Article: Telecoms must stress how they make life better

Telecom providers go through another challenging year of competition, consolidation and contraction. To be successful, telcos need to focus on other c-words: providing compelling and unique content, adjusting to consumption patterns and delivering convenience to consumers.

To do this, they will need to re-define their place in the era of tech giants that are diversifying in the experiences they bring to people and the things they talk about. More than ever, telcos now need to move the conversation away from mobile data plans and connectivity to playing a more central role in the lives of humans and societal progress. Some brands have already started with this, by talking about technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and 5G and why they are important for our lives - rather than talking about the technologies themselves. We will see more of this.

Consumers will align with telecom providers only when they understand what they stand for. Communicating their purpose clearly will be vital for telco brands. Expect more business-to-human communications from them.

My comments on the c-words that matter for telcos in this BrandZ100 report:
http://online.pubhtml5.com/bydd/rxhd/#p=244

Blog post: "Financial Services in the Cloud: A match made in computing heaven?"

Talkin' 'bout a generation can be daunting. There’s Generation X and Y which kind of makes sense, but then Z is I or @ or Me. TheiPhone 4S is the 5th generation of the device which means that generation 6 will be the iPhone5. As confusing as this is already, technology generations last considerably shorter than family generations, and sometimes they are so short you barely mention their existence.

So I was quite interested when I was invited to a breakfast seminar on “Third generation Cloud Computing for Hedge Funds” as I had completely missed generation number 2. The idea is straight forward. Rather than outsourcing all IT services to a public or private cloud, the third generation is all about being hybrid and pushing a number of IT services into the cloud whilst keeping others within the direct reach of a hedge fund.

For me however the two never really seemed to be a good match, considering the financial services’ reluctance to give away control over any of their data. They have valid reasons for this. A regulator may question whether data is stored appropriately and safely. There’s no physical server room to show in case an interested investor pays a visit, and if an external provider goes down there is a knock-on effect on a number of funds which could be disastrous for the whole industry. In addition availability is key and any services in the cloud need to be easily and speedily accessible, at any time.

Having listened to a number of arguments, it made more sense to me why companies within the financial services industry - and hedge funds in particular - are amenable to the concept. Being active high-frequency traders, they use state-of-the art IT systems and consequently need to be forward-looking when it comes to embracing new technologies. Outsourcing IT services promises they can fully operate their business from anywhere with a very basic equipment such as Internet connection and laptop. This significantly reduces operating costs which can be £30,000 per month, music to fund managers’ ears who are always keen to increase their margins.

Hedge funds take a risk by speculating on specific market developments. That risk is assessed in strict due diligence procedures, and funds will only choose to put money where they expect to make a substantial profit. Likewise you would expect them to outsource parts of their business only if they’re absolutely certain this is the right thing to do. They will thoroughly check any provider’s longevity of clients, profitability and how they deal with outages. And they will check how much of the provider’s cash is re-invested in the architecture.

I’m still a bit sceptical, but given the mouth-watering incentive of lower costs I can see why hedge funds are attracted to Cloud Computing. As hedge funds are, in their own way, cutting edge in the financial services industry, they may well lead the way for many more players in the industry following suit. There are a few obstacles and it’s unclear how these can be surmounted, but first steps have been taken and with Cloud Computing having received the official EU seal of approval recently it will be even more exciting to see whether the hedge funds’ current IT gamble will pay off.

Appeared on MHP blog: http://www.mhpc.com/blog/financial-services-cloud-match-made-computing-heaven

Blog post: "Should banks really bother with social media?"

For banks, using social media is a relatively new and challenging concept. The industry is heavily regulated, and yet there is uncertainty how regulation actually affects financial institutions’ social media efforts. The FSA guidelines for example are – to say the least – brief and vague. The suitability of social media as a method of communication has therefore been heavily debated for many years, leading to a growing void between banks and other more social media-friendly corporations. In addition, the majority of banks ban social media platforms from office desktops.
However, banks have now started to realise that they have to embrace social media to catch up with other industries – despite unclear regulation and a perceived loss of control over stories. These are some of the key findings of our recent survey amongst heads of communications and PR managers at global banks. This increasing interest is not only for banks to engage with customers. Employees feel entitled to use and access social media in their professional lives. According to research by internet security company Clearswift 26% of employees would be de-motivated by a stricter policy on social networking introduced by their employers and 14% would try to work around the rules. 3% would even consider leaving (presumably having first tried scouring LinkedIn to find a new job).
This does not have to be the route for banks. There are now a range of successful and compelling examples of how they can benefit from opening up to social media and planning engagement programmes. First Direct’s Little Black Book project is one, Wells Fargo’s use of social media to improve customer service is another. Many more banks will follow their approach, and this will be a matter of time only. And, certainly, of clearer regulation.

Appeared on MHP blog: http://www.mhpc.com/blog/should-banks-really-bother-social-media