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2012-01-17T16:04:00.001+02:00

Can Leaderless Organizations Win?

2011-11-02T14:38:00.001+02:00

Whether it's the Arab Spring, the Tea Party movement or Occupy Wall Street, what is it about leaderless organizations that makes it all seem so strange to us?

In 2006, I made the six hour drive from Montreal to Boston to attend the firstPodCamp Boston unconference (a participant-driven or self-organized gathering). Prior to that, I had attended some of the initial BarCamp events. The idea of a self-organized event was foreign then... and it's still foreign now. Some of the initial questions I had about driving to PodCamp included:

What if I get there and no one shows up?
How will I know if the sessions are any good?
Where do I get my nametag?
Where are the networking events taking place?
Is there a travel sponsor with a rebate on nearby hotels for those attending from out of town?

Those questions are driven by a traditional conference mindset. Here are the unconference answers to those questions:

If you get there and no one else shows up, then I didn't do my job of letting others know about the event.
The sessions will only be good if I chose to either lead one or encourage others to lead them.
You bring your own nametag.
You have to connect with the other people who signed up on the wiki and make your own social events (and encourage others to join you!).
You're a big boy, call some hotels and negotiate a rate for yourself and for others.

Leaderless events and organizations act and feel weird because they are weird.

We expect others to lead us. This is why there are so few great leaders when compared to our overall population. It's not easy to take responsibility for success and to be able to drive results, and get others to not only believe in you but to follow you (this ever-more evident when reading the Steve Jobsbiography by Walter Isaacson). The media struggles to find a figurehead or someone to interview in these self-organized groups and revolutions like the Arab Spring, the Tea Party movement and occupy Wall Street, but because there is no defined "leader" (mostly because these groups are self-organized), they are chastised for not having in place a more traditional (and hierarchical) structure or a seamless message.

So, can leaderless organizations truly get results?

Obviously, they can (and do). The real challenge is that these structures are new and platforms like Social Media have (finally) brought us to this unique moment in time where we can have leaderless and self-organizing groups affect true change in our world. This past weekend, Clay Shirky (best-selling business book author of Here Comes Everybody and Cognitive Surplus) tweeted, "Back from delivering coffee & gloves to #OWS. Hundreds of people hunkering down in freezing rain, an amazing act of patriotism." The magic of the Internet is that the power of open source has now expanded beyond the borders of software development. Individual acts of patriotism can now be viewed cumulatively in a much more powerful way - and with every act of patriotism comes a cumulative effect as they are shared and exchanged in both our protein forms and in the online channels. That cumulative effect springs new ideas for people to share and gather around. It's as mindless as lolcats and as powerful as the overthrowing of repressive governments.

Who are we going to blame?

As a society we want to point our fingers at someone - an individual. The truth is that the murkiness of pointing our fingers at a leaderless group makes it difficult to find a target for our energy (either positive or negative) and it is somewhat unsatisfying to get angry at a faceless corporation when it comes to a specific issue. The truth is that we're going to have to learn how to adapt to this new reality. While great leadership can never be denied, what we're truly seeing here is that the 99% are now connected and their power, rage and passions are not only hard to deny, but it's even harder to ignore. Big groups can self-lead. How dramatic and how powerful is that? Wow.

The next few years of leaderless groups is only going to increase as people continue to get smarter through our technological engines of connectivity and their desire to share and connect.

Social Media Strategy: Make Your Own Romania

2011-06-01T10:33:00.001+03:00

Author: Alexandra Samuel is the Director of the Social + Interactive Media Centre at Emily Carr University and the co-founder of Social Signal. Follow her on Twitter as @awsamuel.

"Create a social media presence that highlights your expertise," I told a room full of entrepreneurs. "And that will do more to drive business to your site than anything else you can afford during your startup phase."

Then came the question I know enough to dread. I talk to a lot of business audiences about how they can use social media to build their reputation, and there's always someone who wonders if that strategy is really viable in their market, their field, their budget.

"How could this work for me?" asked a man who was thinking about his small chain of language schools, and especially, how to expand the demand for his after-school classes for kids. "What's the best way to get more customers for my schools?"

If I were speaking to a North American business audience, that question might have stumped me, or at least sent me to Google for a quick scan of the competitive landscape. But I was in Bucharest, the capital of Romania, speaking to a group of business people who were part of a year-long program run by the UK-based School for Startups. Googling the competition would simply have turned up a sea of websites that were impenetrable to me as a non-Romanian speaker. So I had to put my question to the room:

"If you want to find out about second language learning for kids, are there any websites that can help...in Romanian?"

The answer was no: the field was wide open. That's the beauty of launching a startup in Romania, a country of 21 million in which you can be guaranteed that virtually anyone who speaks your language is sitting in your market. If you're running a business in Canada, or Jamaica, or New Zealand, your English-language website has to compete for attention with websites run out of the US, the UK or any of the dozens of English-speaking countries around the world. Your customers may be right next door in geographic terms, but once you go online they are spread in a thin layer that stretches around the world.

Romanian business people, in contrast, have a clearly defined market in which their offline customers are defined by a common online language. That makes it easy to target online content — even content on a very widely-covered topic, like early childhood language study — and to become the premiere online destination for people seeking that content in their native language.

But the Romanian strategy isn't limited to those targeting a small language group. You too can become the premiere online destination for your market, if you can find a way of defining a boundary around your customers in a way that speaks uniquely to them. You can make your own Romania. Here are 5 ways to do it:

Use a foreign language. Usually I advise people to avoid jargon, but if you are trying to reach a specific professional audience, jargon can work in your favor. Using vocabulary that is specific to your peers, particularly words that are searched frequently in your field, can help you position yourself as an insider and ensure you come up when they look for information on that topic. If you are speaking to an audience in a specific (non-English) language group, so much the better: you're differentiating yourself from all the English-only options already out there.

Focus on a location. Maybe you won't be the top English-language website about early childhood language education (or supply chain management, or maternity care, or mortgage finance). But you can be the top English-language Twitter feed for early education resources in Pittsburgh. Or the most comprehensive set of YouTube videos about dance studios in LA. Or the best blog about recruitment strategy in the Southwest. Define your location focus very clearly (in the name of your blog or your Twitter handle and description) and make sure that a solid majority (70%+) of your content is geographically specific.

Focus on a demographic. One of the drivers of social media success is a clear voice with plenty of personality. But it's hard to create an online voice that appeals to both grannies and grads, to partiers and managers, to curmudgeons and Pollyannas. Defining the demographics and psychographics of your target customers can help you create a social media presence (or possibly, two or three quite different presences) with a voice and focus that will appeal to your target. Bake that targeting into your content and your message: sell designer cola to urban moms by offering advice on the latest hipster mommy hangouts; market software to aspiring CIOs with a Twitter feed targeted at mid-level tech managers; pitch your restaurant at the after-work drinks crowd with videos that appeal to 20-something singles.

Add a keyword. Search for skiing videos and you'll see how hard it would be to market your resort by creating the definitive site on skiing technique. But add the word "telemark" and the field narrows by 97%. So find the keyword that represents your area of greatest strength, and focus on being the top expert in that subarea. Often that's a matter of identifying the intersection point between two different topics: you can't be the top expert on mobile or on wayfinding but you could be the top expert on mobile wayfinding. You can't be the top expert on action movies or athletic gear but you can create the top site for athletic gear spotted in action movies. You won't be the top expert on banking or women-owned businesses but you can be the top Twitter feed with banking and finance advice for women-owned businesses.

Focus with Facebook. Get to know the ways that both Facebook and Google can target their advertising, and tailor your social media presence to appeal to locations or demographics that you can pinpoint through online advertising. The best way to figure out your targeting options is to try setting up a Facebook ad campaign or a Google ad campaign; each of them allows you to target in slightly different ways. For example, Facebook lets you target by age, education level, interests, and relationship status (among other things); Google lets you target by gender, location, the device being used to search, and of course, by the keywords your potential customer has searched on. If you're focusing your social media presence (and especially your Facebook presence) on a demographic that Facebook's ads can target — like single, college-educated women who are interested in travel -- you'll find it that much easier to use ads to build awareness of your online efforts. The same goes for creating a blog, Twitter or YouTube presence that appeals to a market you can isolate with Google Adwords.

Defining the boundary of your markets is more than just handy social media trick. By focusing your social media presence so that you can own a specific niche online, you'll also get clearer about your overall marketing and growth strategy. And you better do that fast, because the Romanians are catching up.

Source: Harvard Business Review

Open Letter to the World

2011-03-02T18:03:00.001+02:00

We stand at a unique time in our history, the rise of the internet and computer technology have contributed to an unparalleled rate of prosperity for the First World.

We have created for ourselves and empire unlike any other, a global network of constant trade and communication, a new age of technological advancement. We have come a long way from our humble roots in the Industrial Revolution and the days of Manifest Destiny. We are now pioneers on new digital frontiers expanding our domain from the quantum world to the far reaches of space.

And yet, the empire faces a crisis, a global recession, growing poverty, rampant violence, corruption in politics, and threats to personal freedom. As it was before in other times of crisis, the old stories have begun to repeat themselves. The half truths, this time repeated nightly on cable news and echoed through a series of tubes onto the internet: the empire is strong, change is unwise, business as usual is the answer. In times of uncertainty there are those who seek to add to the confusion, to prey on our insecurities and fears. Those who would seek to keep us divided for their own gain. The pervasive strategy takes many very convincing forms: Liberals and Conservatives, Christians and Muslims, Black and White, Saved and sinner.

But something unexpected is happening. We have begun telling each other our own stories. Sharing our lives, our hopes, our dreams, our demons. Every second, day in day out, into all hours of the night the gritty details of life on this earth are streaming around the world. As we see the lives of others played out in our living rooms we are beginning to understand the consequences of our actions and the error of the old ways. We are questioning the old assumptions that we are made to consume not to create, that the world was made for our taking, that wars are inevitable, that poverty is unavoidable. As we learn more about our global community a fundamental truth has been rediscovered: We are not so different as we may seem. Every human has strengths, weaknesses, and deep emotions. We crave love, love laughter, fear being alone and dream for a better life.

You must create a better life.

You cannot sit on the couch watching television or playing video games, waiting for a revolution. You are the revolution. Every time you decide not to exercise your rights, every time you refuse to hear another view point, every time you ignore the world around you, every time you spend a dollar at a business that doesn’t pay a fair wage you are contributing to the oppression of the human body and the repression of the human mind. You have a choice, a choice to take the easy path, the familiar path, to walk willingly into your own submission. Or a choice get up, to go outside and talk to your neighbor, to come together in new forums to create lasting, meaningful change for the human race.

This is our challenge:

A peaceful revolution, a revolution of ideas, a revolution of creation. The twenty-first century enlightenment. A global movement to create a new age of tolerance and understanding, empathy and respect. An age of unfettered technological development. An age of sharing ideas and cooperation. An age of artistic and personal expression. We can choose to use new technology for radical positive change or let it be used against us. We can choose to keep the internet free, keep channels of communication open and dig new tunnels into those places where information is still guarded. Or we can let it all close in around us. As we move in to new digital worlds, we must acknowledge the need for honest information and free expression. We must fight to keep the internet open as a marketplace of ideas where all are seated as equals. We must defend our freedoms from those who would seek to control us. We must fight for those who do not yet have a voice. Keep telling your story. All must be heard. [via]

Thanks for 2010, wishing you an inspiring 2011!

2011-01-01T16:32:00.002+02:00

To all our clients, partners and co-workers:

Prenen Management Consulting wishes you a successful and thriving 2011. Thank you for your trust, inspiration and cooperation during 2010. 2011 will be even more exciting and open up even more horizons. Together we will shape the future!

What is Influence and How do You Measure it?

2010-10-18T11:21:00.001+03:00

I believe that influence and authority go hand in hand. The more authority you have on a particular subject the more influence you have over people who are interested in that subject. In order to understand what influence is, we must first understand what influence is not.

Influence is not:

about how many followers you have or about how many connections you have,
about how many people read & comment on your blog.
about forcing or convincing people to do or buy something

According to the dictionary influence is defined as:

“ the act or power of producing an effect without apparent exertion of force or direct exercise of command”

So if I recommend using a particular social media tool or product and 70% of you go try that product or service out, then I have a good amount of influence. If I recommend something and you tell me that I’m an idiot and should be beaten with bamboo sticks, well then my influence is not so great. The issue has been raised that I may be considered an influencer in some industries yet not for others (or for some companies and yet not others). Therefore how do you measure influence? If Barrack Obama told you to try out a social media service would you? What if he told you to vote a certain way on a particular issue?

Again, I think the issue here has to deal with authority as well as influence. If you are an authority in a particular field you can influence not only your field but also other fields. So if Obama was a nobody and told you to try out a social media tool, you probably wouldn’t listen, but as President Elect if he tells you to try out a social media tool, you are much more likely to listen because even though Obama is not a social media authority, he is an authority on politics and government, make sense?

As Shel Israel mentions on his blog, influence is very difficult to measure and is pretty much based on a case by case basis. I try to establish myself as an influencer and authority by sharing my ideas, tips, and strategies. I don’t have as many readers (yet) as Chris Brogan or Techcrunch yet the conversations I have with all of you are not any less valuable here then they are on other mediums.

Based on Jacob Morgan

My personal checklist for Startups

2010-08-19T15:58:00.004+03:00

In preparation of my jury membership at http://www.startupdays.ro/ I was asked to elaborate a little on what it is I’m looking at when talking to startups. Of course, this is purely my personal checklist, but most of these questions are widely accepted as a barometer of getting into the VC game.

So here it goes:

Management
Is your management team experienced, motivated and willing to give in some control to outside investors?

Market
Do you have an identifiable market segment?
Is there a demonstrable and significant demand for your proposed product/solution?
Does your product have any growth potential? How do you see that potential evolving over time?
How will you "educate" or "initiate" your market?

Competition
Who are your potential/existing competitors?
What are your product's key differentiation factors?

Technology
Have you established a Proof of Concept with regards to your product and/or technology?
Is this measureable or confirmed by leading experts? Did you do your research?

Intellectual Property
Are there any steps undertaken to protect the intellectual property of your idea(s)?

Marketing & Sales
How will you achieve widespread market penetration for your product?
What will be your strategy with regards to the use of New Media?

Profit Potential
Can you demonstrate how sufficient margins and consistent cash flow will be achieved?
If yes, in what time frame?

Capital needs
Do you require funds to finance growth activities, including product development, recruiting key staff consulting, launching sales and marketing activity?
What is your auto-financing capability?

Financials
Do you have established reasonable financial projections - including an income statement, cash flow and balance sheet and supporting spreadsheets - based on logical, realistic assumptions?

Exit Strategy
Do you have a clear exit strategy that will enable angel investors or VC’s to generate a return of at least ten times their initial investment within five to seven years?

Shelfster, Note-taking on Social Steroids

2010-05-19T08:31:00.002+03:00

WebSprint SA announced today that its new online service, Shelfster, which before was in private beta, is now open to the public. The service allows you to collect, share and organize ideas and things you like on the web, in documents on your computer and in real world. It offers a nifty way to quickly annotate and organize all your favorite information and share it through a profile created on the website.
Shelfster integrates perfectly with one’s day-to-day work flow: you interact with computing devices, mostly connected to the Internet, every single day. You often find/receive information that might be useful or something you just like. And you want to remember, store, organize, share and access it anytime you need it. Probably there are thousands of applications that solve one or two of these needs. But why use two or three apps, and keep track of them, instead of using just one simple and comprehensive application?

The core premises of Shelfster are: “Collect, Organize, Share, Discover & Learn”. The first two take care of “disorganized information” problems: links received from friends, quotes from books and articles, pictures, all scattered in hundreds or thousands of emails, messenger messages and documents on computers at home or at the office. Shelfster will help you keep all the things you like in one place (online account); nicely arranged, easily retrievable and accessible from any computer or mobile device connected to the Internet anytime you need them. The last three are inherent “social”.

There are many platforms concentrating on the “Collecting” part and, likewise, many platforms focusing on the social media aspect. The problem is that they all have their respective function, and can work independently, but in a day-to-day knowledge user needs, they become really useful when they are fully integrated. And that’s exactly what Shelfster is trying to do.

Shelfster has been designed as a utility and platform to not only capture and organize information, but also get the most out of it, by sharing with friends and communities, collaborating and discovering things based on specific interests. Shelfster is helping you to get the most out of the things you need and like.

Everyone can sign-up for free now. The desktop application, available for Windows platforms, can be downloaded for free. iPhone application, Mac application, mobile website and browser add-ons are in development and are going to be released to the public in the following months.

Shelfster belongs to WebSprint SA, an Oradea, Romania-based startup company. For more information please contact Shelfster at office@shelfster.com

DISCLAIMER: The author of this blog-post is involved as advisor to the Board of WebSprint SA.

Romania rises as outsourcing target

2010-03-01T07:43:00.001+02:00

High language and IT skills, coupled with low costs, makes Romania a new haven for outsourcing, such as call centers, help desks, IT and payroll. Analysis by Ana Maria Nitoi

The global economic turmoil has allowed Romania to surface as a promising destination for outsourcing - including IT services and support, contact centers and back-office support.
In financial attractiveness, people skills and the business environment, a 2009 AT Kearney Global Services Location Index shows that Romania has climbed from the 39th to 19th place last year as an outsourcing location.

Full Article: The Diplomat

Romanian IT Market Is Expected To Return To Low Single-Digit Growth In 2010

2010-02-19T07:58:00.001+02:00

The Romanian IT market is expected to return to low single-digit growth in 2010, following a sharp deceleration in 2009. Consumer and business IT spending will remain constrained by continued deleveraging and rising unemployment, keeping spending growth below pre-2008 levels. An IT market value of US$1.7bn is projected for 2010.

In the medium term, the market's strong fundamentals of low computer penetration, rising incomes and the effects of EU membership should drive continued expansion. We expect modest positive IT spending growth in 2010 and a market CAGR of 10% for 2010-2014. A total of EUR383mn has been earmarked for Romania's information and technology (ICT) sector for the 2007-2013 period. The government has said that it expects several IT projects to be cancelled this year, but has pledged to use the prospect of EU structural funds to try and encourage continued investment. Romania is now one of the fastest growing IT markets in the CEE region and one that attracts increasing attention from vendors.

Industry Developments

In 2009 the Romanian government looked to EU structural funds to prevent stagnation in the domestic IT market and stimulate investment. In 2009, ICT projects worth EUR125mn had been approved for financing as of October. Romania had been earmarked EUR383mn of European funds for its ICT sector in 2007-2013, plus EUR86mn of public funds.

The government also continued to implement its e-Romania agenda in 2009, despite fiscal pressures. The government's medium term goal is the creation of a huge web portal that will provide nearly 600 online services. The government aims to use the portal to decentralize public services and increase efficiency in interactions between citizens and state institutions.

The Ministry of Communications and IT (MCIT) has outlined key areas for ICT-related EU structural funds. The funds earmarked for Romania's ICT sector for the 2007-2013 period have been confirmed at around EUR383mn. Around 70% of the money earmarked for MCIT is to expand broadband communications infrastructure, but the government has identified some priority groups.

Competitive Landscape

Romanian PC vendors generally anticipated slower growth in 2009. Notebook segment leader Acer planned to respond to the slowdown with more aggressive promotions, and by strengthening relations with distributors. Meanwhile, Fujitsu-Siemens anticipated losing more of the low-tier market to Asian vendors and said that it would target the IT infrastructure service sector, which it hopes will account for 30% of sales in 2009.

In 2010 Microsoft hopes that sales of its Windows 7 operating system, launched in October 2009, will boost its local sales. In Summer 2009 Microsoft continued to lay the groundwork for the new operating system launch and released the enterprise version of the software in August. Microsoft said in November 2009 that its goal for Romania in the next nine months was to win a share for Windows 7 in excess of the approximately 19% currently achieved by the Vista operating system.

Siveco Romania has targeted 10% growth in revenues in 2009 to as much as US$99mn, up from around US$90mn last year. Siveco is looking at projects based on structural funds, and services such as systems integration to power growth. The company, which is estimated to have at least 20% of the local enterprise application solutions (EAS) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) market, was part of a consortium that recently won a contract for informatisation of Turkey's customs system.

Computer Sales

We forecast that the Romanian PC market (including notebooks and accessories) will be worth US$853mn in 2010, up from US$819 in 2009. In 2009 there was a sharp deceleration of demand, and few vendors expected pre-2008 levels to be repeated in 2009-2010.

The low level of computer penetration, at less than 25%, still represents an opportunity for vendors during our forecast period. While recent statistics suggested that 43.5% of urban inhabitants in Romania owned a computer, the nationwide figure for home computer ownership was just 24.6%.

Software

The market value of legal packaged software in 2010 is projected at around US$255mn. Despite a deceleration in 2009, investments by businesses and the public sector should see this increase to US$398mn by 2014 at a CAGR of 12%.

The ERP market is still in its early phase, where larger companies and organisations still provide strong demand. In other CEE states, the focus of opportunity has now shifted more towards the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector. However, demand has gradually become more sophisticated, with increasing interest in support and technical assistance.

Services

The Romanian IT services market is projected to be worth US$391mn in 2010, accounting for around 23% of total IT spending in the country. Spending on IT services was expected to contract in 2009 as enterprises cancelled or postponed IT projects as a result of the economic situation. We expect IT services spending to increase at a CAGR of 11% to US$597mn by 2014, driven by an inflow of EU funds and foreign investment. Demand for basic enterprise software and hardware systems is far from saturated and will continue to be an underlying driver for the services market.

E-Readiness

The issuance of a WiMAX license to National Radiocommunications Company (SNR) in Q408 as well as a CDMA450 license should help boost broadband growth in the country, particularly in the rural regions. After receiving no bids in its tender for two further WiMAX licenses in Q109, the ANC announced that it was slashing the license fee and would re-launch the tender. This signaled the regulator's intent to drive growth in the sector.

Romania Information Technology Report Q1 2010: CompaniesandMarkets.com

eSkills are needed to drive European innovation

2010-02-17T11:38:00.001+02:00

In the coming five years, only 10% of jobs will be left for those who have no ICT skills, a figure that is especially significant at a time of rising unemployment in Europe and worldwide.

This is just one of the results highlighted by the survey of over 1,300 employers and training partners in 13 European countries, released this week by Microsoft and the research firm IDC, entitled “Post Crisis: e-skills are needed to drive Europe’s innovation society” (view PDF). The quest for jobs truly does remain one of the top challenges on the horizon for Europe 2020.

I wanted to share some comments and lessons learned from the study and also from a rich debate amongst stakeholders which Microsoft hosted on November 30th, where attendees included Swedish State Secretary, Eva Uden Sonnegard, the Head of Unit for ICT for Competitiveness and Innovation at DG Enterprise, Mr Costas Andropoulos, the Chairwoman of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs at the European Parliament, Madame Pervenche Beres, and Dr. Milan Cabrnoch MEP.

The e-skills Study really is very timely and I was pleased to learn that experts and policy makers deem “Innovation Skills” a key source of job creation and growth for Europe. In addition, unlike other sources of growth, skills are a renewable source, although a few conditions need to be in place for this to come true. The report also mentions that businesses, public authorities and stakeholders need to sustain investments, even in tough economic times; and that we need to scale up activities to build the talent pipeline for tomorrow’s minds and innovators (although investments in innovation skills and e-skills require time to yield returns.) However, the Return on Investment (RoI) of such activities gives both economic and social benefits and we will succeed only if we tackle - at the same time and in a concerted way – skills for Innovation, Inclusion and Career Opportunities

For this reason Microsoft has invested over €65 million in cash and kind in programmes related to skills over the last year.

Another item highlighted in the report is that skills requirements are changing - and changing fast. Cloud computing, Green IT, e-Health, and cyber-security emerge as four areas in which curricula need to be developed: more training is needed and greater professionalization can be achieved. In addition, as we proceed, we should pursue a more streamlined policy approach to promote a holistic view on skills across the fields of education, research, industry, employment and the information society. To achieve this, overcoming silos and adopting multi-stakeholder partnerships is essential - why not start with skills, as they are a pre-condition to secure the future capital of innovation…? The EU e-skills Week 2010 is a great example of such a partnership-based approach.

I am convinced that if Europe wants to realize the promise of the European Digital Agenda, as indicated by Commission President Barroso, then Europe cannot skip investing in skills. These skills will ensure that Europe makes the transition to a greener and healthier society; that SMEs are competitive; that the younger generation has “more marketable knowledge” when entering the workplace; and that more people are included in the online services for the digital economy.

In case you missed it above, here's the link to the report.

4th Quarter Global Index Signals Gradual Recovery for the Outsourcing Industry

2010-02-12T12:20:00.001+02:00

By Mark Mayo, Partner & President, TPI Global Operations, TPI

Today I am happy to report that fourth-quarter contract values have signaled the beginning of a gradual recovery in the outsourcing industry. Contract values are up 47 percent– its highest value in 18 months. After the market reached its bottom in the first half of 2009, the second half clearly showed positive momentum as businesses became more confident about making strategic decisions in this economic environment. The main factors driving the market’s upswing in the broader market were:

Strong IT outsourcing (ITO) demand. Activity in this area dominated the broader market for the entire year with total contract values (TCV) up 54 percent from the previous quarter.

The Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region was significantly impacted by a number of large deals in the fourth quarter, delivering its best quarterly performance since the second quarter of 2008. The UK – like the U.S. –has seen its TCV steadily decline over the last five years due to the maturity of both markets, but other markets in the region are maintaining decent performance levels.

A resurgence in mega deals and mega-relationships was a positive sign that contributed to the market turn with fourth-quarter total contract values at their highest in six quarters.

It is also important to note that financial services, manufacturing and telecom & media -

industry sectors that have traditionally driven the outsourcing market - all showed a strong second-half upturn in total contract value. These sectors have traditionally driven the outsourcing market so a continuing positive curve for all three will be crucial for new growth in the market.

With companies growing more confident and the market stabilizing, we expect to see growth in 2010.

Check out the full Q4 TPI Index presentation at:

http://www.slideshare.net/TPIIndex/4q09-tpi-index-presentation-final?from=share_email

Outsourcing Problems? Middle Management May Be to Blame

2010-02-05T11:46:00.001+02:00

Middle management just isn't what it used to be.

The old definition of a middle manager--those senior staff in charge of overseeing the details of day-to-day management and reporting to top management--is too narrow, says Leslie Willcocks, Professor of Technology Work and Globalization at the London School of Economics (LSE) and head of its Outsourcing Unit. In today's complex and global business environment, middle management is the "glue that holds organizations together," Willcocks says.

At outsourcing companies, middle managers are even more important, responsible as they are for working externally with customers and suppliers and internally with senior management. At offshore outsourcing firms, they require an ever greater mix of skills, including the ability to build virtual teams across organizational boundaries, countries and cultures. Indeed, effective middle managers at IT service providers must be simultaneously coordinators, knowledge repositories, social capitalists, and change agents, say Willcocks and Catherine Griffiths, co-founder and business development manager of the LSE's Outsourcing Unit.

In reality, those in middle management positions at many organizations--particularly in offshore IT service providers, but also at client companies--lack some or all of those key skills, says Willcocks. And according to his and Griffiths' research, that lack of experience can create huge headaches for outsourcing customers. Costs can spiral out of control, service levels sink, and the outsourcer's ability to meet contractual obligations suffers when middle managers fail to execute as needed. (Willcocks' and Griffiths' research on outsourcing and middle management is based on a case database of more than 1,200 global sourcing IT, BPO and offshoring arrangements studied over the last 16 years.)

The more work becomes adaptive--where solutions are unclear and problems are complex--the more important middle management is, say Willcocks and Griffiths, particularly in offshore application development projects or situations where new or innovative solutions are being attempted.

The Root of the Outsourcing Middle Management Problem

Offshore outsourcers' middle management deficiencies stem from the fact that they have grown faster than their talent base.

"The speed with which many countries are developing their outsourcing and offshoring industries means revenues have come without the corporate structures to sustain sufficiently the speed or scalability of long term growth," Griffiths says. "Without the necessary middle management to hold the company together and provide the smooth running and corporate knowledge repository, many companies reach a growth plateau."

High turnover in outsourcing hot spots like India and the Philippines further limits the pool of potential middle managers.

But middle managers at client companies--in the U.S. and elsewhere--are also to blame for outsourcing failures. Client organizations typically underestimate the amount of retained middle management capability that they will need to operate offshore outsourcing arrangements effectively, say Willcocks and Griffiths. Outsourcing customers need good middle managers to define and deliver on business requirements, ensure the business has access to necessary technical capability, understand internal and external IT service markers, and provide oversight, governance and coordination of all service delivery.

In some cases, a single middle manager can make or break a deal. Individual people can in fact get in the way of outsourcing success. Willcocks relays the story of one major oil company CIO who told LSE researchers, "When X was in place as a demand manager nothing got done; when Y took his place it all began to happen."

Growing Middle Managers

Relationship chemistry between middle managers at both the provider and the customer is a key component of successful offshore outsourcing initiatives. Willcocks and Griffiths identified six underlying attributes of middle managers that contribute to a positive result in outsourcing:

1. Monitoring and Protecting: Managing risks and compliance comprehensively.

2. Facilitation and Problem Solving: Making things happen and breaking down barriers.

3. Organizing by Planning Processes: Maintaining records, audit trails and controls.

4. Relationship Development: Facilitating trust, respect and interpersonal relationships.

5. Entrepreneurship: Seeking innovation, better ways of doing things, and leveraging long-term potential.

6. Scanning: Being well-networked and connected.

No one middle manager can perform all six roles, but an internal or cross-organizational team can and must take on all those responsibilities for a high-performance outsourcing relationship, says Willcocks.

More IT service organizations--and their customers--are recognizing the value of mature middle management and investing in managers' development, say Willcocks and Griffiths. Many overseas companies are providing training courses and mentoring, from standard certification courses and stints overseas at more developed business units to cozying up to the global competition.

"Some Egyptian companies have also acquired middle management expertise through strong links with Indian companies," says Griffiths. "Of course, the ultimate way to attract good management is by salary and career progression."

The irony is that many outsourcing customers eliminate middle management staff as a cost-cutting measure when they enter an outsourcing deal. Willcocks' and Griffiths' research demonstrates the danger of cutting middle management too thin.

"In a globalizing services industry, clients and suppliers alike who treat middle managers as dispensable costs will run into serious delivery problems," says Willcocks. "Though not high profile, middle managers are a major secret of success and a key resource for modern sourcing of business and IT services in whichever country they are based."

Source: ComputerWorld

IT outsourcing industry poised for change in 2010

2010-02-04T11:50:00.001+02:00

The outsourcing industry will be shaped by a number of nascent IT trends, technology management magazine Executive Brief said recently.

Open-source software development will become more popular this year, Executive Brief predicts. Even Microsoft will be getting into the game: The software giant is opening the development of its .Net Micro Framework 4.0 to the general public and has released development guidelines for third parties.

Social networking sites like Facebook will see increased uptake in office settings, as well. Peer-to-peer collaboration can benefit workers at companies of all sizes, Executive Brief suggests, and it can cut costs by replacing "face-to-face meetings with virtual meetings and peer reviews."

Another trend to watch this year is the rise of cloud computing. Like social networking, it saves money for tech-dependent enterprises. Computing in the cloud also increases employees’ flexibility, enabling work-from-anywhere schemes.

So-called "near-shoring" will become more prevalent this year, Executive Brief expects. European firms may choose to outsource to Eastern Europe over Asia, as the region boasts "a cultural affinity to continental Europe … and more convenient travel."

Source: ODesk

US Manufacturing Slips in Competitiveness, Romania ranks 5th

2010-02-04T11:25:00.001+02:00

Mexico Continues to Lead as Lowest-cost Country for Outsourcing; Vietnam, Russia and Romania, Making Huge Strides, Also Edge Out China

Battered and bruised in 2009, U.S. manufacturing faces serious challenges as American manufacturers slipped to from 5th to 8th in a new a ranking of cost competitiveness released today by AlixPartners LLP, the global business-advisory firm. The study shows that Mexico continues to lead as the number-one low-cost country (LCC) for outsourcing from the U.S., while China, improving considerably over last year’s study, still came in 6th.

“There is no doubt that economic forces worked against U.S. manufacturers this past year,” said Stephen Maurer, a managing director with AlixPartners and a leader of the firm’s Manufacturing Improvement practice. “This study shows that despite recent improvement in U.S. productivity, hungry global competitors have become even more formidable, both as out-sourcing destinations and as competitors to U.S. companies.”

In last year’s study, the Index showed that Mexico had jumped ahead of both China and India to take the top spot as the low-cost manufacturing source for the U.S. for the market basket of parts analyzed. It also showed that U.S. manufacturers gained ground on most overseas LCCs. The 2010 study shows that China has made a strong comeback, recouping much of its cost advantage relative to the U.S. However, China’s improvement was not enough to wrest back the top ranking from Mexico, or the #2 ranking from India.
Vietnam, Russia and Romania, newly entering the ranks of the study this year, made impressive showings as #3, #4 and #5, respectively—all edging out China. Meantime, almost all of the countries analyzed improved their cost competitiveness relative to U.S. manufacturers.

Overhead, Equipment, Tooling Costs Also Deserve a Look
The study also helps highlight some of the complexity in determining the true lowest-cost manufacturing location. “While most people think of labor, shipping and exchange rates as the principle variables in evaluating outsourcing costs, a variety of overhead costs can have a dramatic impact on the bottom line, and are often overlooked,” noted Steve Hilgendorf, a director in AlixPartners’ Manufacturing Improvement practice. “Things like electricity rates, tax burden and construction costs all vary widely from country to country, and in many otherwise low-cost countries, capital equipment and tooling are actually more expensive than in the U.S., because they largely need to be imported.”

“In today’s highly dynamic environment, our study is a powerful tool for companies to understand the true costs underpinning their manufacturing and supply-chain strategies,” said Maurer. “In the past, you could be relatively comfortable that the manufacturing-strategy decisions you made today would still be valid two or three years from now. That’s not necessarily the case any more. Today’s reality calls for constant vigilance and flexible strategies to ensure that companies stay ahead of global changes, rather than fall victim to them.”

IT outsourcing set for growth, study finds

2010-02-04T08:20:00.001+02:00

A new poll has predicted that more companies will start to use IT outsourcing in the coming years.
Research carried out by services company PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) asked 514 outsourcing providers in 50 countries about how they expect the industry to perform in the future.
The firms expect demand for IT outsourcing is likely to grown in the next 18 to 36 months, especially in areas such as contact centres and business process management, with many already increasing staff numbers and investing in new services.
In addition, the study suggested there is evidence that the popularity of near-sourcing, or using providers which are based close to them, is likely to grow in the future.
Dr Charles Aird, managing director of PwC, commented: "Growing competition has transformed the outsourcing industry into a global race for market share."
Last year's Advisor and Business/IT Service Provider Pulse Survey, published by EquaTerra, revealed that three-quarters of IT outsourcing providers have seen their new deal pipelines grow.

Outsourcing Makes A Comeback

2010-01-25T15:17:00.001+02:00

After a brief hiatus, companies are back to offloading work to cut costs.

Remember all the talk about outsourcing? After fizzling out over the past couple years as companies simply slashed jobs rather than move them, outsourcing is back in vogue.

A new PricewaterhouseCoopers study shows outsourcing has roared back to life in the past six months and is accelerating, driven by the same cost-cutting focus that triggered the trend in the first place. Some of this is offshoring to captive business units where labor costs are lower, which helps maintain continuity of service. Some of it is to third-party companies. And some of it is moving to countries like India, and from India to other places like China, the Philippines and Costa Rica. Even Romania has jumped into the game for outsourcing accounting services."Cost is still the major factor," says Charles Aird, managing director for shared services practices at PWC. "But people are also looking for greater efficiency, better quality and access to talent."

In Romania, for example, graduates of a five-year accounting program are willing to work at a clerical pay scale after graduation in order to gain some real-world experience. That doesn't last, but the number of graduates has been sufficient to keep labor costs low and accounting quality extremely high. China likewise has set up a three-year degree for clerical staff that provides good-quality labor for a significantly reduced cost.

The list of what's being outsourced is growing, too. PWC's list includes everything from application to infrastructure support, and on the application side it includes finance and accounting, human resources and even legal research. Some of it is being driven by companies cutting costs to get ahead of the competition. But much of the recent growth is being driven by competitors playing catch-up to market leaders that slashed their costs prior to the downturn.

Not everything can be outsourced effectively, though. Computer customer service that was outsourced to India, for example, was notorious for alienating customers. Dell ( DELL -news - people ) eventually brought much of its call-center support back into the U.S. from India, while Apple ( AAPL -news - people ) has made a point of keeping support within the country in which the calls originate. In contrast, application development--a much more complicated skill set--that was outsourced to India has proved to be extremely successful.

Source: Forbes.com

Season's Greetings

2009-12-23T12:58:00.001+02:00

We wish you and your loved ones a joyful festive season as well as our best wishes for the New Year!

"Romania is currently dominated by sad bankers and tired business people"

2009-11-24T13:14:00.001+02:00

Romania is currently dominated by sad bankers and tired business people, Chairman of the Romanian Business People’s Association (AOAR) Florin Pogonaru told the 8th edition of the Biz Days conference in Bucharest on Monday.

‘In Romania, there is still a wide-spread idea that money is made through financial fraud only. Currently, I can see sad bankers and tired business people in Romania,’ said Pogonaru. He said that both Romanian and European banks will be facing big problems with bad loans throughout the middle of 2010.

Pogonaru added that any balanced business can earn money despite the crisis. The purchasing power of Romanians has plummeted in figures, but Romanians continue to consume, X-Trade Brokers Romania CEO Victor Safta told Biz Days.

‘The purchasing power of Romanians has plummeted in figures only. In fact, Romanians continue to consume, and that is visible to the naked eye. In my opinion, the ongoing economic crisis does not affect us much, probably more on a psychological level, also because we have to put up with a defective market,’ Safta explained.

Investor Radu Ioan Tudorache, a stockholder in the Newarch Investments on-line investment company, pointed out that any business conducted without balance would be impossible, and that the distance services segment provided by the European Communities is a solution to get Romania out of the crisis. The 8th edition of the Biz Days trade show of innovation, new technologies, marketing and communications started on Monday in Bucharest.

The Biz Days organizers will devote each day between November 23 and 27 to one single business domain: entrepreneurship, real estate and retail, innovation and design, corporate social responsibility and media and marketing. The event, considered the largest business-to-business event in Romania is gathering nearly 1,500 top and middle managers, entrepreneurs, communication specialists, consultants, investors, public administration officials, NGO officials and mass media.

The first day of the event is devoted to entrepreneurship and the attendees will present six case studies, including success stories and failures of the year 2009, as well as ideas for 2010.

Source: Financiarul

Eurostat: Romania is second in EU in terms of construction output increase in September

2009-11-19T10:32:00.001+02:00

In the construction sector, seasonally adjusted production decreased by 1.1 percent in both the euro area and the EU27 in September 2009, compared with the previous month, but in Romania the output recorded a 2-percent rise, second only to the Czech Republic's 2.4-percent rise, show data released on Wednesday by the Eurostat European statistics office.

The 1.1 percent decrease in output this September in the euro area comes after a 0.1 percent rise in August, while the 1.1 percent decrease in the EU27 occurs after a 0.1 percent decrease in August.

Among the EU member states for which data are available for September 2009, construction output rose in four and fell in eight. The highest increases were registered in the Czech Republic (+2.4 percent), Romania (+2.0 percent) and Spain (+1.5 percent), and the largest decreases in Slovenia (-10.4 percent), Slovakia (-6.2 percent) and Portugal (-2.3 percent).

In annual terms, among the member states for which data are available for September 2009, construction output fell in nine and rose only in Poland (+5.7 percent), the Czech Republic (+4.6 percent) and Germany (+2.9 percent). The largest decreases were registered in Slovenia (-32.2 percent), Romania (-22.1 percent) and Bulgaria (-19.7 percent).

Building construction fell by 10.4 percent in the euro area and by 12.6 percent in the EU27, after -14.2 percent and -14.8 percent respectively in August. Civil engineering increased by 0.9 percent in the euro area and by 4.7 percent in the EU27, after +3.2 percent and +6.2 percent respectively in the previous month.

Data with the National Statistics of Romania indicate that construction output increased by 13.2 percent in raw terms in September, but only 2 percent when adjusted for business days and seasonality, on a monthly basis. On an annual basis, construction output was down 21.9 percent in raw terms in September 2009, while the decrease when adjusted for business days and seasonality was 20.7 percent, Agerpres reports.

US Ambassador: IT&C will pull Romania out of the crisis

2009-10-20T08:06:00.000+03:00

Traian Basescu told ‘IT&C and the future of the information society’ Global Forum about the risks of the computerized society.

‘The IT&C sector will pull Romania out of the crisis because it has great potential, as a matter of fact it was the economy’s engine in the last two decades,’ Mark Gittenstein, the US Ambassador told ‘ IT&C and the future of the information society’ Global Forum on Monday.

‘I consider that Romania is the proper place for hosting this global forum because it has a significant potential in the IT&C domain that was a strong economic engine in the last 20 years it. Likewise, I believe that the IT&C sector will pull Romania out of the crisis,’ Gittenstein stated.

According to the American diplomat, over 50,000 people work in the IT&C sector in Romania, the wages are above the economy’s average and the sector’s turnover surpassed EUR 6.5 bln.

‘The IT&C sector in Romania is contributing 8 per cent of the GDP and ranks third in the world when it comes to externalizing services, also being one of the world leaders in certification and development in this domain,’ the US Ambassador to Romania added.

The American diplomat underlined that Romania needs investments in the IT&C infrastructure especially in the rural sector that is not covered.

Romanian President shares his worries

Also attending the Forum, President Traian Basescu said that a world in which computerization would allow Government bureaucrats to discretionarily swift through anyone’s life, through anyone’s medical records, financial situation, eating habits or ‘the way we raise our kids,’ is an unwanted future, Mediafax informs.

‘After decades of silence, in 1989 the people of this region unhesitatingly asked for a return to the values of democracy and market economy. In contrast to those that did not experience a communist regime we hold political freedom much dearer because we know what it means to be deprived of it as a country and as individuals. Hence we know from our own experience that the excess of power in the hands of the state means tyranny, corruption, inefficiency. We know that in the hands of a totalitarian Government the progress of science and IT can become instruments of oppression,’ Basescu stated.

Likewise he added that the technical progress registered within the IT&C domain at global level can be the source of new and extremely serious risks. At the same time the Head of State talked to the forum participants about de-bureaucratization and cost reduction with the help of information technology and communications. The President added that Romania is one of the countries that offer notable specialists in the information technology and communications domain.

Basescu claims that just as it happens in other former communist states, in Romania the population’s feelings towards the surveillance of private activities are ‘harsher’ than in other democratic states. He added that because of the way in which the former regime exercised power, the Romanians and the citizens of the other former communist states are more reticent when it comes to storing private data.

At the end of the first session of debates, Sylviane Toporkoff the president of the Global Forum, thanked the Head of State for attending the talks. ‘It’s Romanian politeness,’ Sylviane Toporkoff stated. ‘We wish you complete success,’ the president of the Global Forum added. ‘I’ll win if that’s what you’re asking,’ Traian Basescu stated.

Crises hikes mobile phone traffic

Economic crisis and competition hiked mobile phone network traffic by 33.9 pc in H1

The economic crisis and the intensifying competition have hiked mobile phone network traffic by 33.9 per cent in H1 compared to the level registered at the end of 2008, while the number of users dropped by 60,000 to 24.4 million, Catalin Marinescu, president of ANCOM, stated.

‘The effect of the two factors was beneficial for the users that talked more and paid less. The voice traffic in mobile phone networks totaled over 19.5 billion minutes in the first half of the year, up by 33.9 per cent compared to the level registered at the end of 2008,’ Marinescu stated on Monday at the IT&C Global Forum 2009.

He added that in what concerns the total number of customers, 9.7 million of them accessed the mobile phone services by subscription, while 14.8 million of them used pre-paid calling-cards.

According to the data presented by the head of the National Authority for Regulating and Managing Communications (ANCOM), compared to June 2008 the number of mobile phone subscribers grew by 9.6 per cent from 8.5 million to 9.7 million, while the number of users of pre-paid calling-cards grew by 14.1 per cent to 14.8 million.

On the other hand, in the last ten years Greece’s OTE telecommunications group has earmarked over EUR 2 bln for developing its Romtelecom and Cosmote subsidiaries, with that being the largest private investment in national infrastructure, Yorgos Ioannidis, general director of Romtelecom, stated yesterday.

e-Romania concept to provide almost 600 online services

The e-Romania concept will be concretized into an information portal to provide almost 600 online services, the acting Minister of Communications and Information Society, Gabriel Sandu, stated at the Bucharest Global Forum 2009 yesterday. ‘The e-Romania strategy entails a daring philosophy of the country’s information future on a long and medium term and will be concretised into a huge information portal offering a total of almost 600 online services’, Minister Sandu said.

He further explained that the purpose of the e-Romania portal was to decentralize services and improve governance helping the public save time and money in its interaction with the state. MCSI is working on a project of strategic national and international importance – setting up a national centre equipped with super-computers, whose main line of work will be the fight against electronic terrorism, the prevention and minimisation of the consequences of natural and technological disasters, the simulation of nuclear stations’ processes, as well as the simulation of social and economic policies.

by Ana Stanciulescu

Blog Action Day 2009

2009-10-15T08:41:00.000+03:00

Today is Blog Action Day, with special emphasis on Climate Change. Let's all spread the word!

Romania ranks 36th for IT competitiveness in the world

2009-10-14T10:01:00.001+03:00

Romania ranks 36th in the 2009 world classification on IT competitiveness with a rating of 39.6 points of 100 possible, and 9th in Eastern Europe, a study made by The Economist Intelligence Unit and ordered by Business Software Alliance shows. According to the research, Romania has certain performances in the business, juridical and legal environments and for the support granted for the development of IT industry. For this chapter, the first five states in Eastern Europe are Estonia (55.6 of 100 points), Czech Republic (47), Hungary (46.1), Slovenia (46.3) and Lithuania (43.3).

The study made the third year on the row, evaluates and compares the IT level (information technology) and the business environment in 66 states, Romania included, to establish to what extent it stimulates the competitiveness of the IT sector.

“In the present economic climate the support of a powerful technological sector is more important than ever. Technology can help boost economy and can generate economic growth on a long run. We should not forget that this sector brings both incomes and jobs, as well as incomes to the IT industry and business using technology”, Magda Popescu, BSa representatives in Romania said.

In the study six domains compete to set up a solid environment for the IT sector, including ample professional ability resources, an innovation oriented culture, technological infrastructure of world class, a solid juridical regime which should protect intellectual property rights, including copyright and innovations, an open and competitive economy and a government leadership able to find the perfect balance between promoting technology and leaving market force to act.

“Broad band networks are a vital factor for IT competitiveness, while the delay in competitiveness increase may deepen for those countries with a slower adaptation. Technological companies request rapid, performing and safe Internet access, and the importance of broad band networks will grow when more IT services and applications are supplied on the Internet”, the research conclusions show.

The Economist Intelligence Unit represents the information and business division of The Economist Group, the editor of the publication bearing the same name. Through the global network made of over 650 analysts, a political, economic and business evaluation and forecast is made in 200 states.

BSA is the main organization devoted to the promotion of a safe and legal digital universe. Company programs back technological innovation through educational campaigns and public initiatives which promote copyright protection, IT security and electronic trade.

BSA members include Adobe, Altium, Apple, Attachmate, Autodesk, Bentley Systems, Bitdefender, Corel, McAfee, Microsoft, Ned Graphics, O&O Software, Ringler Informatik, Romsym Data, Scalable Software, Siemens, Softwin, Siveco, Staff& Line, Symantec, Tekla, The Math Works.

Supporting the Clean Oradea project!

2009-09-30T08:13:00.001+03:00

Translation: Oradea is not an ashtray!

Plead for synthesis (by Mihai Iordanescu)

2009-08-17T08:02:00.001+03:00

A synthesis brings together, in a coherent entity, different – sometimes even contradictory – elements that the lucid human mind analyses, compares and integrates in a simpler and clearer structure. Thus, those who acquire the virtue of a synthetic thinking are also capable of prospective and introspective effort, while those who don’t, are left to live in a contradictory, imprecise, hence repetitive present. Romania’s current drama does not come necessarily from the economic and financial crisis that is making news everywhere around the globe. It results mostly from the generalized dispersion, a consequence of the fact that – egocentric as they are – Romania’s rulers are incapable of synthesis.

Full article: Nine O’Clock