INSIDE:

Features: Industrial strength IT (why automation is inevitable), An expert guide to selecting and implementing ERP solutions (insights from 60 years of subject matter expertise), The psychology of IT procurement (modern procurement conversation in the era of the cloud), Digital business calls for postmodern ERP (what postmodern ERP is and why it matters), Building smart (the impact of software on the design and construction process), The road ahead for 3D printers (the coming challenges for 3D printing), Agile runs deep (what the wider enterprise has learnt from agile IT development), NBN & UFB: getting down to the wire (the big picture for the NBN and UFB).

IT success stories by industry: Food manufacturing, e-commerce, primary industry/ agriculture and primary health-care.

FROM THE EDITOR:

Robotics have been in factories for almost 40 years, however today the opportunity for integration with design and automation systems, and the complexity of doing so, have increased manifold. It’s not just about greater compute power but the ability to gather data via a multitude of sensors, collate and simplify it and deploy it as information into agile decision-making processes. The trend, encapsulated in the new term ‘internet of things’ (IoT), is increasingly hitting the factory floor, as Donovan Jackson discovers.

The construction industry is another that at first look may not appear a digital frontier, but the reality is quite different. The influence of digitisation is providing increasingly sophisticated tools to not only design and engineer buildings, but also to manage the buildings themselves, and to provide sophisticated services for their occupants. Smart buildings that respond to their environment automatically and continually optimise their energy usage are now the norm. As cranes are erected in post-quake Christchurch, and increasingly on the Auckland skyline, we sent Anthony Doesburg out to report back on the changes technology is having on the sector.

3D printing is another technology which has the capacity to completely revolutionise not only manufacturing but also the biomedical, architectural, fashion and design industries (to name a few). Advances in the capabilities of these clever devices see the technology poised to move beyond rapid prototyping and into the world of finished-products, changing the supply chain model forever.

All of this means that businesses need to be both clever and agile enough to allow innovation to prevail. Agility is near and dear to the IT community where agile development frameworks have become a way of life, and these disciplines are now being adopted to help create more agile enterprises. Cloud software is also making it very easy to experiment with new ways of doing things, and this is changing how IT is procured, and by whom. In turn, that question is forcing the technology conversation into the boardroom, which we’d argue is about time! That said, we never pretend that buying technology is easy. We’ve tapped into the accumulated knowledge of three ERP experts who provide useful insights into how best to select and implement new ERP systems. The article is compulsory reading for anyone taking a serious look at our latest ERP Buyer’s Guide.

Writing this now, in what little hindsight a quarterly publication affords, it strikes me that we live in an era where change truly is constant. To resist is both futile and career limiting, so we should all be open to embrace it and bravely forge new ways of doing things.

Enjoy the read,

Clare Coulson
Editor

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INSIDE:

Features: ICT skills shortage (is the region missing out on ICt opportunities), 2022 future world of work (what work world will we live in?), How to transform paper shufflers (how technology is helping HR to add value), Creating beautiful software (how best to design simple-to use-software and websites), The process of processification (why business process mapping can also be about innovation) and IT employment market (insights into ICT salary landscape).

IT success stories by industry: Project based businesses, Medical supplies, Apparel and Medical equipment

FROM THE EDITOR:
Working on the site got me thinking about the combination of the human and IT factors in every IT project and this, in many ways, is the focus of this issue. For example, as the world becomes increasingly digitised and globalised, those regions with strong ICT skills will be the winners. Unfortunately for us, we are experiencing an ICT skills shortage that seems to be worsening. Indeed it was a significant talking point in the recent New Zealand general election, which at least bodes well for the future. I talked to a number of experts to find out what a skills shortage means for our region and what we can do to help assuage it. What surprised me the most was the fact that most parents and teachers do not see IT as a profession to encourage their children to take up as a career, which is strange when you consider how lucrative and stable such a career can be. To confirm this, we took a look at the salaries available in the sector.

Education does not end at school or university, so this issue we asked Donovan Jackson to look at how HR systems can help to manage internal talent, organisational capabilities and ongoing education and certification. You can find out more about how the role of HR is changing.

Happy, constructive employees are key to a successful and profitable business these days. One cause of employee disgruntlement is ineffective systems and processes that cause frustration. If nothing is done about this then staff will leave. Business process management, or BPM, aims to improve processes with employee involvement and often on the fly. It’s even becoming part of the innovation fabric in some companies. Sometimes it’s not the overall process but the clunky software that causes frustrations as one of our contributors points out. Today, however, we are finally seeing the lessons learnt in consumer software apps filter through to business software, as developers focus more on the user interface and overall user experience as well as the underlying processes. Anthony Doesburg took a look at how simplicity is winning the enterprise software battle.

The more I read about it and the more I am involved in IT projects, the more I see the importance of the human element in IT. For example, Jeff Dance, usability expert, explains why certain web designs work better than others, while SimplHealth CEO Jodi Mitchell discusses the merits of having a diverse workforce in IT. In fact, almost everything we have written about in this issue has a strong human element, which goes to show just how far IT has come from its early days of brainiacs in walk shorts, pen protectors and thick-rimmed glasses.

Clare Coulson
Editor

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Inside:

Features: The internet of things (what’s behind the buzz of the IoT), How to plug into the internet of things (what’s involved in setting up an IoT solution), Analytics untangled (what’s what in the data domain), Scanning the biometrics market (the sci-fi world of security analytics, biometrics and behaviourmetrics), The politics of e-health (politics in the e-health sector), Defining the connected living market (the future of the connected living market).

IT success stories by industry: Government, Retail, Numismatics, Automotive, Transportation, Regulatory Inspections

FROM THE EDITOR:
And the incredible, genuinely useful “stuff” you can do with “things” (good grief) is only going to proliferate over time. As Anthony Doesburg uncovers in his feature on the birth of IoT, IDC estimated around 9 billion connected devices were running in 2013. By 2020 it expects the number to have reached more than 28 billion. The internet of things is moving well beyond us mere humans – Anthony follows up with a pragmatic look at emerging business applications and explains how you can patch in to this new global fabric. We also look to the future of what is being called the ‘connected living’ market and find out what technology makes up this market segment.

One field where IoT is set to make a major difference is in healthcare. The ‘quantified self’ is not only helping fitness enthusiasts to monitor their health but is also providing the medical profession with remote patient monitoring capability. Unfortunately, for all the exciting possibilities, technological progress in the healthcare system is often hampered by politics. We asked James Riley to investigate New Zealand’s e-health ecosystem and the politics that surround it, and while the overall report card is positive, he dug up some quite frightening revelations.

All of these advances are only possible if you have a laser eye on the specific datasets that are collected and used. New Zealand Rugby’s senior scientist Dr Ken Quarrie demonstrates exactly that in explaining how he uses business analytics and visualisation to help current and future All Blacks, their coaches and selectors, improve their game. The hidden patterns and relationships that are buried in mounds of unstructured ‘big data’ need smart software to be uncovered. Gartner’s chief BI analyst Ian Bertram untangles the world of big data, BI and analytics as they evolve towards the end game of process automation.

With all-encompassing connectivity and automation of systems it is, of course, vitally important to accurately establish one’s identity. This is where the field of biometrics and behaviourmetrics has been making giant strides in affordability and efficacy in recent years. I take a look at this seemingly sci-fi world and discover that it’s not so sci-fi after all, and, like it or not, it is coming to a device near you.

We are not the only ones thinking about the effects of the internet of things. Our regular opinion columnists bring an eclectic mix of views on related topics, including online piracy, new cloud opportunities, ICT infrastructure and the thorny topic of over-inflated IPO expectations. One thing is for certain, if you have children, I’d suggest they seriously consider data science as a career – they’ll be set for life (but you’ll have to wait until the next issue for more on that topic!).

Enjoy the read,

Clare Coulson
Editor

The eMag above is optimised for desktop or iPad. On other devices, or for off-line reading in a PDF reader such as iBooks, the full PDF version below may be a better option:

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INSIDE:

Features: A modern marketers guide to technology (what marketers need to know about technology), Tracking the customers pulse (the scope of CRM software), Does outsourcing contact centres work? (is outsourcing worth the potential pain), is your personal data safe? (we spotlight data security), Has the spark gone out of telco business? (the possible future of telecommunication), How to hatch your business idea? (the business incubators and accelerators in Australasia).

IT success stories by industry: Retail, Aged Care, Distribution, Property development and Professional Services

FROM THE EDITOR

This issue has all you need to know about how to get your customer to love you and shout it from the rooftops and I think it would behoove senior executives to note that social media is just one small part of it. In my cover feature, I explore the modern marketing theories of several business leaders ‘in the know’ – and, apparently, ‘All you need is love…’ (altogether now…). Learn what they have to say on p12. Anthony Doesburg extends these theories into the realm of the mind-boggling array of solutions that are competing to help you manage your customers on p22. Our regular commentators Paul Brislen and Ben Kepes chip in too, offering their advice on using social media for business, and we also provide a good dose of real world experiences in CRM-focused case studies in the section after the 2014 CRM Buyer’s Guide fold-out. Of course, customers are not always delighted as the call centre jockeys will attest and, worse, this pain point is often outsourced or even off-shored, so we sent Stephen Withers out to the coalface to find out more. It’s a sticky topic, he discovered, where all is not as it may seem, turn to p44 for more.

CRM systems are chock-a-block with more and more intricate and sensitive customer data – name, email, likes, dislikes, birthday and favourite underwear style. It’s scary when you stop to consider how much personal and intimate information is stored digitally by companies and it would be remiss to not consider its safety in this issue. The dirt on data breaches is exposed in my feature on p52, and ASC president Brenda Aynsely along with the experts at MYOB remind us that often it is the people behind IT that we rely on to keep customers’ data safe and clean.

One industry that is much-maligned by its disgruntled customers is telecommunications. Today it finds itself between a rock and a hard place as fixed-line connections dwindle and it needs to carve out new revenue streams. Bill Bennett investigates the future of our telcos on p64. One potential new area of income is the digital venture space, but that’s getting pretty crowded too. There seems to be no shortage of people with great ideas that could become money spinners (I see the spin on at least ten a day myself). Actually turning those ideas in to action and success is quite a different matter and that’s where business incubators and accelerators come in. If you have an idea that you think has legs and the gumption to do something about it, check out Fiona Hanlon’s list of who can help on p72. And if it really looks like it’s going to take off, give me a call!

Clare Coulson
Editor

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INSIDE:

Features: The anatomy of technology as a change agent (the role of technology in effecting business change), The price of success (what retailers can learn from successful manufacturers), Tech wreck 2.0? (do stocks stack up?), Is cloud computing disenfranchising the CIO? (do CIO’s still have a role in technology?), Liberating productivity (how to take the desktop mobile), Personal picks: 10 of the best for productivity (productivity apps used in your personal life).

IT success stories by industry: IT, Health and support, Mining and manufacturing, Aircraft manufacturing, Public sector, Hospitability, FMCG.

FROM THE EDITOR

While Google Glass has yet to be released in Australia or New Zealand, Westpac’s chief digital officer, Simon Pomeroy says customers will be able to use the Cash Tank app on Google Glass by the end of this year. “That’s pretty cool,” he adds. “Hear, hear,” I say. The leaps and bounds of technological innovation never cease to amaze me and today many one-time innovations are now intrinsic to every business.

With this in mind let’s consider technology as an agent of change. Does change in business begin with technology? Should it? How much can technology change company culture? These are big questions, the answers to which, I believe, could fundamentally shift our thinking, as it has in several industries that have already been tipped on their head. We set Chris Bell on the case to find out more.

With such transformational potential, it’s easy to see the allure of technology stocks, particularly as gilded stories of mega-billion tech successes get highlighted in global media. But we have been caught in this trap before, surely this time fundamentals will prevail? Beverley Head takes a critical look at the business of capitalising technology companies down under.

Manufacturing is one industry that embraced the use of technology early as a matter of survival in the face of globalisation and dwindling margins. We asked Anthony Doesburg to find out what the retail industry can learn from manufacturing. We also have a number of case studies that demonstrate technology delivering positive outcomes by transforming business processes and even creating new business models.

Amongst the maelstrom of innovation and change is the CIO. It’s easy to think they should be at the centre of it, but the statistics show that CIOs are increasingly being pushed to the side and divested of power. I investigated whether the CIO is long for this earth and will admit to being surprised by some of what I discovered.

In the words of Ben Kepes it’s “goodbye status quo” – there’s a lot of potential out there, but it’s up to you to throw off the shackles of the old and implement the new.

It feels a little like we’re about to land on the moon. Again.

Enjoy the read,

Clare Coulson
Editor

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INSIDE:

Features: Man, machine and productivity (the history of computing), How to justify your technology choice (the equation for equating cost benefits and ROI), Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf (restructuring and redundancy), Fletcher Building lays foundations (HCM intergration), Freelancers take flight (freelance platforms have defined the way we work), Disruptive acquisition (how companies can leapfrog ahead) and Get your business on the map (how-to guide to getting your business on Google Maps).

IT success stories by industry: Government, Manufacturing, Not for profit and Health

FROM THE EDITOR

Everyone knows that more technology equals increased productivity. Or does it? Maybe it was once, but is it still? We take a look at the relationship between technology and productivity with a trip down memory lane, to uncover some surprising truths as we tweet our way through the digital age. Our regular contributor Paul Budde picks up the theme to discuss how technology is at a cross roads between helping and hindering our future. It has the potential to break through the knowledge ceiling and emancipate humankind even further, but can also stunt our brains to the point of incapacity.

Is technology a wolf in sheep’s clothing? A trap in which we could become ensnared? No, used well, technology is the great enabler. We stare down the wolf in our feature on restructuring and redundancy, ‘the big, bad wolf’ of business, looking at how humanity and technology work hand in hand. Fletcher Building’s GM of HR, Sharon Spence, also discusses how a new HCM system will help her organisation to build a solid foundation for its success, and reward and retain its most talented people across 19,000 employees in more than 40 countries. While Fletcher Building is a poster child for getting HCM right, top Gartner analyst Morgan Yeates discusses what happens when we dehumanise HR too much and focus on HCM technology as an administrative tool alone, rather than considering its capacity for informing strategic decisions.

Technology has certainly moved far beyond its administrative roots. Today it continues to redefine the way we conduct our lives and business. Like a meteor hitting the earth, its effect ripples around the world. Freelancers can work from far-flung corners of the globe thanks to a modern working paradigm driven by the internet and its freelancing platforms (Freelancers take flight) and companies turn their business models on their heads by acquiring disruptive technology.

We also bring you a number of case studies that demonstrate the transmogrifying powers of technology in action. It has without doubt helped New Zealand’s Department of Conservation to improve the productivity of its specialised teams around the country and has strengthened electrical wholesaler J. A. Russell’s position as an industry leader. It has helped build employee engagement for South Coast Radiology and slashed payroll processing time for Community AXIS Enterprises. And when you hook up your boat these holidays, be thankful for the smart systems at Best Bars

Putting this issue together has reminded me why I get so enthusiastic about the potential of technology and I hope it inspires you to make the most of your machines as well.

Enjoy the read,

Clare Coulson
Editor

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INSIDE:

Features: Is Big Data bullshit? (we put the buzzword to the test), Cybercrime scene investigation (criminals are getting more and more techy), Are you breaking the bank? (tools for foreign exchange transactions), Merging is no horseplay (inside the ANZ / National Bank merger), Accounting for time (insights into professional services automation systems).

IT success stories by industry: Not for profit, marine component manufacturing, subsea energy/marine, agricultural supply, public works/local government, food manufacturing.

FROM THE EDITOR:

The intersection of big data, government and high-tech computing has privacy advocates up in arms. The technology should really come with a moral compass as lobbyist Paul Brislen points out.

But while the general media is in a flap about conspiracy theories and protesters line the streets to dispute the powers of security agencies around the world, it is easy to forget that the big data story is more nuanced. We might feel heartily sick of the ‘big data’ buzzword in the business world, especially when people are just spouting marketing puffery, but scratch beneath the surface and the reality is more compelling, as our feature ‘Is big data “bullshit”?’ sets out to demonstrate on. And, provocation aside, the results of information falling into the wrong hands can be significant.

On a happier note, however, the case studies in this issue show how much good insights into your data can do for business. Take carbon fibre marine components manufacturer, C-Tech, for example. It had to re-engineer the focus of its business when the market for its battens used in the America’s Cup shrank in line with changes to the rules governing the competition boats’ configuration. Without a new ERP system, it would have been a struggle. Or quality improvement organisation, AGPAL, that does accreditation for general medical practices. It needed to be able to focus on its clients’ needs not administration and a new ERP’s open data standards helped.

For every concern you have in business there is a technology solution and you could go crazy buying them all. I think, though, the real trick is to know where you want your business to be in five years’ time and map technology in to your plans. The ANZ and National banks merger in New Zealand is a prime example of good leadership delivering good results in this respect.

With the mega trends of ubiquitous high speed broadband; cloud computing; big data and analytics; mobility; interface and collaboration technologies; and intelligent systems, sensors and robots all intertwining to re-shape our futures, the next era of business will challenge our ethical boundaries as much as present new digital business paradigms.

Clare Coulson
Editor

 

INSIDE:

Features: Outsourcing to China a hitchhiker’s guide, Fibre future the dark truth revealed, BYOD avoiding disaster, Marketing smarter win with automation, Social media does it really suck for B2B? Best case scenario – better business cases.

IT success stories by industry: Manufacturing, Engineering, Retail, Distribution and Fabrication

FROM THE EDITOR:

The changes that the internet has wrought on our lives since are truly staggering. There has never been such a period of social change in history and it has opened up the world for us in many remarkable ways. Its power to create real-time interconnectedness on a global scale allows us to proliferate relationships, but amongst all that, we really must never forget the human touch.

This came through loud and clear in our cover story on manufacturing in China. While technology has certainly sped and streamlined the process, Richard Chirgwin discovers that nothing can beat building relationships on the ground. Kids fashion icon Pumpkin Patch also discovered the power of partners going the extra mile when they re-engineered their supply chain solutions.

The same need for human connections could be said for marketing automation and the use of social media. These new processes and channels make it easier to build and maintain customer relationships on the customers’ terms, but without good content and appropriate nurturing relationships will be empty ones. Our featured case studies show how important technology has become in B2B, particularly for ASB Marketing.

The human element also came through strongly in our research into how to prevent IT project failures. The answer, according to the Better Business Cases model, is to take everything, including the softer human benefits, into account.

All this is happening against a backdrop of vigorous debates on the best way to deliver ultra fast internet connectivity. This issue we have asked a number of pre-eminent telecommunications commentators, including Paul Budde and Paul Brislen, to shed some fibre optic light on what we can expect from ultra fast broadband and what we need to do to get our hands on some. One wonders if we will ever tire of the need for speed.

I hope you enjoy the human touch we have brought to this issue but don’t forget you can find more on our website. And Twitter. And LinkedIn. And SlideShare. And… And…

Happy reading,

Clare Coulson
Editor

 

INSIDE:

Features: eHealth – Is health up to change?, Healthy income – Get it in the door, Mobility – Paying with your phone, Environment – Who’s counting carbon?, Governance or ignorance? Avoiding Novopay.

IT success stories by industry: Tourism, Health & Beauty, Logistics, Food & Beverage, Training, Mining, Manufacturing.

With such a high-profile stuff up in mind, I found myself asking, where were the experienced board members and senior executives when the tough questions needed asking? Perhaps the project was symptomatic of a bigger issue when it comes to governing IT projects? So this issue we gathered together industry movers and shakers to understand the state of IT governance. Mind the gap is a treasure trove of their wisdom, and, as it happens, coincides with some broad-reaching industry initiatives.

When IT projects do go right, entire sectors can be transformed. Healthcare is one that’s beginning to realise the possibilities technology presents. Regarded by many as the last bastion of paper-shuffling inefficiency, a revolution is being forced by, amongst other things, the expectations of patients, as Chris Bell reveals. And on the subject of personal health, we also take a look at carbon accounting. Richard Chirgwin was assigned to explore the topic and his findings may surprise you.

Whilst healthcare and healthy IT have hardly been synonymous, healthy cash flow is the lifeblood of any business. But getting the money through the door efficiently is often not a priority. The true cost of haphazard debt collection can stack up if you don’t have appropriate systems, as David McNickel reveals.

It all leads to more and more innovation in ways to pay. The new generation of smartphones means that we will soon be able to ‘tap and go’ which has the potential to completely transform the payments landscape. Mobile Business explores whether the wallet is going to be condemned to history any time soon.

So where does this leave the health of the IT sector? In the 7th annual iStart Investment Intentions Survey, we have gauged the appetite of business toward investing in IT. More than 400 business and IT decision-makers responded with plans to invest over 360 million dollars between them.

Many are planning to invest in that most fundamental of system: ERP. So we give them a hand by presenting the 2013 ERP Buyers Guide. The guide lists by product the key attributes upon which buying decisions will be made in industries like yours. Find out more from the iStart Investment Intentions Survey.

If you’re not quite ready to invest yet, we also have a great collection of customer stories that demonstrate how the right IT solution can work like an elixir for business – without the Novopain.

Clare Coulson
Editor