Rumblings from the world of IT and E-Commerce

I am a massive fan of motorsport, especially F1 which is, in my opinion, the pinnacle of motor racing. For me it’s the combination of individual skill, team dynamics and technology that make these supercharged go-karts so exciting.

Recently I have become completely obsessed with usability. For my day job I am a product guy, my company produces ecommerce software, so the decisions I make have some fairly huge implications for our user-base, both new and old. So with all that in mind you might think my new found obsession is a good thing? Well it is, largely, but I have discovered a downside.

While travelling recently in India I read about a fantastic co-operative wine business based there. Three rural farmers had got together to build a very profitable venture with an exciting future.

I have just returned from a week long business trip to the fantastic city of Chennai in India. While I was there I had the privilege of meeting Sabbam Hari, MP for the Andhra Pradesh region.

Eyjafjallajokull is not a word I ever expected to open a Business Zone blog with. In fact I can't even pronounce it. Neither (it amuses me to report) can any of the news reporters on our television or radio. Unless you have been living, well anywhere without commercial airspace, you would have heard all about Eyjafjallajokull, the Icelandic volcano that is doing its best to return us to the Middle Ages. However upsetting it has been for anyone stranded abroad, it's the impact the volcano has had on business that is really concerning me.

The people factor
For those of us that work in global companies, the challenge of having people in different parts of the world was amplified by the ash. At Actinic we had team members stuck in Hungary and Sri Lanka as well as people trying to get out of the UK. Even though the airspace has been open for a few days, people are still not where they should be.

Having team members out of sync is a huge business cost. It not only impacts the bottom line of the business, but also the effectiveness and productivity as other team members struggle to fill the void.