Wednesday, April 30, 2008

globeandmail.com: BlackBerry: the new hot-button labour issue

The spread of Blackberrys and other hand-helds has raised a labour issue that is gaining momentum. They often cause employers and managers to feel they can contact their staff at any time of the day or night, meaning the staff really get no real time away from their work. Sure, they can turn it off, or not reply to calls or emails, but as long as there is the expectation , they will feel compelled to respond. There is increasing evidence that the managers and employers will have to re-think their approach to the issue - and that unions, governments and regulators will be addressing it. globeandmail.com: BlackBerry: the new hot-button labour issue

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Some suppliers gain from failed Wal-Mart RFID edict

The experience of Walmart in trying to get their suppliers to adopt RFID is a good case study in technology adoption. Often, with technology projects, the costs are up front and the benefits are long term and hard to measure. With RFID this is the case, and that meant that many of the suppliers balked at Walmart's initiative. The same issues plague any number of technology initiatives and as a result, companies sometimes sell themselves short. Some suppliers gain from failed Wal-Mart RFID edict

Friday, April 25, 2008

reportonbusiness.com: Canadians click to buy from coast to coast

eCommerce is growing with leaps and bounds. Recent data show that the revenue generated on or with the help of the internet grew 49% in 2007 over 2006. The trend shows no sign of abating, as the country becomes increasingly wired. reportonbusiness.com: Canadians click to buy from coast to coast

Monday, April 21, 2008

E-Commerce News: Communication Systems: Communication in the Workplace: Beyond the Virtual Water Cooler

As Wireless systems grow, we are losing that valuable F2F time. There are benefits to the speedy world of IM and email, but there are risks too. How are we going to manage that? E-Commerce News: Communication Systems: Communication in the Workplace: Beyond the Virtual Water Cooler

Friday, April 18, 2008

BlackBerry profits double on iPhone success - Times Online

It seems Blackberry can do no wrong. The success of its rival, iPod, has also prompted a surge in Blackberry sales, because of the increased awareness of the public about email enabled phones. In fact, during the past quarter, Blackberry outsold iPhone by almost 2 to 1. Investors in RIM have certainly enjoyed the results on the TSX lately. BlackBerry profits double on iPhone success - Times Online

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Amazon launches music download service to challenge iTunes - Times Online

Amazon has announced its new music store, designed to rival iTunes and using the same business model. There are now three business models for music on the net for music, but the iTunes model seems to be a viable one (low priced single tracks and "albums") and one that the industry has bought into. The others are the "all you can eat' subscription model of Napster and the advertising supported model of Spiralfrog. Amazon launches music download service to challenge iTunes - Times Online

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Ten Canadian wireless firms worth watching: IDC > Network Devices

IDC has conducted a survey and selected 10 Canadian tech firms as being worth watching. They all focus on communications, many on various ways to integrate mobile devices with networks. But they all have unique and often targeted marketing strategies. Ten Canadian wireless firms worth watching: IDC > Network Devices

The New E-spionage Threat

Businessweek has conducted a probe into cybercrime at the US Military and revealed a very large-scale set of attacks going on that has involved all military branches, the pentagon and even the US president. It really amounts to a little-reported Cyber War that is proving difficult to fight. The New E-spionage Threat

Monday, April 07, 2008

E-commerce growth threatened by legacy systems, study finds

A study just released by Retail Systems Research of Miami, commissioned by IBM and SAP, finds that the existence of legacy systems in companies may limit the growth of their e-commerce activities. The problem is not so much integration of online and offline processes, where companies have made progress, but rather the fact the different sales channels tend to be supported by different systems, and the lack of integration limits the ability of the company to provide a single view of a customer. Many companies have moved slowly with replacing their legacy systems because of the tremendous conversion and process change costs. However, the long term benefits may be growing. E-commerce growth threatened by legacy systems, study finds