Ok here's an idea scrap the I.T. department and Marketing department and replace both of them with a new department called "Communications". Next hardwire your clients and suppliers into the new 'coms dept' by destroying  your call centers and accounting bouncers by replacing them with wikis, blogs and home brewed social software build on web/Saas APIs. Have the folks who used to work in marketing participate in and enable blogs (not just yours, the whole sphere). Fire the PR company, use the money to hire good bloggers and evangelists . Have the Folks formerly know as 'The I.T. dept' build and run wikis and the locally brewed social software, have them report to the bloggers. What about the legacy I.T. ? Skeleton staff it or outsource it, but slowly and surely move away from it as fast as possible. Next transform your business into a purple cow, which will surely happen as you actually learn what the market place actually needs and desires. No really! think about it, I'm deadly serious......

What do you think, will it work?

P.S. if you need any help just give us a shout..

Ok I am going to attempt to distill what I have learnt of Fortress primarily from these slides

Warning : My experience of Fortress so far could be compared to Reading the Haynes manual of a vehicle before driving it. This is not usually a good idea, as all one really needs to get from a to b is to know how to drive. Usually when I do this it I end up disliking a language, as I did by reading BJarne Stroustrup's C++ Programming language (ISBN-10: 0201327554), BJarne may be a programming genius but his book writing sucks. I am however excited by Fortress so here goes.

Read more...

I see Microsoft are now planning to exploit the humble shipping container, an idea borrowed from Sun. But they seem to want to take the idea further by making these containers disposable with no human access. Obviously this is all part of the new live platform infrastructure plan, but it looks kind of similar to a new generation of Mainframe, ironic really.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Platform, Sun

First of all this post was entirely inspired by Jame's brilliant 'Canute' post, please read that first it's very important. I just want to riff a little on the changing consumer/enterprise meme.

There has been a symbiotic relationship between the consumer and the enterprise, similar to any eco systems food chain. The consumers were historically at the bottom of the enterprise's food chain, and an enterprise would effectively filter that food chain in order to work the volume of transactions required to maintain their scale (a bit like plankton and whales). Enterprises have become enormously efficient at working the food chain using their toolbox containing advertising, PR, brand and CRM.

However, change is at hand the consumer is transforming into participant. They are not happy merely consuming any more, they want to be part of the conversation, they want to directly influence production and are exercising their right to control the economic market place, in the same way Adam Smith indicated fair markets would. In the transformed world, consumers become participants, by taking back the car keys and determining their own destinations. The producer must wake up to the reality that it is the participants that are in control, and not themselves. Given that consuming was a one way street and participation is bidirectional, how does that change the enterprise toolkit, or indeed is there room for the enterprise moving forward, will they become the dinosaurs of our age.

When bidirectional takes over from unidirectional the tools of advertising, PR, brand and CRM become blunt and unwieldy instruments. If it takes a new kind of toolkit what's in that toolkit? can the enterprise species adapt to the new toolkit or is it doomed. I leave this as an exercise for the participants.

Technorati Tags: Enterprise2.0, participant

Heres my job : listen, think and do (ltd). sounds simple enough doesn't it? unfortunately I've been having real problems with it lately, for example I have spent so much time listening and thinking lately that my doing (productivity) has dropped through the floor. I don't blame this on myself of course rather my favorite bloggers and participants, if they stopped writing and saying such interesting stuff, my listening would decrease dramatically, also I wouldn't have so much to think about.

Of course because they are all participants, I have to go with the flow thats the way it works. If flow is high and rich then inevitably one gets caught in it, thats just the way, and truly I wouldn't want to change that. I could of course be draconian and lop off parts of the network in which I am engaged, but I fear this would throw the baby out with the bath water.

No I must adopt a more cunning plan to solve my predicament I will use 'The Force'. In this case there is little difference between 'The Network' and 'The Force' I am just using metaphors to convey interpretation. But the lesson for young Luke in Star Wars was that rather than try to fight it work with it, feel it, using the force was like the reed bending in the wind versus the tree being uprooted.

Apologies for the bizarre star wars and folk story references, but what I am saying is that I have to use the network to combat the network effects. I too have to bend with the network and let the network flow right through me, resisting it will just displace my position in it. So I think my decision has to move from being a network listener and thinker to being more of a network doer. Doing with the network isn't unfamiliar to me, having being involved in open source communities over the years, however I have done little in instigating such communities or kicking of projects. In many ways I have wanted to but the risks for starting such things are high, I suffer fears of rejection, worries about overload or just plain paranoia about whether anyone else would actually being interested in what I wish to commence.

But I do have to move on, it isn't just the thinking and listening that is preventing me from effectively doing it is also the deciding, which is the bridge betwixt thinking and doing, with which I am needing some help. So from now on I will be whispering to you, my participants, in order that you may help me decide. I am optimistic that you will at least in some way participate, I will certainly encourage it so keep your ears and eyes open.....

Technorati Tags: participation, ltd

Just a reminder I will be at Wiki Wednesday tonight (organised by David), last month's meeting was a great chance to meet up with a varied bunch of people working the social software meme into something practical. Interesting people and good company, if you in London this evening you might want to consider joining us.

Technorati Tags: WikiWednesday

I had always been really impressed with 37 Signals and have sung their praise numerous times, but as of late they seem to be developing a somewhat holier than thow attitude thats is getting right on my nerves. Never mind, alternatives will emerge, it's worth taking a look at this interesting candidate, pay special attention to the last item on their comparison matrix!

* Oh I nearly forgot to mention it they have built their solution on the new emerging platform using OpenSource software so double marks for BaseJumpr.