when you are a little down.

Just this week I was treated to two video clips from YouTube that I will share here.

This first one just has to make you smile ... it is a Youtube video of a mother and her laughing quadruplets!

The second video is about Nick Vujicic, a motivational speaker who has no arms and no legs! This video is called No arms, no legs, no worries! If you watch this guy and how he lives his life you probably won't feel too sorry for yourself!

Walk fast and Smile!!!

Does Community Involvement Include Politics?

Eagle has always viewed Community Involvement as a given … or to make a play on words, Corporate Social Responsibility means that we have a Responsibility to Give money and time!

But what does that mean?

1. It means giving money (lots) to deserving causes … and we certainly do that, both at the corporate and personal levels.
2. It means giving time to deserving causes … and all of our people are encouraged to do that. This year we implemented a “charity day” where everyone is encouraged to spend a “work day” on a charitable endeavor. I myself am on two different committees with significant charities.
3. It means giving back to the industry associations that represent us … and we are there in spades. I sit on one industry association board (NACCB), am Chair of the PR Committee for another industry association (ACSESS) and in addition, other Eagle executives and employees are involved in several such organizations.
4. It means supporting the education system and in the past we established educational incentives to encourage students to enter the technology field … and we are exploring ways to be involved with that again.

So ... what about politics? It is one area that I have never really been involved with … but it is clear that the democratic process relies upon involvement and engagement from communities in order to work properly. There are people in our organization who have been very involved with politics, but maybe its time for me to take a keener interest. Perhaps there is a personal gain in such a commitment, because if I have the ear of the influencers then just maybe we can avoid some of the “dumb” decisions from governments … like the McGuinty government (you must have known that was coming). So maybe its a win-win for the democratic process and business owners?

The big issue becomes time! Time is a critical resource and every business owner, CEO, President and executive I know has precious little time. How can we find the time to do ALL of these things?

I guess the answer is that we need to find a way, because if we don’t do it proactively we will be fighting a rearguard battle to protect our businesses, and that takes even more time! I think community involvement just cranked up a notch for me! I better read some of my time management (personal productivity) blog entries!

Summer Sales Tip - Emails to Clients

Continuing with my Summer Sales Tips series ... I read an article about emails to clients on the CPSA website that I thought was pretty good. (P.S. If you are in sales and still not a member of the Canadian Professional Sales Association then you should check it out).

Here are some things that really turn me off about emails I get from suppliers, or from people soliciting business:

1. Poor grammar.
2. Poor spelling.
3. An email that rambles.
4. A long email.
5. Long paragraphs.
6. An email that doesn't really know what it wants ... I get to the end and I'm not sure what the person is asking me.

Here are some things I really like ...

1. Crisp message.
2. Good grammar with no glaring spelling mistakes ... anyone can make a mistake, but if it is an obvious one that spellcheck would have picked up I am less forgiving.
3. Short ... with bullet points and easy to read paragraphs.

If you think that your emails need a little work, then maybe you would like to read the article from CPSA ... called Increase Sales With Actionable Emails.

Make The Most of Your Time

I write about personal productivity or time management every now and then ... its a subject that I have "studied" for many years. Its also a subject that can make a tremendous difference in anyone's career ... BUT we are all a little different, and the same techniques don't always work for us.

At its core, time management is really quite simple ... make sure you get as much "stuff" done, as efficiently as possible while focusing on the most important items first.

There are lots of reasons o try and be efficient ... they can range from the very rudimentary "wanting to get through work so as to get back to the real life"; through career aspirations; or even because of the sense of fulfillment people get from accomplishing things.

Whatever your motivation, there are a few basics:

• Write down what you need to get done ... it can be on paper or electronic, as long as it works for you!
• Assign some sort of priority to the list ... it can be as simple or as complex as suits you.
• Work through the stuff that you need to do.
• Cross off the items you get done.
• Add to the list as more stuff needs doing.
  

Pretty simple stuff ... however it is the way you get to drive your day instead of your day driving you.

If you want a little "more" to sink your teeth into then you can read my blog about The Power of To Do Lists.

Paying the Price

Everything has a price in life, and the "currency" can come in many forms.

Some truths based on my experience:

1. If it looks too good to be true ... it probably is.

2. The good stuff is worth the wait.

3. You get what you pay for.

So ... some examples.

1. My first (couple of) car was a "junker", I didn't pay a lot of money and it certainly wasn't worth a lot of money ... BUT it was not very reliable, it cost me lots of money in repairs and it didn't last long.

2. I have changed career a few times ... when yo change career you need to "invest" in the new direction. I went back to school for two years after the Royal Navy and trained to be a computer programmer. It was a fairly big cost, a couple of years of lost income ... BUT it led to a career in technology that has been VERY rewarding. A great investment.

3. I returned to the soccer field a couple of weeks ago (game number 2 tonight) and the physical discomfort for several days after the game was a significant price ... BUT I had fun, learned that I had missed the game and I'm willing to pay that price. (Ask me again tomorrow!)

The lesson here is that these are very personal decisions, whether you are deciding upon buying a new car versus a used one; a new job or a change in career; a new relationship or commitment ... there is always a price, but very often it is worth it!

Take a Deep Breath

That is a phrase I have heard more than a few times in my life. I'm a typical "Type A" personality and my natural tendency can be to react to situations as they happen. This is not always a good thing! In fact, it is probably never a good thing!

Taking action, being decisive and moving agendas forward are all good traits to have in life ... but having the ability to do that in a measured way is a great habit to build.

Some of the things I have learned over the years while trying to build this habit ...

1. Very often things just are not as bad as they appear at first. The immediate reaction can be the "news" or "event' or "result" is terrible thing and the consequences are dire. Almost always, once the emotion goes out of the thinking, and the facts are examined things are just not that bad!

2. Volatile reactions lead to bad results. A knee jerk decision, a spur of the moment reaction can cause damage that is hard to recover from. An immediate reaction in a "heated" argument might lead you to say things you will later regret. A knee jerk reaction to a situation can have the same result. It is ALWAYS better to take a few deep breaths, let the emotion go and give a measured response. very often you are better to walk away before the emotions get too great and continue the conversation when cooler heads prevail.

I can look back on situations that really upset me at the time and be amazed just how well they have worked out.
I can also look back on situations knowing how close I came to "reacting" poorly and know in hindsight that I would have regretted that action.
We can all find times in our past that we regret, but as long as we learn from them and move forward then they are part of our growth and in many ways it is our flaws that define us.

I'm still a fairly volatile person, but I've got pretty good at mellowing that out ... now I just have to master that same temperament on the soccer field!

CANADIAN IT JOB MARKET – Mini update Jul/Aug 2010

General Observations:

In July Canada lost 139,000 full time jobs, replacing 130,000 of them with part time work … the result was a small increase in the unemployment rate, to 8%. The Canadian Staffing index also dipped slightly by one basis point indicating a drop in hours worked in the Staffing Industry workforce. The drop in work hours is very much expected this time of year, increased vacations being the most obvious driver. In addition, many companies will wait until the Fall to start up new initiatives, creating a lag during the Summer months.

There continues to be volatility in the markets, however the TSX is up a little over this time last month when I reported a reading of 11,586, whereas today it was at 11,788. Of course during this last month the index has been up and down like the proverbial yo-yo, as differing indicators suggest recovery or not! The prime business rate remains at 2.75% having endured two increases recently, however some of the major banks are reducing mortgage rates to try and stimulate borrowing in the housing sector which has taken a hit recently.

More Specifically:

The GTA (Greater Toronto Area) continues to lead the way in the return to pre-recession levels of demand. While we are not quite “there” yet, indications are that demand is beginning to outstrip supply as many contract resources are receiving multiple job offers. This creates frustration for those clients who are slow to “pull the trigger” on their hiring decisions. The finance sector is particularly hot as they make up for the projects that were on hold through the recession, and position for future growth. We are also seeing the system integrators increasing their win ratios, which creates demand for contractors to help them with their projects. The other very hot area has been the telecommunications sector, as established players build out systems to compete in this changing arena and the new players develop offerings to take some of that established business. The Ontario provincial government was a little slow this month, but business is traditionally slow in this sector during the Summer, but this is expected to pick up come the Fall.

July was a busy month in Alberta, while Vancouver and the rest of Western Canada enjoyed the more normal Summer quiet expected in July. In Calgary the oil and gas sector continues to increase demand for contract professionals and while not back to the “crazy times” of a couple of years ago, we are seeing the client demand outstripping the supply of specific available candidates. Edmonton had a busy month, which was not expected but very welcome, as a government town that is where the demand came from. Like most markets, our impression is that there is a pent-up demand across the West that will likely hit in September bringing us closer to those pre recession times when the big issue was finding great people, not finding jobs!

In Eagle’s Eastern Canada region it is Montreal that continues to be the busier market, with a continuing demand for top talent. Like the GTA it is the financial sector, telcos and system integrators that have the biggest demand. Ottawa on the other hand has seen a fairly slow market get even slower as the Summer holiday period hit. The city was busy with tourists, but the job market was very slow. Once again the Fall is anticipated to bring an increase in demand, which will be welcomed by most suppliers.

The following are some facts/indicators we are watching as of time of writing:

> The price of oil is a little over $75 a barrel, down a couple of dollars from last month … activity in the oil patch continues to be busy.
> Natural Gas prices have been trending down, mostly due to Summer usage and increased stocks.
> The markets continue to be pretty volatile, however the TSX was up a little to 11,781 as opposed to last month’s index of 11,586.
> The Canadian dollar was up a little from last month at $97.83c US.
> Prime stayed put at 2.75% after two recent increases!
> Canada added lost 139,000 full time jobs and gained 130,000 part time jobs resulting in a slight increase in the unemployment rate to 8% from 7.9%.
> Eagle continues to see a pickup in activity in most sectors … banks, energy companies, and telcos in particular. There is also some pickup in Municipal and Provincial Government activity. Candidates are getting multiple offers and we are seeing more “turndowns” of job offers, indicative of an increase in demand.
> The Canadian government, while not expected to drastically reduce its spending this year has not really “wowed” the market with its spending. There has not been a lot of new IT business and the National Capital companies continue to suffer a little for that.
> Canada’s Staffing Index dropped slightly, but it was expected with Summer vacations taking a bite out of the hours worked. The index was at 85, versus 86 in June .. still 15 basis points off the benchmark of 100 set in July 2008.

Summary:

Canada continues to perform well in comparison to other countries and the unemployment rates are one indicator of that. The Canadian unemployment rate is 8% versus the EU which is around 10% and the US around 9.5%. The Canadian dollar is also consistently strong and many indicators are good that our recovery is continuing. Having said that, we are not out of the woods yet, Canada’s Staffing index would suggest that we are still 15 basis points off the pre-recession benchmark, and even farther behind the record highs we saw during the boom.

From Eagle’s perspective, all of the major markets are picking up in demand and we are seeing an across the board increase in “multiple offer” scenarios and job “turndowns”. These are indicators of that increase in demand, and good news for job seekers. The Summer slowdown was expected and yet is not AS slow as expected, but given the wonderful weather we have experienced in Central Canada it is no wonder people are taking time to enjoy it and to recharge the batteries.

I don’t anticipate much change to this report next month, but September should see a surge in demand and will be a real indicator as to whether companies are really going to ramp up again.

Summer Sales Tip #3

Plan, execute, measure, improve.

1. Plan. Whether your company does formal planning or not ... do it for yourself.

In order for you to meet and exceed your plan where is the business going to come from?
Which clients?
Which projects?
Which specific contacts?
What dollar value?

What is it going to take to win that business?
Who do you need to meet?
How can you position for success?
How can you differentiate from competition?
How can you influence the result?

Be very detailed, create a file for each client opportunity, a To Do list for each client opportunity.

2. Execute.

OK ... what specific actions are you going to take based upon the above information?

What, where, when and How?

Very detailed eg.
meet with Joe Buyer to understand process and timing for the RFP by end of next week.
Meet with Jane User to understand their needs from the horses mouth by two week from now.
Bring VP Sales to meet Sara Executive to build company rapport, establish credibility and understand client executive perspectives.
etc.

3. Measure.

Did I get the meetings?
Did I meet my objectives?
What could I have done better?
What else could I have done?
What should I have not done?

4. Improve.

Learn and implement some changes to your plan.

This is a continuing PROCESS not a one time thing.

If you do this then you bring professionalism to your selling, you invest in your own development and you will be more successful.

Summer Sales Tip #2

If you have the sense that you are not working hard enough then you are hurting yourself.

Maybe you are making it look like you are "doing stuff"; maybe you are doing that "busy work" thing; maybe you are not sure what to do; maybe you buy into the BS that all your clients are on vacation; maybe you think its your right to slow down in the Summer; maybe you are just doing what everyone around you is doing.

The best sales people ALWAYS work hard ... (not just talk about working hard, which is a great tradition in sales).

Use the Summer quiet time to instill good habits, push yourself and work harder than ever.

A good work ethic will go a long way towards lasting success in sales ... for life!

Summer Season Sales Tip

Sales people all over the Northern Hemisphere are telling their managers that its a quiet time, the clients are on vacation ... nobody wants to meet.

What do you think the chance are that some of your clients are actually working?

Do you know who they are? Find out ... and get in to see them while your competition are on the golf course with their buddies and before they get too busy to meet with you.

What are they going to be focused on come the Fall?
Where are their anticipated areas of pain?
What can you do to help them?
Can you do stuff now that will make their life easier later?

Its mid-August and you have about two weeks to use this strategy to make a difference ... do it now!

The Last Mile

When I was a kid I used to get excited about new activities, whether it was building model airplanes, learning a musical instrument or some other type of adventure that was new to me. The problem was that I didn't really have good "staying power" and all too often the new venture would be less interesting when it got hard, or I didn't make enough progress fast enough or I just got bored.

We all face the same issue as we progress through our careers, change careers, learn new skills, take on new projects or even start new companies ... and how we evolve will determine how successful we are. If we can't battle through some adversity then we are not going to be very successful.

Very often the thrill of the "start up", the newness of a project, the excitement of a new job can inject enthusiasm which keeps us motivated and consequently helps us towards success. It is when things get a little tough, or the challenges start to feel "old" or the "bloom comes off the rose" that we start to waver in our commitment and the intensity of our efforts can fall off.

If you look at a race, whether it is purely human versus human in the 100 metre sprint, the mile or the marathon or it could be in a car, on a motorbike or a boat ... invariably the winner is determined in the final stretch.

In business, in our jobs and very often in our private lives it is that last mile that defines us. Are we winners or not ... are we going to finish the project as strongly as we started, are we going to master the new skill or not, are we going to make the venture a success or are going to become another statistic?

I call it the last mile ... but whatever you call it, you can REALLY differentiate yourself, and achieve tremendous success by learning how to "finish strong", how to "battle through the pain", how to WIN!

Its not easy, I don't think anyone else can do it for you ... but I think the capability is in us all, we just have to find a way to believe.

Nudging Karma?

I was in Canadian Tire the other day chatting with the cashier who was a very cheerful ambassador for the company. She told me that she was feeling especially positive because, for the first time, she had actually written down some goals for herself. Good on her!

I was also recently talking to a very successful woman who describes herself as a fatalist, suggesting that what will be, will be. Its hard to argue success, but perhaps if she "nudged" Karma a little she would be even more successful!

I'm a big believer in taking life into your own hands ... write down some goals, make a plan to reach them and continually reassess to see where you are. EVERYONE falls off the wagon now and again (or even often!) but goals help you get back in control.

Not too long ago I wrote a blog entry called Goal Time, which had nothing to do with either the World Cup OR my recent return to the soccer field! It is a pragmatic look at how you could very easily take charge of your life ... and just maybe nudge Karma a little in your favor! Take a read, and maybe dip your toe into this goal thing!

Understanding Cultures ... Ramadan

For some time now Eagle's HR Director has been sending out awareness emails designed to educate us all a little about other cultures, religions and customs. In addition we will have "Diversity lunches" where sometimes we have staff bring in dishes relative to their background, or we will just share some information about different countries.

A little bit of knowledge and understanding can demystify other cultures and that helps us to have healthier relationships.

Today's email is focused on the Muslim celebration of Ramadan.

Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar and is a period of prayer, fasting and giving to charity for Muslims all over the world. It is expected to begin on or around August 11, 2010 and will finish on or around September 10, 2010. During the month, participating Muslims do not eat or drink anything from dawn until sunset. Fasting is meant to teach the person patience, sacrifice and humility. It is a time to fast for the sake of God and offer more prayer then usual. Ramadan is a time where Muslims ask for forgiveness for past sins and pray for guidance to help in refraining from every day evils.

As the start and end of the fast are related to sunrise and sunset, the times are different on each day of Ramadan. Regional customs or moon sightings may cause a variation of the day for Islamic holidays, which begin at sundown the day before the date specified for the holiday.

The word Ramadan is derived from an Arabic word for intense heat, scorched ground and shortness of food and drink. It is considered to be the most holy and blessed month.

Competition ---

I was catching up on my Seth Godin blog reading earlier today and came across a blog called Competition. I am always amazed at how succinctly Seth can identify and communicate an important thought! What would take me a page and a half, he covers off in a couple of paragraphs ... I guess that's why he is a world class marketing guru with a string of best selling books!

His point was cool ... people will often cite the fact that there is existing competition as a reason not to pursue a business opportunity. The reality is that its a big world out there, with lots of potential customers ... there is room for competition! If you are an entrepreneur and believe that you have a good product or service then you need to look for reasons to make it work ... and do it!

Nice blog Seth.

Challenging a "Norm" - Experience

Experience is valued. When we look for new people we look for experience. So ... what is experience? Is it really the amount of time you spend doing something.

Malcolm Gladwell believes that it take a certain amount of "practice" 5,000 hours to perfect a skill. But if you are not perfecting skills, or if the difference between the most "skilled" and adequately "skilled" doesn't matter then the 5,000 hours really is not relevant.

If you do the same thing day in day out for 20 years ... is that 20 years of experience?

I might argue that it might just be one years experience repeated 20 times, particularly if the end result produced by the 20 year employee is not much different than the end result produced by the one year experienced person.

Given that logic, why should a bus driver with 20 years of experience be more valued than a bus driver with one years experience (or two years experience)?

Or a labourer (one might argue the younger labourer might be more healthy).

Or a painter (really what does the older painter know that the younger one didn't learn in a year or two).

Or an aircraft pilot (once you can fly, and have a couple of year's experience what does another 18 years experience bring).

Or a computer programmer ... that should get some input! ( I have seen "junior" programmer deliver as much code as "senior" programmers. Capability and skills might have little to do with number of years doing it).

Its an interesting question ... certainly trade unions believe "time in" or "tenure" is valuable. In the context of a global economy where labour costs are through the roof (is an assembly line worker worth $55 an hour, plus all benefits?) does this make sense?

Maybe "EXPERIENCE" should really be a factor of "productivity" or "contribution" as opposed to the amount of time on a job!

Make Hay While the Sun Shines

This is another, albeit short, blog entry on the subject of personal productivity.

I often talk about the pace of life in Twenty-ten ... just how much is expected of everyone, and how competitive the world is. The primary drivers of this phenomena are the expanding Global Economy, vastly improved (real time) communications and improvements in technology. So the result is that we all have to work harder!

Occasionally we find ourselves in a lull ... it could be the time of year when our clients are slow due to vacations, it could be our clients are in budget mode or any number of things.

How do you make the most of that lull? Here are some thoughts ...

1. DON'T drift ... if you are working then WORK!
2. Match your business slow periods to your vacation/holiday time where possible. If things are a little quieter then its a good time to be away.
3. Scheme/plan/strategise ways in which to win more business/be more effective at what you do.
4. Clean up all of the "stuff" that distracts you when things are busy.
5. Revisit your time management system and see if there are things you can do to be more effective when the workload gets heavy again. Identify and fix any bad time management habits you have developed.
6. Develop templates and checklists that will help you to be more effective in the busy times.

The worst thing that you can do is to "waste time" or do "busy work". It doesn't feel good, it creates habits that you will find harder to fix later and makes the busy times seem even busier than they really are. Oh ya ... your boss probably won't be too impressed either!

Look to the Future NOT the Past

I often blog about change ... the speed of change, the fact that everything is changing and the fact that change means opportunity.

Very recently I blogged about Changing Businesses, and looked at some of the recent industries undergoing major change. I am firmly in the camp that our world is changing so radically that looking to the past can be a recipe for disaster when determining successful strategies for the future.

The business world is littered with companies that just did not see the steamroller coming! A steady decline in revenues during the recession is normal, and in the past things have always picked up after recessions ... but has anything happened in your space since that last recession?

Has the speed of technology adoption increased ... because clients needed to make decisions during the recession?

Has offshore production picked up because the recession forced companies to do EVEN more with EVEN less?

Has low price competition entered your space and undermined your ability to differentiate?

Is your service even needed any more?

Big box stores put a lot of local businesses "out of business" ... yet many thought their local presence, contacts, established position in the market would have saved them!

Internet travel sites have certainly taken a bite out of that industry ... happened pretty fast too.

If you are not keeping abreast of trends in your industry, not understanding where it is going and innovating in order to compete ... then you are on thin ice.

Experience helps us to do a better job ... but if we put blinkers on when we apply that experience it gets us into big trouble. What worked yesterday will NOT work tomorrow!

Some thoughts if you are in business:

1. Attend industry meetings/conferences/conventions to understand what is really going on.
2. Read industry papers, publications, blogs etc to keep up.
3. Talk to people from other industries to understand how lessons from there might help you.
4. Be honest with yourself ... don't put those blinkers on!
5. Don't get so immersed in the "day to day" that you ignore the big picture.

Bottom line ... CHANGE BRINGS OPPORTUNITY. If you had what it took to start a business in the first place, then you are going to need some of that same stuff to reinvent your business.

Good luck ... its tough out there.

Have YOU Moved Your Agenda Today?

I have a note on my desk, right over the phone and it asks that question ...

HAVE YOU MOVED YOUR AGENDA TODAY?
ENOUGH?

It is written in CAPITAL LETTERS with a sharpie ... so it is hard to ignore.

I spot it when I arrive in the morning and I see it when I am packing up at night and its sole intention is to make sure I am focused on "the important things".

I have said this many time before, but I will say it again ... it is VERY easy to come to work every day and "do stuff", to be "busy" the whole day and NOT achieve much at all.

I call that BUSY WORK ... it really gets you nowhere and is a means that many people use to hide from doing the stuff they really should be doing.

See if you recognise yourself here ...

You are a salesperson and you spend hours researching potential customers, or checking paperwork, or sat at your desk doing "ADMIN" (read BS here). What should you be doing ... meeting people, talking to people, setting up meetings, driving towards sales!

You are a recruiter and you pore over resumes, finding reasons why people are not a fit. What should you be doing ... calling people, emailing people, texting people and asking THEM if they are a fit, asking them for referrals and asking them what is cooking in their world.

You are a manager and you spend time in your office looking at statistics, looking at spreadsheets, looking at numbers, reading reports and maybe writing reports. What should you be doing ... a large portion of your time should be spent with people, your staff, your customers, your industry. Understanding what is going on and making sure it is in line with your goals.

You are an executive and you are spending your days fighting fires, shifting paper and staring at a computer screen. You should be working ON the business more than IN it and you need to be taking your business to the next level, not dealing with the nuts and bolts of every issue.

Obviously a lot of generalisation here ... but you get the picture.

As a business owner I have many different "hats" that I wear, and each of them requires me to complete tasks that advance their agenda. If I am not advancing those agendas then what am I doing? A few examples might be ...

Is that new division performing the way I want? What need to be done to get it to the next level?
Is our strategic direction right for the next year? What can I do ... do we need a planning session? Do I need consulting help?
How do i help the industry raise its profile? What can I make happen?

I have many goals, aligned with the different hats I wear and if I am not moving towards those goals then I am wasting time and effort.

What did you do today? Did you advance your agenda? Was it enough ... or could you have done more?

IT Industry News for July 2010

This is my 30,000 foot look at events in the ICT industry for July 2010. What you see here is a précis of the monthly report I produce, which is available in more detail at the News section of the Eagle website, where you will also find back issues.

I think its interesting to look back and see what was news in previous years, and how it might affect news today. Perhaps one of the most noticeable things I see is that some of the most successful and largest companies have a track record of growth through acquisition, and with practice they get very good at it!

Four years ago in July 2006 AMD bought ATI for $5.4B, HP bought Mercury Interactive for $4.5B and EMC paid $2.1B for RSA Security. Three years ago in July 2007 HP paid $1.6B to buy Opsware, Steria paid $1B for Xansa, IBM paid $160M for BI company Datamirror (and still bought Cognos) and Google paid $625M for Postini. Two years ago in July 2008 the big deal was the purchase of Foundry Networks by Brocade Communications for $3B but we were on the brink of what would be one of the worst economic periods in a long time. Last year in July 2009 the economy was suffering and unemployment was high. There was however some brisk activity on the M&A front with Ericsson paying $1.1 Billion in a fire sale auction for Nortel’s wireless carrier assets. That was not the biggest deal of the month however as EMC agreed to pay $2.4 billion for Data Domain AND Big Blue (IBM) paid $1.2 Billion to add to its BI capability with the acquisition of SPSS.

And so … here we are in July 2010, the World Cup is history and triumphed when so many other teams underperformed … including my own England, and here in the real world we continue our slow recovery from the recession. There were some very positive signs for the recovery … Canada added 93,000 jobs in June and Canada’s Staffing Index rose 7 basis points; a CareerBuilder survey suggests that 58% of hiring managers are looking to hire in the second half of 2010; US GDP is still growing, although a little slower; and in the EU it looks like employment is stabilising with an unemployment figure in the 10% range (9.5% in the US and 7.9% in Canada).

There was an interesting report from CRTC that highlights the changing Canadian Telco world, which had growth in revenues last year, but it was fuelled by growth in the wireless and internet services in spite of losses in traditional services.

Apple’s introduction of the iPhone4 sparked the “antennagate” debates, and Steve Jobs came in for some flack before Apple agreed to provide a free case to users to address the antenna problems.

On the M&A front there were a couple of deals in the $ Billions … NTT agreed to pay $3.2 Billion for Dimension Data and Nokia Siemens shelled out $1.2 Billion for Motorola’s wireless network equipment unit (without its patents). There were a couple of deals to buy data compression companies … with IBM buying Storwize and Dell buying Ocarina Networks, and in that same kind of sand box EMC bought data analytics company Greenplum. Google added to its semantic search capability with the purchase of Metaweb Technologies and rumor has it that Apple acquired a small (Quebec) mapping company Poly9 Group. Adobe shelled out $240 Million for a Swiss web software maker, Day Software Holdings and SAS increased its presence in the US Federal market through its purchase of Vision Systems and Technology. Overall a busy month in M&A … perhaps reflective of companies feeling a little more bullish about the recovery? Let’s hope it continues!

That's what caught my eye over the last month, the full edition will be available soon on the Eagle website. Hope this was useful and I’ll be back with the August 2010 industry news in just about a month’s time.