Whether you prescribe to the cult of Steve or not, in this video back in 1997 he answers a seemingly insulting question in a true forward thinking and honest way (as Jim Collins would say... confronting the brutal facts).

Well, just when the start of my year couldn't get any busier, semester one of my university study kicks in.

This year I am however rather excited as I will be studying some interesting topics including Social Media Networks for Business and having worked in companies and implemented some Social Media strategies before it will be interesting as to the approach taken by our lecturer and how the theory stacks up to the real world.

Part of the assessment is to keep a blog of your thoughts and reflection on the topics of social media that we study so I will be posting regularly here with my progress and hopefully some interesting and useful information that you could pick up and practically implement yourself.

The new year has kicked in with some vigor already. 

I sat down to do a mind map of all the business opportunities coming up in the next few months and the result resembled some sort of spider web very quickly.
Surfice to say I need to sit down and look at all the pros and cons of each opportunity focusing on ones that are in-line with my core values and my approach to business.

With all this work going on I have decided to start each and everyday by doing something creative and give my brain that morning positive boost to keep me going through the day.

I have taken up.... Origami... the Japanese art of paper folding.

Just a little commentary on getting IP based content to New Zealand and our ultra-fast broadband uptake.

Just finished reading this article from stuff.co.nz: http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/5767608/Ready-for-movies-in-the-cloud

Seems the TV and Movie industry is finally recognising they actually need to do something along the line of providing a proper business model around the issues of digital content delivery. Especially after the controversial "sky-net" laws passed here in New Zealand recently.

Blindly applying technology to business problems is sometimes the bane of my existance as a techology consultant.

I find a large portion of my time in working with clients is in the realm of educatating them about the best options and use of technology for their specific situation but also a good portion of business analysis.

Business Analysis (BA) involves spending that extra time with my clients business and getting to understand what makes them tick, how they are doing things and the formal workflow processes they follow.

All too often during a first meeting and brainstorm I may be asked to slap a technology related solution on to automate an existing process.
"Why do you do it that way? Do you understand the why of what is being done... have you mapped it out?" is often worth bringing up with them at this stage.

I do think we need more meaning in the work we do today and will do in the future.

The millennials will be an interesting generation I think, they are brought up digital natives on the internet, gaming, mobile, instant feedback, less worry about privacy online and communicate via social media and with more frequency.

Are they the victor by having a much more open level of connection with their social graph or are they failing to realise what this all means in the long run? Perhaps older gernations are just being paraniod about online privacy having come through the transition to the technology driven world we live in now.

Just a quick blog post to congratulate Bunchball on winning the AppQuest 2011 Competition.
Bunchball are a company that help drive behaviour on the web through the use of game mechanics such as points, levels trophies and rewards - all increasing the engagement for the end user.

If you are in the Wellington region this week and are looking for some web geekery, networking and a dose of good music then check out the Web Dev Conference (WDCNZ) on this Thursday 14th July 2011

Business Intelligence is very broad, there is no one correct way to implement it nor is it one specific technology. It depends on the individual business needs and the needs of the individual staff that make decisions inside that business. It is a set of integrated technologies, processes and systems that provide timely, accurate and meaningful information and show trends.

Business Intelligence however is nothing without the human side, interpreting and understanding the meaning and significance of this information and engaging in action based in this insight. It allows business leaders, managers and staff to make informed decisions and affect strategic change and solve business problems. At the end of the day people make decisions, data does not.

It is Business and Technology together, turning information into insight.