Do you know what’s running?
May 29, 2008
Answer the following questions…How many automated processes are running to support your organization’s operational, tactical, and strategic systems? When specifically do they run? Where are they run? What dependencies exist between them? Not easy questions to answer given that most organizations will support multiple flavors of systems. Microsoft, Oracle, Peoplesoft, Mainframe, UNIX, SAP, etc. all have some sort of job scheduler or better phrased workload automation capability. The problem is most are good at only running processes specific to their own platform or software.
If you support or have supported a system or application (who hasn’t?), keeping track of what processes run throughout the day (or go bump in the night) can be a formidable challenge. Enter an enterprise workload automation solution. These solutions help bridge the gap between various systems and infrastructures.
Providing a centralized application that is solely responsible for running required processes (i.e. database backups, journal entry postings, data warehouse loading, system tune-up routines, application health monitoring, etc.), better equips a support team to monitor and respond to events and in some cases become proactive rather than reactive to issues.
Workload automation applications are built to execute workload jobs. Jobs are basically anything that can be run from a command line prompt. Dependencies between jobs can be set that can range from simple (Job B runs after Job A) to complex (Job C in Application X runs after Jobs D & E in Application Y and Job F in Application Z). They often provide functionality that allows for time dependent execution as well. This allows an application to only run a job during certain times of the day or alert support if a job is running longer than expected. In the event that a server can only handle a certain amount of workload before become overly taxed, workload automation applications can be configured to only submit a certain number of simultaneous jobs at a given time.
It is not uncommon for organizations to have multiple “calendars” for their systems. Fiscal days vs. calendar days in the Accounting department for instance. Workload automation tools allow for custom calendars to be used by applications. Need to run system maintenance routines on Christmas or 4th of July…setup a holiday calendar. Need to close the books on the 9th working day of the month, setup a financial closing calendar.
The workload applications are centralized on a workload server. This provides visibility into what applications affect what servers. You can also see when they affect them. If a system needs to be scheduled for service, the workload server can be a good repository to determine when the best “window of opportunity” for the service would be. All output of job submission and execution is logged on the workload server. Metadata such as start & stop times, completion states, script output, etc. is available for analysis. This proves to be an excellent source for understanding system SLA adherence as well as application/job trending for potential future maintenance issues.
All systems run processes “behind the scenes”. Just because these are invisible to the end-users doesn’t mean they are meant to be forgotten. A workload automation solution can be a good “one stop shop” for the management of these processes. Something to consider if you have to go to 5 different places to determine what ran when and where did it fail?
Dave
Social Networking and SharePoint 2007
May 27, 2008
On May 14, 2008, CIO.com published an article about Understanding Microsoft SharePoint in a Web 2.0 World.
Obviously, Social networking is a significant goal of Web 2.0 and has received a lot of attention over the recent past with the hope of improving worker productivity by making available enhanced online access to people, skills, knowledge and other resources. As Wikipedia says, “Social Networking has revolutionized the way we communicate and share information with one another in today’s society”. Social networking software typically allow users to build an online profile through which they can share information about themselves and thus leads to the building of online communities with shared interests and/or activities.
SharePoint 2007 uses the concept of individual, customizable user profiles to provide users with a means of publishing information about themselves. These user profiles can combine information from the organizational directory service such as LDAP or a Human Resource application.
SharePoint provides individual sites (My Sites) for each user that provides personnel information as well as private and public views of content. Visitors to an individual’s My Site can see contact information, presence information, and organizational hierarchy information. My Sites also enables users to display information about their skills, colleagues and other social information.
SharePoint uses the notion of Colleagues, where colleagues can be friends or co-workers or members of the same team, who are related to an individual by means of their profile. The list of colleagues is built by mining multiple sources of information and is directly influenced by the organizational hierarchy. A user can also manually add or remove colleagues from their colleagues web part.
The colleague tracker web part can track changes to the profiles of a users colleagues, for example tracking such things as changes to a blog, new or modified documents, and changes to user profile properties, etc.
The Memberships web part let users see the lists and sites that they are members of.
The In Common With web part shows a visitor summary information relating to memberships, colleagues and managers that the visitor has in common with the owner of that My Site.
The Organization Hierarchy web part on My Profile page shows the user’s manager, peers (others who report to the user’s manager) and any direct reports of that user.
In association with Office Communications Server and Exchange Server, presence information is made available that indicates online instant messaging status, Out of Office messages and contact information.
The People Search function allows users to find people or skills by means of a search interface that returns search results based on social distance (an ordering of results based on colleague relationships i.e. first your colleagues will appear, then their colleagues and then everyone else).
Microsoft has also provided several Role Based Templates for My Sites to cater to the unique needs and requirements of different roles in an organization.
For more information, see the following white paper from Microsoft: Managing Social Networking with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007.
Brian Krahenbuhl Takes Home Best of Software!
May 23, 2008
Over the last year I’ve had the privilege of working with many of the students and faculty of the University of Cincinnati’s College of Applied Sciences (CAS) IT Program. These kids have really made a difference with their contributions to the Information Technology space. In late 2007, I was really impressed with the work Brian Krahenbuhl, a CAS graduating senior, began with .NET 3.5 as he built a Pet Grooming business management package called GroomIx for his senior design project. A couple of months ago LUCRUM had the opportunity to bring Brian into the company.
Yesterday, CAS held its annual Tech Expo (and here) event to highlight the work that their seniors have accomplished. Hats-off to Brian as he took home the Best of Software award as well as the Kroger Award of Excellence for the best presentation!
Brian’s GroomIx
- Andy
What is Web 2.0?
May 22, 2008
Wikipedia defines Web 2.0 as “a term describing the trend in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aims to enhance creativity, information sharing, and, most notably, collaboration among users.” It also quotes Tim O’Reilly (who is widely credited with coining the term Web 2.0), as saying that “ Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform.”
Forrester Research defines Web 2.0 as “a set of technologies and applications that enable efficient interaction among people, content, and data in support of collectively fostering new businesses, technology offerings, and social structures.” (from “Global Enterprise Web 2.0 Market Forecast: 2007 To 2013″ by G. Oliver Young, dated April 21, 2008.)
The phrase Web 2.0 (which really is more of an idea than a software version) has now come to mean the new Web. In an informal sense, Web 2.0 refers to an enhanced form of the world wide web which provides a richer user experience, is more interactive, collaborative, dynamic, participative, and up-to-date. It’s not just about retrieving data anymore but also about creating data and shared knowledge often times in association with others. So users not only download or read but are able to actively upload and create/edit content.
When we speak of Web 2.0, we are speaking about particular technologies and features such as Really Simple Syndication (RSS), Weblogs (Blogs), wikis, forums, mashups, rich Internet Applications, collaborative or social tagging, podcasting, shared bookmarks, virtual team workspaces, widgets or gadgets, etc. XML, web services, AJAX, etc. are typical building blocks to enable these features of Web 2.0.
And Web 2.0 is big business! In the article quoted above from Forrester, we also read that “Enterprise spending on Web 2.0 technologies will grow strongly over the next five years, reaching $4.6 billion globally by 2013, with social networking, mashups, and RSS capturing the greatest share… In 2008, firms will spend $258 million on social networking tools. After blogs and wikis, mashup technology takes off next, growing from a small base of $39 million in 2007 to $682 million in 2013 — second only to social networking.”
Web 2.0 has already affected social behavior significantly and is beginning to now affect the workplace culture and the ways of doing business. There is enhanced communication because of these technologies and more collaboration between a business, its employees, partners and customers. There is increased knowledge sharing and growth in online communities of shared interests. New and exciting ways of presenting the same information are becoming available.
So even as we witness the evolution of the Web into its Web 2.0 form, we can already feel its revolutionary impact!
BI Maturity: You can’t get there from here!
May 20, 2008
I spent last weekend fishing with my father, brother and nephews. Since they live in Connecticut and I in Ohio – we decided to meet half way – somewhere in “The Alleghenies and Her Valleys” to quote the brochure. While I usually rely on my trusty Magellan GPS, I had given it to my oldest daughter to borrow as she was driving south where the weather is warm. So that left me driving through the mountains and her valleys around midnight. Driving through a small town on a small road, looking for a very small park proved more than a challenge. Since I have three daughters and one wife, I have learned to swallow my pride and ask directions. I did, but on my walk in to the “Sheetz” gas station, I was thinking they might give me that response…”Well, you can’t get there from here – you gotta go somewhere else, then loop back around to get there.” However, I received perfect directions! Thank you Mr. Sheetz!
But that got me thinking as I stumbled upon a poster from the TDWI folks that spoke about BI maturity and adoption. It was a few years old, but some things are so true. I was excited to see that old friend and took some time to write up my thoughts on the matter – as well as capture their context. You can visit their poster ’2005 BI Maturity Model’ at http://www.tdwi.org/publications/display.aspx?id=7288.
In case you are wondering how I am going to tie the first two paragraphs together, here goes. From my experience, when senior leadership learns of the value that BI can bring, they really want to ‘get this thing going’. They want to launch a large, comprehensive, enterprise-wide, based-on-the-new-tools, BI innovation that will hit home runs and win ball games. Well the problem is that you can’t get there from here. 
There is a progression that must happen. Farmers can’t just throw seed on the ground and expect to make a profit - there is work to be done to prepare the soil correctly, then lots of care and feeding, praying for rain (but not too much rain) and then F I N A L L Y –> the harvest!
TDWI states that “Most organizations go through six stages when evolving their BI environment from a cost-center operation to a strategic resource that drives the business and shapes the market.”
Using their framework, here is how I break it down…
1. The Beginning (TDWI calls it ‘Prenatal’): Since this is mostly financial, there are a medium amount of standards and not much flexibility. The control is dictated from finance or finance needs. Causal users account for most activity. Power users may make use of this type of information and leverage it into their own ‘shadow’ systems. The problem is that there is a large IT backlog for these reports. The problem here is the information gap – we get the information after the decision had to be made. This decision latency could contribute to the wrong direction as the data it is built on is often not fresh. However, at this stage, a general ‘awareness’ exists – there is at least the existence of the correct information. To get here, there is a larger initial investment and costs are high as economies of scale are not yet a reality.
- Architecture: Management Reporting
- Scope: System
- Type of System: Financial
- Analytics: Paper Report
- User: All
- BI Focus: What Happened?
- Executive Perception: Cost Center
2. Army of One (TDWI calls it ‘Infant’): Lots of flexibility and not any standards to speak of – other than what is negotiated from one user to another. People think local and resist any global initiatives. Causal users use decline, while power users step in to take advantage of this new information. Still, power users are reliant on IT to set the stage for their data and IT continues to struggle with a backlog of requests. As we extract the right data and manually assemble it to address business problems, there is an understanding of what factors are leading to what business results. Cost are somewhat low as analysts are using their own tools and working with certain data sets extracted by IT.
- Architecture: Spreadmarts
- Scope: Individual
- Type of System: Executive
- Analytics: Briefing Book
- User: Analyst
- BI Focus: What Will Happen?
- Executive Perception: Inform Executive
3. Working as a team (TDWI calls it ‘Child’): Flexibility is somewhat high, but at this point is waning as people within the department begin to work together. But still not many standards to speak of – other than what is negotiated from one user to another or driven from within the department. People still think/act from a local perspective and resist any global initiatives. Causal users use starts to trend up to take advantage of some individual benefits provided to them at the department level. Once the organization deploys data marts based on the emerging standards, the BI environment becomes a self service type, where the bottle neck that once existed within IT has been removed. At this stage, an understanding of why things have happened is occurring because knowledge workers are using analytical systems to extract data to their own needs and using that data to draw conclusions about business events. Costs begin to creep a small amount as some technology is purchased, but overall not a big factor.
- Architecture: Data Marts
- Scope: Departmental
- Type of System: Analytical
- Analytics: Interactive Report
- User: Knowledge Worker
- BI Focus: Why Did It Happen?
- Executive Perception: Empowers Workers
4. Thinking bigger (TDWI calls it ‘Teenager’): Flexibility starts to fade as division wide standards arise. People see the need to work together and are driven by common divisional goals. Here there is an atmosphere of negotiation and consolidation as these standards are built out. Now causal user use is on the rise, as the wide standards lead to increased reliability on the data available within the BI ‘system’. Power users use remains flat; but their ideas are rolled back in to divisional solutions; they are seen as subject matter experts and are often tapped to provide leadership and direction for their domain. The focus here is customized delivery at the divisional level; dashboards, scorecards, report cards and the like. At this stage, managers are making use of the divisional wide dashboards and are given real time information that is actionable – what is happening right now. Costs are rising as we work within the division to develop standards and customized delivery.
- Architecture: Data Warehouse
- Scope: Division
- Type of System: Monitoring
- Analytics: Dashboard
- User: Manager
- BI Focus: What Is Happening?
- Executive Perception: Monitor Processes
5. Mature (TDWI calls it ‘Adult’): Standards are formed at the enterprise level. Governance groups are now formal processes with the proper structure and sponsorship. Senior level support is solid. Although flexibility takes a dip at first as the organization learns, flexibility then trends up as efficiencies and learnings are gained. Truly people are planning globally to act local at this stage. At this stage, executives are also onboard as the mature BI environment serves to align all players within the organization. The causal users use the system to help them understand what they should be working on and how their efforts affect the organization as a whole. The delivery mode transitions from a divisional perspective to the enterprise but is also balanced; balanced or cascading scorecards are the focus of the organization and serves as the single point of truth to answer the questions about our goals and progress towards them. At this stage, executives are using the BI environment as a communication tool to both align the organization on goals and objectives as well as communicate the results and current situations. These pivotal points are balanced all the way through the organization and are socialized in a manner that is equal to business strategy. The balanced or cascading scorecards open up alternative decisions as all indicators that lead to a ‘score’ are actionable. Costs rise again because of the enterprise level investment and collaboration, but the value should increase dramatically.
- Architecture: Enterprise Data Warehouse
- Scope: Enterprise
- Type of System: Strategic
- Analytics: Cascading Scorecards
- User: Executive
- BI Focus: What Should We Do?
- Executive Perception: Drive The Business
6. Harvesting Relationships or Partnerships (TDWI calls it ‘Sage’): Leveraging the mature BI environment by opening up that business service to clients is the last stage. Here standards and control continue to be formed, but originates from client relationships. Flexibility is also harvested as new ideas, thoughts, concepts are embraced by the mature BI environment. At this stage, our BI environment can now be thought of as a BI Utility for our customers; helping them to solve their business problems by making use of the organization’s rich and focused information in the form of customer focused solutions deployed to help build or bind relationships, thus increasing the value proposition to them by the organization. At this stage, the BI Utility becomes a needed part within the customer’s infrastructure (whether it be for a single customer’s need for specific and unique information or for a company with complex business processes). Costs take a dip, the data/information infrastructure is in place and the capital expenditure has been amortized. Tools already exist to develop rich applications. The value increases exceedingly abundantly here, as a very narrow scoped application brings a deep penetration of partnership.
- Architecture: Analytical Services
- Scope: Inter-Enterprise
- Type of System: Business Service
- Analytics: Embedded BI
- User: Customer
- BI Focus: What Can We Offer?
- Executive Perception: Drive The Market
Now that you know… Where do you see your organization? How can you actualize the next stage? What are some value statements that you can take to senior leadership? What business problems can you address? What type of socialization strategy will work best? Where should you invest and what will the return look like? Who can you trust to help you get there from here without shortcutting the maturity journey – proper growth is built on a series of solid foundations. These sucesses are the underpinnings of the needed BI elements; Trust, Vision, Focus, Value, Momentum…repeat.
Happy Maturing!
Scott Felten
What a Difference a Week Makes…
May 20, 2008
Last week, I wrote my Tuesday blog post on charitable events, volunteering and how they impact the community and customer loyalty. In the opening paragraph I mentioned two companies as examples of great customer loyalty, in fact, their customers are not just loyal, they’re evangelists. They seek people out to spread the word of Apple, Starbucks. Well, I read an interesting article yesterday in the Journal concerning the latter and their recent struggles they have been enduring and I thought, hmm…what great timing to make an example of customer loyalty Andrew. Considering I don’t learn from my mistakes I will venture down that road one more time and make Starbucks again the focal point of my customer loyalty rant.
The article outlines various reasons for the recent downturn of the once skyrocketing company. Obviously, the economy is a variable that must be considered, even with Starbucks ambitious goal of being the third place in our lives, home, work, Starbucks! Perhaps it was unwise to tie its fate to our homes and work given the recent events in employment and the housing market, (like a tripod if you will.) If it were that simple then Starbucks could just retrench and weather the storm, unfortunately for Starbucks this is not the case.
It can cost up to five times more to acquire a new customer than to keep an old one. Efficiency along with customer loyalty is paramount as always, and even more so times of economic uncertainty. When belt tightening happens as it is bound to do and is happening right now people reexamine their priorities, this is when loyal customers count extra. So then, what has Starbucks done wrong recently?
Starbucks genius was how they transferred coffee from a commodity to a social experience. It was new, stylish and the product was initially superior. As in every industry imitators sprung up and business followed their model to skim off the top or try to steal market share. At first no big deal, in the early part of the decade they were opening 7 café’s a day. Starbucks was still ahead of the curve, but somewhere along the way the fell off the race track it seems. Mr. Schultz, their charismatic fearless leader stepped down in 2000, but remained Chairman where he dove into side projects like signing musicians to the Starbucks Coffee label, and marketing Hollywood films. They started diversifying too much. They weren’t coming up with new quality products that fit their core competency, but rather mindlessly adding products just to sell. They started adding drink flavors that made no sense, breakfast sandwiches that would overpower the smell of the coffee in a coffee house, and stuffed animals lining the walls of the stores. Furthermore, they weren’t keeping up with new and innovative methods of brewing and pressing coffee, (apparently you can reinvent the wheel). Their customers started to get annoyed to say the least. If you’re gonna buy a $4 dollar coffee, you want it from a place that is serious about the coffee business, not one that has gimmicks and tries to sell you something at every turn. They lost sight of their initial vision, their love of coffee.
Never bite the hand that feeds you. As stated before the customer is king or boss or is always right. They broke a rule in the Tuesday model. Their customer’s expected great coffee at a serious coffee house. When Starbucks started to get into everything under the sun to make a buck they failed their loyal customers. The customer’s understanding of Starbucks started to get foggy. Trust then eroded. The relationship and inevitably the loyalty suffered and now Starbucks is going back to the drawing board to win back their customers trust.
Some SharePoint competitors in the Enterprise 2.0 space…
May 19, 2008
There’s been a lot of buzz over the past couple of months around companies who are pitching their products against SharePoint. Just the fact that companies are targeting SharePoint tells you that it is the product to beat. For instance, have you read about the offerings from Google and IBM?
Here’a a link to a ZDNet article saying Google takes on Microsoft SharePoint with Google Sites. And here’s another one asking: Is Google Sites going to be a SharePoint killer?
Both articles conclude that for all the hype surrounding Google Sites and Google Apps, apparently they still have a long way to go to catch up to SharePoint. Also, given that Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 is available for free with Windows Server 2003, users do not need to pay any licensing fees to use the basic collaboration platform available with SharePoint. And by the way, did you know that Office Live Small Business (which provides everything you need to take your small business online, including a free website, free email, free online business applications, etc.) and Office Live Workspaces (an online place to save, access, and share documents and files), are built on SharePoint products?
IBM recently announced how they’d like to “liberate” your apps from SharePoint. Also look at another article around the same topic. IBM acknowledges the “viral adoption of SharePoint” in the enterprise, almost like Lotus Notes back in the 90s. And it’s interesting to note that the man behind the success of Lotus Notes, Ray Ozzie, isn’t with IBM or Lotus, but is the Chief Software Architect at Microsoft! Hmmm… And I know of at least 2 major corporations with a huge presence in Cincinnati, OH, that have decided to move away from Lotus Notes to SharePoint! I guess we have to wait and see if Quickr is able to stem this flow…
Evans Data Corporation’s recently surveyed over 400 developers for its May 2008 report on “Web 2.0 Developer Programs – 2008 Rankings”. Some folks might be surprised to hear that Google came in at second place. So who came in first? Apparently, “the strength of Microsoft’s Windows Live offerings for Tools and SDKs and Web Services allow them to finish first overall”.
So it seems that SharePoint is not something an organization would want to ignore or take lightly – plus, serious web 2.0 developers need to more closely look at Microsoft’s offering in this area.
Oracle supports Microsoft
May 16, 2008
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in conversations around the topic of “Oracle vs. Microsoft”. I’ve heard both sides of the story ranging from “SQL Server for mission critical operations…are you crazy!” to “Oracle costs me my first born child…year after year!”. While these discussions are often entertaining, the line delineating the two database giants is blurring by each subsequent release.
In my years consulting for LÛCRUM, I have worked for numerous clients that have had installations of both Oracle and Microsoft running in their environments. With recent statistics estimating that Oracle controls >50% of the database market and Microsoft controlling >50% of the server operating system market, are you surprised? SQL Server only runs on Microsoft. Oracle offers more operating system versatility. While you’ll see UNIX and Linux installations, Oracle’s ability to run on Microsoft remains strong and they are improving their functionality with respect to Microsoft development. Where might an Oracle database deployed on a Microsoft server make most sense? In the small and mid-sized business market (SMB). In the SMB market, Oracle has competitively priced versions such as Oracle Database Standard Edition and Standard Edition One.
So what advantages does running Oracle on Microsoft have to offer? First, Oracle has tight integration with Active Directory and Windows Security Framework. Items such as single sign-on and security via database role and Active Directory group fall into this category. Next, Oracle offers 32-bit and 64-bit versions. In the 32-bit version, Oracle is able to utilize up to 3GB (out of a 4GB O.S. maximum) of system memory for database use. Finally, Oracle has also been working on enhancing its ability to integrate with the Windows development suite, specifically Visual Studio 2008. Oracle supports .NET in 3 ways. The Oracle Data Provider for .NET leverages ADO.NET API and allows .NET applications to access Oracle data. These APIs should be familiar to most Microsoft developers. In addition, through an add-in (free for that matter), developers can work with Oracle services via Visual Studio 2005 (and 2008 as previously mentioned). Through the development suite, developers have access to various wizards to perform various database tasks (i.e. DDL), a procedure editor (for PL/SQL procedures, packages, and functions), a Debugger for runtime error interaction, and integrated help for items such as Oracle error reference, SQL, and PL/SQL user manuals. Lastly, Oracle has integrated .NET extensions directly inside the database. This allows developers to created stored procedures and functions using C# or VB.NET within Visual Studio. This code can then be deployed to the database and referenced wherever a stored procedure or function is permitted.
Oracle has shown it is advantageous to offer solutions that fit neatly into an operating system that controls the majority of the server market, even if that vendor also happens to be a major competitor in the database market. Offer a product that is extensible and easy to use with development GUIs is sure to give you a seat at the table when it comes to choosing a solution for your organization. That is precisely why Oracle supports Microsoft (most of the time <grin>).
Dave
When Life Gets in the Way of A Great Blog Post
May 15, 2008
If you’ve read any of my previous postings, you know that I put a lot of thought and detail into each of my blogs. I have to say sorry that I’ve missed you all lately, but life has started to get in the way. I have several partially complete. But then…
This week – Urgent priorities with my new client, Ipsos, and other major client needs are driving my time. I also have a member of my team in town from Newfoundland.
Last week – I started to come up to speed with Ipsos and had meetings all day each day.
Prior week – I was finishing my Data Strategy/Architecture role with Kroger which required me to max out each day.
But, at night… Had lots of family things going on…you know what it’s like trying to balance work/home life. !
I’ve got one finishing high school, one just finished her first year of college. Two proms. One 8th grade formal. One child going to Orlando for two weeks, another going to Destin for a week. Three awards ceremonies. One child with recent medical issues and blah blah blah and so on….
So, I am trying to get back in to balance and expect to reach a proper rhythm again soon. Or my head will explode! I miss you all and hope to post some great content soon.
Marketing in the Recommendation Age
May 15, 2008
“Why on Earth would your company want a blog?” “Aren’t you afraid of what people might say?” “What about your brand?” As the guy who championed the idea of the blog at LUCRUM, and regular blogging evangelist, I am asked this question almost daily. My answer is simple. “I trust our people to do the right thing.”
My coworkers at LUCRUM are smart – much smarter than I am. I know that when they talk about technology, they are passionate about it. They speak from experience and they speak from the heart. They are sincere, and that is different. They are interesting. They are real. They are the essence of “The Brand.”
I also trust the readers of the site. They can smell disingenuous corporate speak from a mile away. Yeah, I could hire professional writers to put together a brand strategy for our blog. We could toil endlessly on the exact wording of every phrase – but why? It would not be real. It would not be different. It would invisible.
Thankfully, it is real. And… it is really fun to be involved with.
Just today, we were contacted by a talented IT Professional who was so moved by Andy Erickson’s LinkedIn profile and the honesty of the blog site that she sent in an amazing letter with her resume expressing her desire to join the LUCRUM team.
This is the result of conversation.
What we hope to achieve is not just conversation, but also recommendation. In this day and age reputation is so important. What you do is far more important than what you say you do. What you do IS the marketing. It is about customer service, employee relations, innovative thinking, and delivering real value for Clients each and every day.
We are working on building a tribe. A loyal group of eager participants, fully engaged in the experience of LUCRUM. We want to create evangelists. We aspire to deliver greatness. That aspiration lives in each of us, and thus the blog serves as the platform for sharing our honest hopes and dreams for the firm. It is a metaphor for the business as a whole. It is about being “recommendable” or perhaps more properly put “remarkable.”
Are we there yet? Nope. But we have taken the steps necessary to start the journey. Each and every day we learn. Each and every day we evolve. Hopefully, we listen, we grow, and we improve along the way.
Why blog? Well if what we do is to solve business problems by using technology, than why not embrace technology to identify those problems and uncover the solutions? Why not engage our people to drive innovation at every level of the organization? Why not give everyone, including our clients and the world at large, a voice in the conversation. Why not become recommendable?
Check out the link below for a great article about marketing in the recommendation age.
Marketing in the Recommendation Age | Small Business Solutions – TheStreet.com
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