Tech Sheets – The High Tech Blog
Insights for a Tech Driven World
Digital as a Direct or Indirect Channel?
Posted by Ryan C. Jones on March 5, 2012
I’ve often had discussions with Tech companies as to whether the Digital channel should be used as a direct or indirect sales channel. In the Retail world, the benefits of going direct with Digital are pretty clear. Large retailers have seen double digit growth in dot-com sales over the last few years, while same store physical sales has been close to flat year over year. What those retailers have realized is that the integration between the Digital and physical stores is critical. Primarily because often times a customer buys something online and picks it up (or returns) in the store they’re likely to spend more money while in the store. The model’s simple enough for retailers, but what does that mean to Tech companies when evaluating dot-com as a direct..Continue reading.
Organizing Digital Channel Operations
Posted by Ryan C. Jones on March 5, 2012
If I had a nickel for every time I’ve been asked by a company about how best to organize their Digital (web, mobile, social) channel operations, I’d have a lot of nickels. It’s the $64,000 question and the answer isn’t always the same. Meaning I don’t believe there is a single answer, but I do believe there is an organizational framework that works fairly consistently. The organization framework I favor most often is composed of 5 operational areas, which include: 1) strategy, 2) product management, 3) digital media & content, 4) program management and 5) IT operations. The number of people and processes required for each operational area vary significantly between companies, driven mostly by the breadth and depth of their..Continue reading.
What’s in a Digital Strategy?
Posted by Ryan C. Jones on February 28, 2012
Since the mid 90s I’ve been working with companies to develop and execute web strategies. These strategies have been a passion and commitment to doing what I believe is the first step in a successful relationship with any of my clients. Up until roughly 2008 these web strategies were largely focused on eCommerce, and how the web channel could be used to increase revenues through deeper customer penetration, new business models, global expansion, and as a way to more cost effectively scale their business. However, over the last few years web strategies have evolved into what I now call Digital strategies, as they’ve become more broadly focused on areas such as digital marketing, mobility, customer experience, and social media. What does this mean? It means the marketplace is evolving and the current Digital channel revolution is being...Continue reading.
A Platform for the Future
Posted by Ryan C. Jones on February 29, 2012
When I first started my career, I remember hoping to leave my mark in the business world in some way before I retired. It was an ‘I was here’ ideology that mellowed as I matured in my career, got married, had kids, and settled into life. However, a recent discussion I had with a senior executive at one of my clients reminded me of that early on ‘I was here’ thinking. It happened when that executive asked me how long he should expect to run their customer facing dot-com technology platform for their business. I shared that several of my prior clients had been running the same dot-com platform that our team had put in place 6 to 8 years ago.. Continue reading.
A Great User Experience
Posted by Ryan C. Jones on March 2, 2012
I recently looked back at a few late ‘90s versions of big name dot-com sites, like Yahoo and Amazon. My first reaction was – wow, those sites look bland compared to their current forms. But as I reflected more on the differences between the old and new, I found it a great symbol of the evolution of user experiences associated with the Digital channel. In the late 90s the focus was on the implementation of great technologies and today it’s about building world-class user experiences for Digital channels. In the late ‘90s I showed up on the doorsteps of my clients with my architect and lead developers as the first feet through the doorway and today I show up with my creative director and user experience designers to create the vision. Continue reading.
High Tech CEO Agenda – What issues are Tech CEO’s talking about
Posted by John Ciacchella on February 20, 2012
Every quarter we sponsor the Silicon Valley Executive Summit and meet for a day with a group of 16-18 CEOs from High Tech companies around the Bay Area to network and discuss specific issues that are top of mind to tech executives. Our last meeting took place in mid December, and Dave Couture and I thought our High Tech colleagues would find these discussions of interest. So I’ve captured and summarized the top discussion points to share here on Tech Sheets..Continue reading.
Thoughts About Mobility
Posted by Ryan C. Jones on February 16, 2012
Like the dot com revolution of the late 90s, we’re at the forefront of another great technology transformation called the Mobility Revolution. Thanks to folks like Steve Jobs and a select few other visionaries, our computing world has evolved significantly over the last 10 years. The concept of being ‘connected’ has moved far beyond the desktop computer, to a 24x7 connected culture driven by mobile phone and tablet technologies. What I believe this means for Tech companies is the Digital consumer is now the connected consumer, and is typically a multi-device user with 24x7 connectivity. As a result, Tech companies should figure out how to serve that consumer..Continue reading.
The Digital Revolution and What Happened to Shrink?
Posted by Ryan C. Jones on February 4, 2012
The Digital Revolution
Over the last several years I’ve had the fortunate opportunity to assist some great Technology companies make what I refer to as their Digital Transformation. I use the term transformation specifically, as I view the process of going digital not only being about great new technology solutions, but also about developing new go-to-market strategies, changing core business operations and engaging differently with customers, partners and employees to gain the adoption required to make the new digital channel successful. With that as the backdrop, I hope my Tech Digital postings are informative, helpful and at a minimum resonate with the challenges you may be facing with your own transformation..Continue reading.
Business/IT Collaboration - How Do You Define Who Owns What After a Cloud Deployment?
Posted by Kevin Hall on January 26, 2012
Welcome to the world of Cloud computing! You have at your finger-tips the ability to impact significant change within the organization. And better yet, you can have that ability without needing to have a double math/computer science degree or being able to develop in Java. It can be as simple as pointing, clicking, typing and dragging. Sounds great doesn’t it? Well as the saying goes, with power comes responsibility, or as I like to say – just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Deploying Cloud applications can offer organizations many opportunities to shift their mode of thinking and none may be bigger than how much control the business is going to be allowed to have.. Continue reading.
