In my other life, I manage my wife's gift and greeting card business called Olive Sandwiches and so I actually get a chance to put to use a lot of technology tools that I review and write about as the TechStoryTeller. One particular system that I've really become a fan of (and evangelist for) over the past five years is NetSuite. From the perspective of a hands-on small business owner, I think NetSuite represents the perfect model of how the Software as a Service (SaaS) approach can enable smaller players to operate at peak efficiency and execute like market leaders.
As an addictive multi-tasker, I particularly appreciate the web-based model that allows me full access and control from any browser - anywhere. I typically start my workday from home on my laptop and then migrate to the office before the staff come in - so, if I have a customer inquiry from another time zone, I can easily access their records and reply immediately without having to leave home. It's amazing how being able to provide a customer on the East Coast with a quick response at 5 AM from the West Coast always impresses them - - and let's them know how appreciated they are! Also, when I'm traveling, it's great to be able to access the same current data that our production manager is looking at back at the factory.
In the past five years, we've gone from just-a-hobby to now wholesaling products in over 3000 stores, distribution around the world, and a growing online retail business - and we couldn't have done it without NetSuite. We first started using the NetSuite system in January 2005 and have relied on it for accounting, inventory, web store, payroll and planning purposes - - all along the way.
If you want to know more about Olive Sandwiches (and maybe have a good laugh), check us out at http://www.olivesandwiches.com/ . We also just had a nice article in the Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal, profiling our first five years in business and highlighting my wife's quirky "for ladies who love to laugh" humor that fuels our success. Read it here: http://kpbj.com/headlines/articles/2009-05-02-HED-16.html
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Collaborative Knowledge Sharing
I've been doing some work lately with companies that provide rich-media software and systems for enhancing organizational training, communications and knowledge creation - a field that is increasingly referred to as Collaborative Knowledge Sharing (CKS).
Most senior corporate leaders agree that the overall level of knowledge in their company is a top factor (if not the most important factor) in the ultimate success and sustainability of their organization. However, in today’s fast-paced, globally competitive markets, companies can no longer afford to cling to traditional approaches of top-down creation, publication, dissemination and control of the bulk of organizational knowledge. In essence, voluminous manuals tend to cost a lot to maintain while rarely providing sufficient immediacy of information when and where it's needed.
A growing number of organizations are turning to the fundamentally different approach known as Collaborative Knowledge Sharing, which is grounded on the premise that the most useful and actionable knowledge is not “handed down from on high” but instead is dynamically being created and updated every day throughout the organization. The key focus is shifted to capturing, cataloging and collaboratively sharing this unending flow of knowledge, so that any specific piece of knowledge can be immediately available when and where it is needed.
CKS makes use of new innovative rich-media tools (such as video) for seamlessly capturing knowledge on-the-fly; combined with special methodologies for transforming that information into data that is searchable, accessible and can be easily served to front-line users in specific bite-sized portions to support immediate action-oriented objectives. But CKS is much more than just a technology or a set of tools.
Ultimately, it involves a fundamental shift of mindset in which knowledge is recognized as the life-blood of the organization. As such, it needs to circulate readily throughout the organization just as true blood needs to circulate to carry oxygen throughout a living organism. Companies that are using CKS are seeing cultural changes in which open sharing of knowledge leads naturally to major improvements in the quality and extent of knowledge. It tends to trigger a self-rating, self-generating cycle of knowledge-creation among employees throughout the company; who in a traditional top-down ecosystem might never have been given the opportunity to collaborate. For the organization, the bottom line benefits are improved productivity, fewer missed opportunities, increased revenue and a self-sustaining culture that makes people smarter and helps recruiting by attracting other smart people.
Most senior corporate leaders agree that the overall level of knowledge in their company is a top factor (if not the most important factor) in the ultimate success and sustainability of their organization. However, in today’s fast-paced, globally competitive markets, companies can no longer afford to cling to traditional approaches of top-down creation, publication, dissemination and control of the bulk of organizational knowledge. In essence, voluminous manuals tend to cost a lot to maintain while rarely providing sufficient immediacy of information when and where it's needed.
A growing number of organizations are turning to the fundamentally different approach known as Collaborative Knowledge Sharing, which is grounded on the premise that the most useful and actionable knowledge is not “handed down from on high” but instead is dynamically being created and updated every day throughout the organization. The key focus is shifted to capturing, cataloging and collaboratively sharing this unending flow of knowledge, so that any specific piece of knowledge can be immediately available when and where it is needed.
CKS makes use of new innovative rich-media tools (such as video) for seamlessly capturing knowledge on-the-fly; combined with special methodologies for transforming that information into data that is searchable, accessible and can be easily served to front-line users in specific bite-sized portions to support immediate action-oriented objectives. But CKS is much more than just a technology or a set of tools.
Ultimately, it involves a fundamental shift of mindset in which knowledge is recognized as the life-blood of the organization. As such, it needs to circulate readily throughout the organization just as true blood needs to circulate to carry oxygen throughout a living organism. Companies that are using CKS are seeing cultural changes in which open sharing of knowledge leads naturally to major improvements in the quality and extent of knowledge. It tends to trigger a self-rating, self-generating cycle of knowledge-creation among employees throughout the company; who in a traditional top-down ecosystem might never have been given the opportunity to collaborate. For the organization, the bottom line benefits are improved productivity, fewer missed opportunities, increased revenue and a self-sustaining culture that makes people smarter and helps recruiting by attracting other smart people.
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