Virtua Team Talk

At Apple’s recent Worldwide Developer Conference, Steve Jobs, CEO, made the bold assertion that we are now living in a post-PC world adding “We are going to move the digital hub, the centre of  digital life, into the cloud.”

According to Apple, the iPhone and the iconic iPad are at the forefront of this new post-PC world and the statistics, which are staggering by any standards, seem to support this view. Sales of 25 million iPads in just 14 months, 15 billion songs downloaded since 2003 and 14 billion apps downloaded from a store that now runs to 425,000 apps.

And now, says Steve Jobs, this digital new world order is going to be all about freeing up all that data from the hardware where it traditionally resides and the PC where users have to go to manipulate their files.

This brave new world is all about Apple’s new cloud offering, aptly named” iCloud” which has been designed to help users leave behind the shackles of their old tethered ways. Ten years ago the PC was set to become the hub of our digital life but that model, according to Apple, has now broken down as mobile devices have become more powerful. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the most interesting business related debates that seems to raise its head every so often over the last couple of decades is the old chestnut – ‘working from home’.

Not so long ago the very idea of working from home was either unheard of, or severely frowned upon – as it still is in some businesses. But slowly, almost imperceptibly, working from home is becoming more and more popular.

The old arguments about ‘lack of control’, ‘mistrust of employees’, ‘productivity’ and ‘lack of communication’ are now giving way to more pragmatic realisations. Working from home can actually raise morale, improve productivity, be more cost effective as well as easing clogged up motorways.

Whether traditional bosses like it or not ‘working from home’ is no longer viewed as quirky or ‘new age’ but a very realistic way of working with a number of advantages.  And recent surveys have revealed that allowing staff to work remotely can really improve productivity.

A 2010 study though, carried out by Cisco Systems, found that 45% of IT professionals were struggling to implement mobile workforce systems. A deluge of new devices, including smartphones, laptops and tablets, has brought fresh challenges for corporate technology managers  who need to formulate a home working policy and find the right technical solution.

The same Cisco study found that two-thirds of employees desire more work flexibility with more than half of respondents claiming they would happily take a lower-paid job if it offered more flexible working. So it is clear that for many organisations choosing the right technical solution for mobile workers is still a big headache.

“I think organisations are struggling to know which technologies to support,” commented Professor Kevin Rockmann, of George Mason University, “A lot of people have multiple cell phones or laptops. They might also have an iPad that is their own and one that belongs to work. So how does the organisation decide what it is going to take care of?”

Professor Rockmann’s views are clear. “Let your employees innovate and use the technologies they want to use. Help them do that and don’t restrict them” is his advice.

The most significant barrier to allowing staff to use their own mobile devices of choice is security. Among the IT decision makers, surveyed by Cisco Systems, 57% rated security as the biggest challenge to enabling remote working. One potential solution, being put forward by security firms is to host office software in the cloud. Instead of running locally on the user’s machine, they log on to a virtualised work environment through dedicated applications or a web browser protected behind a firewall. Such an approach would allow staff to access a common user interface from a wide range of devices. Behind the technical challenges though there remain simpler, more human, obstacles to mobile working. For some, there is still a stigma attached to those who shun the office, with a perception that “working from home” is shorthand for “taking it easy”.

“A lot of middle and upper managers don’t feel comfortable letting people out of their sight” says Prof Rockmann “But the reality is quite different. When employees get more autonomy, they generally work harder, they are more grateful, they’ll stay connected and they are even more productive.”

I couldn’t agree more.

You might have seen in the news last week that Microsoft has launched “Windows Phone 7” in an attempt to break into the lucrative smartphone market. Many have been surprised that until now the company has failed to provide a credible challenge to rival operating systems from Apple, Google, Research in Motion and Nokia but all that is about to change. In fact, mobile phone operators predict smartphones could have a 70% market share in just three years.

Microsoft claims it has made Windows Phone 7 more user-friendly by rebuilding the operating system from bottom up. The phone uses a concept of ‘hubs’ that aggregate content like contacts, pictures, music, video and documents. The content on the phone is then synchronised with both storage services on the internet as well as the owner’s computers at home. In the UK the phone launched on 21st October and will eventually extend to 60 operators in 30 countries.

Previous Microsoft phones have failed to make an impact with customers due to their limited functionality, complex user interface and a lack of applications which resulted in a steady loss of market share. The new Windows 7 mobile phone software though, is very different from Microsoft’s previous attempts and is much more intuitive – like Apple’s iPad.

Andy Lees, the head of Microsoft’s mobile phone division said the phone marked “a new beginning” with his team building both a new operating system and a new user interface in just 18 months. He also promised that many new and exciting applications will become available when the Windows 7 Phone hits the market this month with many more still in the pipeline for approval. Key apps like Twitter, eBay, Facebook and railway timetables though, have been fast-tracked to be ready for launch.

Tony Cripps of technology consultants Ovum commented “There is a huge amount resting on the launch of Windows Phone 7 for Microsoft, its device and operator partners, and for the ecosystem market in general and if it fails to claw back market share lost to iPhone and Android, then Windows Phone 7 may well mark the point at which Microsoft turns its back on smartphones forever.”

Microsoft though is very enthusiastic and confident about their new offering. The software will be launched with phone makers who have experience building phones for the Windows mobile platform like Samsung, LG and HTC as well as computer maker Dell.

As the boundaries between phones, computers and pda’s blurs even further it is exciting times for communications technology and Virtua are pleased to be at the forefront of the revolution. In the final analysis technology in isolation is nothing without the people that make things happen. Without good people concepts would never turn into tangible results and this is the vital ingredient that it is important we focus on in an increasingly wired world.

Apple claims it sold more than 300,000 of its latest product, the iPad tablet computer, on its launch day in the US. Apple said its aim was to try to create a third category of product that falls midway between a Laptop and a Smartphone and offers a different experience to other devices.

The iPad is yet another gadget that is this month’s ‘must have’. It is sleek, eye catching and offers a wealth of innovations to keep any techno geek happy until the next best thing comes along. Whatever your preferred gadget might be, Blackberry, iPhone, Laptop, Notebook or even the new iPad it’s all about something called communication.

Ever since early mankind first started beating a hollow log with a stick we have been developing the technology with which to communicate. The iPad is merely the latest tool to link us to the internet, to email and to the thousands of web and blog sites and social networking tools that are now ingrained into our social fabric. We are swapping pictures on Facebook, linking up with old school buddies on Friends Reunited and Twittering to anyone who will listen on the ‘blogosphere’. It’s all about communicating in countless different ways. The tools may be different but the goal is just the same – it’s about interacting with other human beings.

Or is it?

What I have increasingly started to notice, particularly among teenagers and those in their early twenties, is that although social interaction via technology is now an integral part of their lives, real ‘communication’ is often being neglected. Spend time with a bunch of teens and you will notice that even at a party or lively social occasion they will tend to spend more time staring at their mobile phones screens or texting than actually communicating face to face with each other.

Yes, in many ways they are communicating more, and in more innovative ways than we did as children and teens, but it is not direct dialogue and it misses a huge part of what social interaction is all about.

Sometimes it’s the same in business. We are emailing and texting, blogging and communicating electronically but sometimes business relationships are more effective if they include the ‘human touch’. We may not be able to stop the electronic revolution but let’s not forget that sometimes a friendly face to face chat and a friendly smile can achieve so much more.