The most recent articles from Management Consultancy

RFID to become the norm in five years

James Bennett — 2005-02-04T11:36:18.000Z

James Bennett, Management Consultancy, Friday 4 February 2005 at 11:36:18

More than half of UK companies predict that radio frequency identification will be an accepted part of the business landscape in just five years, according to research by the Management Consultancies Association.

The RFID management report, however, also discovered that many businesses are cautious, with more than a third of companies (34%) more interested in seeing how other companies are implementing RFID...

Storage Management: Shelf life

Anthony Harrington — 2002-05-17T17:04:49.000Z

Anthony Harrington, Management Consultancy, Friday 17 May 2002 at 17:04:49

The ever-increasing need for accessible information storage is giving IT directors a growing headache, and is accounting for as much as 50% of many IT budgets. Not surprisingly, then, the storage industry is coming under pressure to deliver more cost-effective solutions - and to make more rapid progress towards open standards and interoperability. Anthony Harrington lifts the lid on a new look sector.

In a world where all budgets are being slashed, and IT budgets are being slashed harder than most, IT directors are finding themselves with a near impossible problem....

Bluetooth Update: Signal benefits

Anthony Harrington — 2002-05-17T17:03:22.000Z

Anthony Harrington, Management Consultancy, Friday 17 May 2002 at 17:03:22

After all the hype, Bluetooth technology has finally made its appearance but, beyond the convenience of wireless connections to the Internet and the printer across the office, what can it really offer for corporate users? How can its capabilities be incorporated into solutions that create real business benefits? Anthony Harrington assesses the technology's potential for new revenue generating opportunities.

Now Bluetooth has finally arrived, the world doesn't need short lengths of cable any more. This, of course, is very neat....

Bluetooth: Under the enamel

Management Consultancy staff — 2002-05-17T17:01:37.000Z

Management Consultancy staff, Management Consultancy, Friday 17 May 2002 at 17:01:37

Bluetooth chipset shipments for 2001 amounted to 9.23m units, some 900% higher than in 2000, and accounted for some $138m in revenues. Frost & Sullivan is predicting that the number of chips shipped will rise to close to 1bn by 2006, and argues that the industry now realises that there is no "one size fits all" solution.

The simple facts about Bluetooth are that in its present, Mark 1 version, it can exchange data with another Bluetooth enabled device at a maximum throughput rate of 750 kilobits...

News cut and thrust

Management Consultancy — 2002-04-08T08:23:43.000Z

Management Consultancy, Management Consultancy, Monday 8 April 2002 at 08:23:43

Microsoft has launched Microsoft CRM, which is aimed at SMEs in need of sales automation software that doesn't need many IT staff to control it.

The software will be available through Microsoft Great Plains as a stand-alone product or integrated into back office applications packages....

Marketing clicks for mouse

Robin Bloor — 2002-04-05T15:54:47.000Z

Robin Bloor, Management Consultancy, Friday 5 April 2002 at 15:54:47

Even though it fails to deliver genuine productivity benefits, an innovative technology can gain a hold through skilful marketing. Robin Bloor analyses the "wow" factor that has made the mouse so ubiquitous.

Part of the failure of the computer industry over the years has been its inability to focus on genuine productivity....

Licensing: Desert microsoft? It can be done.

Maggie Holland and Sarah Arnott — 2002-04-05T15:53:11.000Z

Maggie Holland and Sarah Arnott, Management Consultancy, Friday 5 April 2002 at 15:53:11

Users unhappy with Microsoft's licensing changes do have an alternative, say Maggie Holland and Sarah Arnott, but the investment and planning needed to switch software make it an extremely painful one.

Users face an uphill struggle if they want to replace Microsoft software in protest at licensing changes - but an increasing number say it can be done....

Win a trip to CeBIT

Management Consultancy staff — 2002-02-27T10:38:49.000Z

Management Consultancy staff, Management Consultancy, Wednesday 27 February 2002 at 10:38:49

Management Consultancy and Kuoni are offering you the chance to win a flight to the CeBIT show in Hanover.

The prize includes a free day return flight from Luton and return coach transfer between the airport and the fairground....

Software Leasing - Calling for a leap of faith

David Rae — 2002-02-27T10:34:55.000Z

David Rae, Management Consultancy, Wednesday 27 February 2002 at 10:34:55

Oracle and BT Ignite's plan to lease e-business systems may benefit small and large enterprises alike. But, says David Rae, its success depends on whether people are ready to rely on the Internet.

Oracle and BT Ignite are to join forces to lease the software giant's e-business products throughout Europe. The agreement will help Oracle to realise a more application service provider (ASP)...

Server sales suffer

Kevin Reed — 2002-02-27T10:33:39.000Z

Kevin Reed, Management Consultancy, Wednesday 27 February 2002 at 10:33:39

Western European server sales continued to suffer through Q3 2001, recording a figure of $3bn compared to $3.81bn in Q3 2000, according to IDC.

However, a worldwide decline of 30% in server sales over the same period means that Western Europe compares favourably, with a drop of 21%."US-based global vendors have been suffering from...

News: PDAs gain on mobiles

Kevin Reed — 2001-12-03T12:31:31.000Z

Kevin Reed, Management Consultancy, Monday 3 December 2001 at 12:31:31

The PDA is growing in popularity although the mobile phone remains the most dominant device to access company services, according to research from Datamonitor and PeopleSoft.

The study of 200 companies across Europe into m-commerce trends shows the PDA rivals the portable PC in usage for the manufacturing and retail industries....

Feature: Storage - Store

Anthony Harrington — 2001-12-03T12:01:10.000Z

Anthony Harrington, Management Consultancy, Monday 3 December 2001 at 12:01:10

The relentless generation of data means that companies must organise, manage and archive their information resources more effectively, says Anthony Harrington

One of the surprising facts about any new IT project these days is the huge bite that storage is likely to take out of the overall budget....

CRM fails to please.

2001-09-16T23:00:00.000Z

Management Consultancy, Sunday 16 September 2001 at 23:00:00

Companies are failing to use e-business to deliver the kind of experience and relationship that will build customer loyalty, according to PA Consulting.

Capturing Customer Value in e-business surveyed 120 CRM and e-business strategy leaders in the UK, Norway and the US, and found that most were dissatisfied with their e-business achievements, particularly...

ERP market suffers skills crisis

Mary Huntington, Management Consultancy — 2001-01-09T17:03:13.000Z

Mary Huntington, Management Consultancy, Management Consultancy, Tuesday 9 January 2001 at 17:03:13

With so much hype surrounding ebusiness and CRM, ERP may not be the sexiest of sectors. But implementation skills are still in demand, not least as a springboard to other things.

The enterprise resource planning (ERP) market may be suffering from post-Year 2000 (Y2K) blues, but rumours of its demise are greatly exaggerated, according to organisations trying to undertake staff recruitment...

Gartner touts the ERP II vision

Anthony Harrington, Management Consultancy — 2001-01-04T17:00:06.000Z

Anthony Harrington, Management Consultancy, Management Consultancy, Thursday 4 January 2001 at 17:00:06

Although Gartner claims that businesses are unlikely to see true ERP II systems on the market before 2004, the shift, when it comes, will be seismic enough to warrant the Mark II nomenclature.

Analyst group Gartner is attempting to redefine the enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications arena - a term it invented in the mid-1990s - and if it is successful, we will...