”Ease of Communications” – On Demand EIM Solutions, a white paper from WebEx, estimates the cost of implementing an enterprise instant messaging as being quite astronomical:

"An analysis of the licensing rate structures of prominent EIM vendors as well as interviews with leading users of EIM solutions has been used to develop the TCO model and determine the average upfront and annual operating costs on a per user basis. Given the need to amortize On-Premise solutions with all their hardware and software costs, per user EIM costs are very high if the number of users is below 1,000, but they begin stabilize beyond 5,000 users. For smaller systems, upfront costs can be as high as $250 per user, while annual operating costs can be as high as $50 to 75 per user."

Call me an old-fashioned new-age Internet guy, but why would you spend that kind of money on instant messaging? Did e-mail, the phone, face-to-face communications become passé and ineffective?

Notwithstanding the tried-and-true traditional channels is instant messaging filling a void not filled by the new social media, Web 2.0 and such?  

• Discussion forums?
• Blogs?
• Wikis?
• Podcasts?
• Webcasts?
• Text messaging (cell)?
• Water cooler talk?
• Cafeteria gossip?

What is the void not filled by all of the above? Can someone please set me straight and present a reasonable case argument why a business or not-for-profit organization can measurably benefit from instant messaging because all of the above are not sufficient?

Would now be the time to point out that bulk of our organizational champions and executive wizzes balk at spending $50 or $100 per employee on an intranet…?!! And they’re gonna spend that kind of money on IM?!?

IMO u d’t need IM

Not to worry though, I think the Telex is poised to make a massive comeback. Come to think of it I miss that birthday telegram I used to get from Grandma…

PS - I had an executive tell me the other day that from his perspecitve "... the Internet is nothing but a fantasy world." I like the guy actually, but the world is changing... and by the way, Happy Days was cancelled... and Chaci has an exciting future ahead. *yawn* is that coffee I smell?

  Digg this         Post to del.icio.us       Post to Slashdot

Despite the advances in technology and the potentially massive benefits and impressive ROI accrued from converting paper-based forms to online submission, many intranets still host a majority of their forms in MS-Word and PDF.

James Robertson writes in Automating three types of forms that “the ‘rule of thirds’ can be used to categorise the different types of forms within organisations:

• One third are very simple forms, with no logic or complex rules.
• The second third have some underlying rules, such as simple workflow or basic form logic.
• The final third are best considered as applications, such as employee self service (ESS).”

The first two types, in Robertson’s estimation represent about two-thirds of all forms to be found on the intranet, are either very simple or somewhat simple to implement. The third tend to be more complex applications that often get the bulk of attention.

HP’s intranet features 1,850 “e-services” and application. Just about any form you can imagine is an online service. Despite having a remote workforce that is mostly traveling, British Airways employees complete most of their forms online… many in the form of applications:

·         100% of internal (and external) recruitment is done online

·         100% of employee travel is booked online

·         75% of pensioner (retiree) self-service is done online (wow!)

·         80% of employees update their own contact information online (from 10% in 2003)

The number one application is e-Pay where employees access their paystub – delivering savings of $180,000 per year. These forms and applications are the primary drivers of $80 million in savings in the past year for British Airways.

Online forms make sense for a lot of reasons including making better the lives and jobs of employees. And they deliver a lot of savings and ROI.

Read James Robertson’s full article Automating three types of forms.

  Digg this         Post to del.icio.us       Post to Slashdot