The Knowledge

It's the end of the world as we know it

2008-08-21T10:00:34+01:00

And now, the end is near; and so I face my final column. After eight years at the good ship Computing, I am sailing for pastures new.

Well, I don’t have a boat – so, I won’t actually be sailing. But I am leaving. In fact, by the time you read this column I will have already gone.

So, you are now reading something by an ex-employee. Maybe I should write something outrageous?

Computing receives stacks of press releases claiming that is what workers tend to do when they leave a firm.

And after eight years of meeting and greeting technology experts, just imagine the exhilarating stories I could tell you about 802.11b and network attached storage.

But two factors preclude me from dishing the dirt. First, there is no exciting muck concerning wireless standards and storage systems. Second, I have no desire to sully my current employer’s name.

So, now that I am already 150 rambling words into this column, what am I actually going to write about?

To be honest, I don’t know. In an attempt to seek inspiration, I had a look through some of my earliest attempts at writing.

The first column I could find was an attack on the customer service at e-commerce site Letsbuyit.com.

The cheeky scamps had failed to fulfil my order, you see. And there is nothing like journalistic power – for that statement, read taking advantage of your situation – to right any wrongs.

I got a bunch of similar complaints from similarly irked readers and – eventually – a refund.

This was nice, because charity begins at home. Except when it doesn’t, such as in the case of the charity shop near our offices which is having a closing down sale.

I am not sure if that is one of those faux closing down sales that shops use to entice customers.

Very unlikely, I’d think – and I guess proof will come if the charity shop is still trading in a couple of weeks.

But my departure from Computing means I will not be able to provide an update.

Regular readers – hello Mum – should seek solace in knowing a better person will soon be along to do a much better job. See you around and let’s be careful out there.

************************************

Editor's note: After eight years at Computing during which he became something of an institution, Mark Samuels has sadly moved on from Computing to pastures new - so this will be the last ever entry on his blog.

Regular readers should look out for the new Computing Business blog coming soon...

The geek shall inherit the earth

2008-08-07T09:40:27+01:00

Technology used to be the preserve of the geek. The commonly accepted perception was that only boring people liked mucking around with computers.

How times change. In what seems a matter of months, everyone is blogging and social bookmarking.

Rather than being the preserve of the socially excluded, the reverse is now true if you do not understand Web 2.0, you’re a loser.

I refer to this state of affairs as the modern art phenomenon. Dismiss modern art and the chances are that some smart alec will accuse you of not “getting it”.

Such a reaction has an inherent snobbish factor that implies the doubter is not bright enough to understand something new or different.

The same situation is now prevalent in the world of Web 2.0; saying you don’t Twitter or social network is tantamount to declaring yourself a dim-witted laggard.

I am not bitter I’m glad technology is having its moment in the media spotlight again. More than that, I’m pleased that my acute Wii-itis has stopped.

The Nintendo Wii is another factor that has helped promote technology’s coolness.

Rather than being confined to bedroom-bound teenagers bashing away at their joysticks, the Wii has brought gaming into the sitting room with gamers as likely to challenge their auntie as their best mate.

But there is a downside to the upsurge in Wii popularity. Defined by Dr Julio Bonis, Wii-itis is apparently caused by excessive Nintendo Wii use or in my case, resting my elbows on my legs when playing sports games.

I could not work out why my legs ached so much at night and then it dawned on me: I had tennis elbow or more correctly, tennis legs.

Being cool is clearly painful, as also exemplified by the sting that comes from being poked on Facebook by an idiot you thought you had left behind at school.

Your only option is to come out and admit you hate technology. But if you do, expect a similar response to the time you admitted you don’t like Carl Andre’s infamous pile of bricks at the Tate Modern.

IT is no longer the geek’s dominion, so don’t let yourself be accused of being too stupid to understand how modern society consumes technology.

Can you find three reasons to be cheerful?

2008-07-31T10:07:29+01:00

Young, successful and rich – Piers Daniell, the 26-year-old managing director of telecommunications provider Fluidata, is the kind of person who should make you feel sick.

But rather than feeling the penetrating force of the green eye of envy, Daniell makes you feel at ease – which is nice.

The amiable entrepreneur has some interesting stories about his business, the computer firm he set up at 15 years of age, and other opportunities for fame and fortune.

One such opportunity was when Daniell made the shortlist of the final 40 or so candidates for the first series of BBC TV programme The Apprentice.

He says the decisions made during the final elimination day were based purely on the opinion of TV executives – and perhaps unsurprisingly, Daniell says the “noisy and obnoxious candidates” were selected.

But what of Sir Alan Sugar? He says the business tycoon was not involved in the initial selection process.

And would he have been keen on being Sugar’s apprentice? “I didn’t even know who he was,” says Daniell – although the Fluidata chief admits that his mother once owned an Amstrad PC.

Ever the innovator, he followed our meeting by creating his own blog at http://piersdaniell.com/wordpress.

Daniell’s first post rightly recognises that no one would be interested in reading about just the telecoms industry: “If I am able to include a bit of personal trivia it would actually be a bit more appealing,” he says.

Which brings me to a new study on business psychology from Professor Michael West of Aston Business School, who says you need to be positive about your life to beat the credit crunch.

“Write down three things every day in your diary that you have to be grateful for,” says the press release. “That will promote your health and wellbeing.”

Ever the optimist, I struggled to think of three things. But then I looked at my diary, which is gold and produced by Woman & Home magazine.

I am certainly grateful for the fact that my mother-in-law gave me a diary for free, even if I do look a bit of a mug when I get it out in public.

Further reading

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Want to contact the writer? Email Mark Samuels

Advice for graduates wanting a technology career

2008-07-28T12:08:20+01:00

It turns out Simply Red's Mick Hucknall was right: money is, indeed, too tight to mention. Graduates wanting a career in technology are advised not to ask about salary during their job interview, according to www.itjobsforgraduates.com.

The recruitment specialist has issued a bunch of guidelines for potential IT graduates - and instead of concentrating on cash, new entrants should focus on knowing about the company, the industry in which it operates and the position available. Which sound pretty straightforward, but is apparently not - says Teresa Sperti, marketing manager at www.itjobsforgraduates.com:

“The recruitment process can be daunting at the best of times, and this is especially so for graduates who don't yet have any experience and therefore don't know what to expect."

Well, in an attempt to provide as much assistance to new entrants as possible, I've looked through some of the research I've received recently. And graduates should note that:

Salaries for jobs advertised in London are £11,000 higher than anywhere else in the UK. People outside London can expect an average advertised salary of £30,450, according to jobs search engine AllTheTopBananas.com. Workers applying for jobs in the capital will see an average advertised salary of £41,079.
UK business leaders believe half of the lost working days due to sickness are not genuine, while some staff still look on a paid sick leave allowance as an extension of their annual holiday entitlement, according to HR and payroll software provider MidlandHR and technology specialist FirstCare.
Redundancy is not the easy solution for a recession, says workplace information and consultancy Croner. Employers looking to cut costs by making staff redundant are now finding that instead of the financial gain they envisaged, they are in fact facing greater financial pressures from claims raised against them by disgruntled employees at tribunals. Croner says it has seen a fifty per cent rise in claims during the past three months.

In short, then, graduates should not ask about salary and instead concentrate on the obvious stuff: what the company does, and what their potential job will entail. When it comes to wages, act like a Dick Whittington and head for London - salaries in the smoke are much higher than the rest of the UK.

When it comes to actually working, don't take faux illness days - your boss will be on to you quickly and you could be fired. But if the worst happens, look for some sort of legal settlement. Everyone else is, apparently.

Further reading

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Perhaps it's time for me to get a Second Life

2008-07-23T15:49:07+01:00

I’m not a member of Second Life. I have enough problems dealing with the issues of first person life, never mind loading myself with the everyday concerns of an avatar.

But maybe the time has come to open up to the possibilities of the virtual world? After all, everyone else seems to be doing it.

A couple of weeks ago, I visited Wimbledon - the tennis tournament, rather than the place - to have a look at IBM’s technology set-up. It was interesting to see how the firm deals with information provision at a major sporting event.

Collaboration and interactivity were seen as key tenets of the provision, with fans able to use a range of social technology platforms to monitor tournament progress.

Far and away the most intriguing element was IBM’s use of Second Life. Ian Hughes, consulting IT specialist for emerging technology services at the firm, demonstrated how Second Life participants could use their avatar to look around an online representation of the Wimbledon technology set-up.

Hughes and some of his colleagues spend the whole working day online, chatting with fellow avatars. I thought such an approach was the exception, rather than the rule, but my naivety was exposed by Hughes, who explained that about 5,000 IBM employees work permanently in Second Life. And that figure doesn’t include workers who have set up avatars independently.

IBM is by no means alone. Recent moves in the virtual world have included telecoms specialist BT setting up a customer support centre, and guitar manufacturer Gibson launching an island for product demonstrations and live performances.

Never slow to miss an opportunity for expansion, search behemoth Google recently announced the availability of development project Lively - a virtual environment where users can build rooms and interact.

IT professionals should probably avoid looking for an end point to all this collaboration and development. Whereas setting up a presence in Second Life once seemed an opportunity for public relations, creating a virtual presence is now more of a business essential.

And non-believers, such as myself, should recognise that the pace of change is only likely to get quicker.

Further reading

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Want to contact the writer? Email Mark Samuels

Fluidata boss could have been 'The Apprentice'

2008-07-18T12:44:14+01:00

Young, successful and rich - Piers Daniell, the 26 year-old managing director of telecommunications provider Fluidata, is the kind of person that should make you feel sick.

But rather than feeling the penetrating force of the green eye of envy, Daniell makes you feel at ease - which is nice. The amiable entrepreneur has some interesting stories about his current business, the computer firm he set up at 15 years of age, and other opportunities for fame and fortune.

One such opportunity was when Daniell made the short-list of the final 40-or-so candidates for the first series of BBC TV programme 'The Apprentice'.

Making it to the last 40 meant Daniell was involved in the final elimination day, where potential candidates completed a series of tasks. He says the decision to select candidates was based purely on the opinion of TV executives - and perhaps unsurprisingly, Daniell says the "noisy and obnoxious candidates" were selected.

But what of Alan Sugar? Daniell says the business tycoon was not involved in the initial selection process. And would have been keen on working for Sugar?

"I didn't even know who he was," says Daniell - but the Fluidata chief says his mother did once own an Amstrad PC.

Further reading

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Want to contact the writer? Email Mark Samuels

Tonight, Matthew, I’m going to push the envelope

2008-07-17T09:26:54+01:00

“Being a business winner means you need to work hard and play hard,” said the chief executive at a recent breakout session.

It was motivating stuff. I immediately thought of how I could use his paradigm shift to push the envelope. Thankfully, everyone else in the IT team wanted to hit the ground running and we were able to brainstorm about quick wins.

In today’s highly competitive marketplace, you cannot afford to sit on the fence. So, the first game changer we implemented was an integrated Web 2.0 solution that the team could use to leverage low-hanging fruit.

Then we took some of those ideas offline, so that we could touch base and think about future synergies. Keen not to drop the ball, I took some of our showstoppers to senior management.

And what a session that was. Ken - my right-hand man - put a stake in the ground and ran our concepts up the flagpole to see who would salute.

“In terms of scalability, your best-of-breed vision could bring a lot of value to the table,” said the chief executive.

But going forward, I was eager to manage expectations as we moved to the next level. There’s no “I” in “team” and if you are going to maximise customer satisfaction, everyone has to work together as they think outside the box.

We’d recognised that people are our best asset and knew the resulting piece could architect a bright horizon for the business.

Speaking honestly, I’d given 110 per cent and knew our model could push the organisation from good to great. Then someone from finance stuck their nose in and asked what improved ROI we could expect from the system.

“It is what it is,” I said. And I turned to Ken, who looked down and muttered something about the 80/20 rule and 24/7 operations. The chief executive then canned the initiative. This was a shame, because blue sky thinking requires people to raise the bar.

But Ken and I also knew you can’t polish a turd. And we were secretly pleased when human resources gave us our cards and said we would be spending more time with the family.

Further reading

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Cloud computing increases need for IT security

2008-07-15T12:59:02+01:00

Gartner is just loving cloud computing at the moment. The analyst has released quite a bit of information about the potential for cloud-based services during the last couple of weeks.

Today's slab of research from Gartner suggests security applications delivered through the cloud will have a 'dramatic impact' on the industry:

In messaging security controls, such as malware and spam detection/exclusion for e-mail and instant messaging, cloud-based services account for 20 per cent of revenue in 2008
By 2013, cloud-based services in messaging security controls will account for 60 per cent of revenue

Gartner says the increased use of cloud-based services, such as salesforce.com or Google Apps, means users will be accessing data without traversing the corporate network - and will increase the need for security controls between users and the cloud, says Gartner principal analyst Kelly Kavanagh:

"It also will allow security technologies and techniques that are cost-effective to be used only with cloud-style computing. The massively scalable resources provided through the cloud also will be available to people who develop attacks that require intense processing, pursue cloud providers, or both."

Further reading

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Expect thousands of computer software job cuts

2008-07-14T16:07:39+01:00

There's nothing like a precise figure. And according to Plimsoll Analysis, up to 24,073 jobs could be lost as the UK computer software industry consolidates during the next 12 months - which, if nothing else, is an exercise in precision.

Plimsoll has analysed each of the UK’s leading 2,000 companies, assessing each firm’s chances of survival. As well as the job losses:

As many as three quarters of the firms analysed will need to reduced their head count
One of the largest firms could see up to 985 jobs lost
More than a quarter of the companies surveyed are already running at a loss
Companies need to aim for at least £115,000 sales per employee in order to stay competitive

The figures demonstrate the potential problems ahead, both for the UK software industry and IT professionals. As David Pattison, senior analyst at Plimsoll Analysis, says of the challenge:

“The 165 companies we have identified as in danger need to act now if they are to survive. It's very important they review their entire business cost base and take action now to significantly reduce their outgoings. Whilst job losses are undoubtedly bad news for any company, such decisive action may be called for to guarantee the ultimate survival of the business - even if this means the business is 30 or 50 per cent smaller than it was.”

Are job losses bad news for a company? Yeah, maybe. But if the organisation cuts employees and then turns business performance round, are the cuts still bad news? No, I guess not. But they are still bad news for employees that loses their jobs...

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'No Internet Day' vs 'No Google Day'

2008-07-14T10:02:16+01:00

Yesterday was 'No Internet Day' (NID). Well, it was in my house. My wife has become tired of my reliance on the internet at home. But you know, checking if Aston Villa have signed a right back is important.

And there's always some vitally important question that needs to be Googled. My wife does not agree, however.

"I don't believe you can go a whole day without using the internet," she said yesterday, before announcing it was NID.

But I successfully rose to the challenge - and only really started to get withdrawal symptoms by late evening. By then, my mind was starting to crumble under the weight of questions that needed to be Googled.

Still, I managed it. And it turns out NID is a bit of global phenomena (Google "No Internet Day" and see what I mean).

Maybe next weekend should be NGD ("No Google Day" - you can use the internet, but not to find pointless answers to pointless questions).

Further reading

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Want to contact the writer? Email Mark Samuels