Wednesday, August 31, 2005|
A lordly view of IT It's rare, and refreshing, to hear a top executive give a level-headed appraisal of the role of information technology. A couple of years ago, Tony Comper, the CEO of BMO Financial Group (and a former CIO), gave a particularly eloquent talk on business computing at an IBM event. Now, the chairman of the U.K. drinks giant Diageo, Lord Blyth of Rowington, has offered some blunt comments of his own. In a recent speech at the Wharton Global Alumni Forum, Lord Blyth cast doubt on the business value of most IT investments. First, he described what he calls "the tyranny of technology," the bias to try to solve problems with new technologies even if simpler, cheaper solutions may be within easy reach. "We waste a huge amount of time designing, training and then redesigning and retraining staff on each new technology program," he said, citing that fact as one of the reasons companies make "$500 billion of bad investments" in IT every year.
He then offered two explanations for why so much IT spending goes to waste: "One, it's difficult to sustain a technology-based competitive advantage; two, companies often lack the management discipline they need when evaluating technology proposals." He says this about IT as a source of advantage: "Too many companies out there are prepared to sell you innovative technology that they sold to somebody else. Real competitive advantage is provided by managerial innovations, either to increase productivity or to build on operational strength."
Lord Blyth also blames the bad investments on a lack of follow-up in measuring the actual returns from new IT systems. He refers to a McKinsey study which shows, incredibly, that "64% of the CIOs [of Fortune 500 companies] did not undertake any follow-up to determine whether IT projects failed or succeeded."
Blyth is no Luddite. He talks about the ways Diageo itself has learned to better manage IT investments - and get real returns from them. But his cautionary words are carefully chosen, and they'll probably ring true for a lot of top managers. - nick (nick@roughtype.com) [Rough Type: Nicholas Carr's Blog]2:33:31 PM  comment
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From darling to demon Last week, the New York Times ran a big story suggesting that Google was becoming the next Microsoft - the company other tech companies love to hate. But the real confirmation that Google's image is taking a u-turn comes today, when the Onion skewers Google with one of its hilarious parodies - an article about the company's new "Google Purge" initiative to "destroy all the information it is unable to index." The big question now is: Will Google refuse to talk to Onion reporters for a year? - nick (nick@roughtype.com) [Rough Type: Nicholas Carr's Blog]2:33:12 PM comment
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Sources Confirm Motorola iTunes Phone. Sources who have used the new E790 iTunes phone dish out details on the long-awaited Motorola/Apple collaboration. [eWEEK Technology News] 2:30:55 PM comment
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More on Itunes-Motorola Phone: Just 25 Songs?. : The invite here. Also, more confirmation from eWeek...Motorola's upcoming E790 iTunes phone sounds like an iPod Shuffle and looks like a shiny white version of Motorola's E398 phone. Like the E398, the E790 has stereo speakers and a port... [PaidContent.org] 2:29:18 PM comment
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Wireless Japan Expo: Video Report. Last week's Wireless Japan Expo was a bit of an anticipointment. With the exception of a few prototype handsets from NEC, WWJ had already reported on much of the technology on display. DoCoMo and Panasonic highlighted the fun of their customizable 901i handsets. One area included display-only custom covers by Japanese artists and designers. MoBaHo!, that joint venture of 88 Japanese and Korean companies beaming 40 channels of video, audio and data programming to handheld receivers, cell phones and car-mounted tuners from their satellite, mostly recycled displays from last autumn's show. Though not really new, Fuji Film's pocket-sized infrared printer PiVi drew in expo goers with photos next to a mock-up of the Japan National Soccer Team. KDDI showcased their... [i-mode Business Strategy] 2:29:04 PM comment
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Q&A with Dr Mike Gauba: Q1 - i-mode and 3G skeptic. When I met Mike Gauba, recently returned from Korea as a Professor and from working throughout Asia as a consultant, he explained to me his marketing theories for 3G.
What really caught my attention, as he was explaining why Telcos have the wrong marketing models, was his assertion that the success of i-mode was an accident - which he used as a point of proof of his theory. [i-mode Business Strategy] |
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O2 reports encouraging data growth. O2 Group this morning reported that data trends in the three month period to end-June remained robust, particularly in the UK, "although voice ARPU growth in the UK and Germany continues to be restrained by termination rate cuts brought in last year". The operator's UK unit added 232,000 net additions... the total customer base rose to 24.6 million, 15.5% higher than at the same time last year. [i-mode Business Strategy] 2:28:32 PM comment
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Nokia makes the case for mobile TV. The punters want it - really [The Register] 2:28:20 PM comment
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Indian Telecom Regulator Suggests Dual Mode Commercial TV Broadcasting. The Hindu Business Line: Indian telecom regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority Of India (TRAI) on Monday suggested that the government should permit commercial television broadcasting in both analogue and digital modes and said its licensing structure should be on the lines of FM Radio. TRAI based its recommendations on the fact that there is sufficient spectrum to support a few players even in analogue mode. Suggesting that details of frequency allocation for analogue and digital services could be finalised later, once the major decisions were taken, TRAI said the distribution would have to take note of the requirements of wireless based telecom services. Recommending a comprehensive review of rules governing various segments of media sector, TRAI said the review should take note of the likely convergence between telecom and broadcasting since the former was also interested in commercial TV broadcasting. [ContentSutra] 2:28:03 PM comment
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Low Cost Computing In India. 
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Conference On Mobile Gaming In New Delhi In September. Techtree: An International conference - Mobile Gaming 2005 - will be held in New Delhi, from 21st September to 22nd September'05. This international mobile gaming conference is being organized by Informedia India to discuss development and progress of the mobile gaming industry. The conference will be attended by operators, content providers, platform developers, aggregators and game developers, who are looking at developing innovative wireless streams that go beyond basics like text messaging and voice support. Mobile Gaming 2005 has been endorsed by ICA (Indian Cellular Association), TUGI (Telecom Users Group of India) and IGDA (International Games Developers Association). It will discuss issues of game community management, content development, technical issues, price sensitivity, market potential, IPR issues, hollywood / bollywood games et al.
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VAS Ringing In Cash Registers For Carriers And Content Developers. The Financial Express: Value-added services (VAS) or the stuff like SMSes, ringtones, jokes, astrology, 3D and Bluetooth games, cricket scores and movie ticket bookings are becoming a lucrative business for telecom operators and content providers. "The market for mobile value-added services is currently about Rs 380 crore ($88 million), and it is expected to grow to around 3,500 crore ($813 million) by 2010," says Arun Gupta, COO, Mauj Telecom, a leading VAS player. So small wonder, to supplement stagnant voice revenues, cellular operators are now turning to VAS to boost revenue in both data and value-added voice services. "Revenue from the VAS segment is growing at a rate of 30 to 40 % a year. [ContentSutra] 2:26:30 PM comment
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A Nominal Entry Fee For 3G Likely. Business Standard: The issue of levying a licence fee for 3G services refuses to die down. Indian government is believed to be thinking of charging a nominal licence fee, which is contradictory to a draft report filed by the Department of Telecommunications early this month. The story says: "In exchange for the âo[ogonek]nominal entry feeâo?, the finance ministry would accept DoTâo[dot accent]s proposal for a revenue share of 3 per cent for 5 MHz, 5 per cent for 10 MHz, 7 per cent for 15 MHz and 9 per cent for 20 Mhz. Ministry officials, however, declined to specify as to what amount the nominal entry fee would translate into. Ratan Tata had proposed that service providers pay a one-time entry fee of Rs 1,500 crores for 3G spectrum. âo[ogonek]The entry fee, if applicable could be about a fifth of the Tatasâo[dot accent] offer,âo? hinted an official.
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Mobile Music: Apple, Motorola And Beyond. : Lost in the iPhone shuffle, this wouldn't the first -- and might not even be the coolest-- music-to-phone option out there. Napster To Go already works with some phones by circumventing the carriers. Carrier-centric possibilities are already out there.... [PaidContent.org] 2:24:48 PM comment
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Google Wallet coming soon?. What’s next from Google? Google Wallet?, the much awaited PayPal killer. There is the same 404 error on the Google Wallet page as we saw in Google Talk! (Of course this could be one big load of c..p)Good work, Google Rumors. eBay flew under the Google radar long enough! [Om Malik's Broadband Blog] 2:22:55 PM comment
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Sony in Big Push to Offer Manga via Cell Phones. By David Jacobson: Sony Pictures Entertainment is making a big push to encourage Japanese to start reading their massive "manga" comic books on tiny cell phones. [Japan Media Review] 2:05:18 PM comment
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NHK: Can It Be Fixed?. By Takehiko Kambayashi: A former top reporter for the public broadcaster speaks about the network's recent string of scandals and the problems with the news media today. [Japan Media Review] 2:04:13 PM comment
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Indian Cellular Market To Be $24 Billion By 2009; Value Added Services To Play A Role. Red Herring: Revenues from the Indian cellular services market will reach $24 billion by the end of 2009, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 35.6 percent, according to a study released Wednesday by the research firm Gartner. Gartner also stated that the Indian cellular services market had recorded the highest growth across the Asia Pacific and Japan region in 2004 with a CAGR of 67 percent. However, Gartner advises operators to prepare themselves to work in business environments where ARPU levels are expected to be as low as $5 per month in the next 18 to 24 months. Operators will struggle to find a balance between yield (income/earnings/margin) and growth to fulfill growth expectations, it said. Non-voice value-added services such as ring tones, call-back tones, games, and music downloads will play a significant role as service differentiators and as an important revenue stream that will help to cushion the pressure on overall service revenues.
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Last update: 9/3/05; 2:24:11 PM .
