Thanks to Miles and Brian

I just wanted to drop a quick note on behalf of the Freeform Dynamics team to thank Miles Wolstenholme and Brian Smithson for all of their efforts running the IT-Analysis and IT-Director websites during 2006.

Many of the readers out there may not be aware of the work these two guys do, Miles on the development and operations side, and Brian on the editorial side. Wthout them, the sites wouldn't be the useful and accessible resources they are.

So, thanks Miles and Brian, and looking forward to working with you both during 2007.

Are inefficient systems sometimes desirable?

The IT industry spends a lot of time talking about helping its customers improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their business processes. The idea is that by reducing cycle times, boosting responsiveness and becoming more flexible, the organisation can improve the services it delivers to customers, optimise its supply chain and generally become more competitive.

And who can argue with this?

Well, quite a few people actually.

Accounts payable departments in large organisations for one. Imagine a world in which big companies had highly efficient accounts payable processes. Invoices received from suppliers could be processed accurately and quickly, rather than sitting in unopened envelopes and various in-trays for 10 days before even being looked at, then hanging around for another week before being entered into the system.

What good would that be? You would just end up paying suppliers more quickly and losing out on the benefit of having all that cash in your bank account while the inefficiencies delay payments across your supplier base. Sure, a few small companies go out of business while waiting for large customers to pay up (well, quite a lot actually), but the last thing we need from a shareholder value perspective is efficient accounts payable.

Mobile operator billing systems are another example. Have you ever noticed that if you call your service provider and request a tariff change that will put more money in their pocket, they can implement it right away. Yet request a change that will reduce the amount you pay them and the “system” will only allow the change to be implemented on the next billing date or at some other point in the future.

Hold on a minute – surely it’s the same billing system in both cases, isn’t it? Is that a rat we are beginning to smell here?

The smell begins to get stronger when we consider how the supervisor is always in a meeting or on a break when we are getting no joy from the “more than my job’s worth” call centre agent and ask for the issue to be escalated. Then when we want to complain, the complaints hotline just keep ringing and ringing until you give up and decide you have better things to do. And if you are lucky enough to get through, you are told that complaints cannot be taken on the phone and must be sent in the form of a 20th century style letter through the post.

Mmm.

And the list goes on – solicitors who “aren’t geared up” to correspond over email while charging you an arm and a leg for each letter they write. Contract termination lines that are never answered when the sales line picks up within three rings. Websites that are great at taking your order and charging your credit card but never respond when you send a chasing email to ask where your goods are, then hide the customer service number four levels down in the site hierarchy making it as difficult as possible for you to contact them.

Are there consultants out there who advise on how to credibly introduce the right level of inefficiency into relevant processes in order to maximise the interests of the enterprise? If not, perhaps there’s a gap in the market, because a lot of the tactics in use out there by big organisations are very transparent.

Given the capability and accessibility of modern technology, it’s interesting to ponder how long big companies can continue to hide behind the inefficiency of their processes and systems while taking advantage of their power and the tolerance of their customers and suppliers.

[Few deep breaths – that’s better]

Welcome Martin Atherton

Well, it’s been a year since Helen and I “soft launched” Freeform Dynamics. The website went live at the beginning of December 2005, which I guess in today’s internet centric business environment is when the company properly came into being.

To mark our first anniversary, we’d like to announce that Martin Atherton has joined us today from Datamonitor as the fourth member of the research team here.

Many of you will already know Martin as an extremely experienced and competent analyst – and he is a perfect fit for Freeform Dynamics. If you’re a regular reader of our stuff, you will be familiar with our down to earth and practical advisory approach. Someone once described us as “street level analysts”. Not sure if they meant this as a compliment, but it’s a label I don’t mind at all as we’re really not into theorising and pontificating from “strategic” ivory towers. Martin’s “cut the crap” mindset is completely aligned with our culture.

We’re also really pleased to be bringing Martin’s experience of designing, analysing and reporting bespoke primary research projects into the team, as this is an important part of the way we operate. He’s got some pretty strong relationships in the vendor community too, so he’ll not only hit the ground running, but will be able to help drive the Freeform Dynamics business onto the next level again during 2007.

So, welcome Martin and watch this space as he shakes loose of his big company shackles and get’s used to his new found freedom in the land of the independents.