The ever-increasing consumerisation of IT

So, according to the latest news… enterprises now buy 50% of their software without IT involvement. Does this figure come as a shock to those of us that have foot in both the Business and Technology sectors? Yup... kinda!

There is no doubt that the consumerisation of IT is having a significant effect on businesses, with many different lines-of-business having their own very healthy budgets to procure technology that supports their day-to-day work and often without getting the IT department of an organisation involved. Online applications, software as a service (SaaS) and the general rise of digital service subscriptions over the last decade or so have added to the on-going cost of technology that is out of the hands of the very people who used to procure, manage and support it.

And just as one hand gives (functionality to the business) the other takes away (control and coordination from the IT department). Which in-turn means less budget and potentially less staff are needed… which brings its own complications: IT staff are spread more thinly, they are only brought in when a system needs fixing and they now may have to face-off to highly competent technologists in Finance, Sales or HR.

The Multi-Channel Consumer & Their Influences To Purchasing

A few days ago I gave a presentation at workshop at Strathclyde University's Business School on the subject of 'The Multi-Channel Consumer & Their Influences To Purchasing'.

I do expect to go into my presentation in more depth over a series of subsequent posts here, but in the meantime I thought I would share it here:

Hayden 26feb2013-final from Hayden Sutherland

Obviously this deck does need a bit of a voice-over to explain what some things mean, but hopefully it should be of some use... Especially to those who attended.

Old words, new methods

I was recently staying at my parents-in-law house over Christmas and my wife (Moya) was throwing out some old school books and stuff. Among them was a publication called "Consumer Behaviour and Marketing Action" by Henry Assael (3rd Edition) printed in 1987.

So given a few spare minutes over the last week or so, I've started thumbing through it this old book to compare the pre-Internet marketing world with the one of today. I though it would be fun and useful to mention the differences we now have in Marketing and see how modern digital communications have changed things in over 2 decades.

Note:
Assael is apparently still Professor of Marketing at Leonard N. Stern School of Business in New York and has produced more contemporary work, including "Consumer Behaviour - A Strategic Approach" which is still in-print.

However, what I wasn't prepared for was to find it useful and really insightful in some areas of marketing approaches and techniques.

What I've therefore decided to do is to occasionally refer to Professor Assael's work and apply it to the modern digital / social / crowdsourced / always-on world. Expect to see his name and comments quoted from now-on.

Fake blogs are illegal

From yesterday (28th May 2008) the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 law came into place.

This legislation is available to download from here:
http://www.oft.gov.uk/advice_and_resources/small_businesses/competing/protection

Of particular interest to those companies that set up fake blogs (e.g. for marketing & PR purposes that pretend to be someone else) should be this phrase about what is now illegal:

Falsely claiming or creating the impression that the trader is not acting for purposes relating to his/her trade, business, craft or profession, or falsely representing oneself as a consumer.

Various companies have tried this underhand activity in the past, so it finally looks like this practice (e.g. by Coke Zero) will come to an end in the UK!