Archives For Numbers and the bottom line

Numbers are the essence of business, if they are in the +ve then you are good. We can learn much from what works and what does not.

Executive education needed for bold technology based deployments

January 15, 2013 — Leave a comment

Technology, no matter how brilliant , no matter the promise, is useless unless it gains traction and goes mainstream. Over the years I have noticed that it is not a shortage of ideas and concepts that exists but rather a lack of buy-in from key institutions or industries that would see solutions grow legs.

I  believe that certain technology concepts are best adopted by a market once one or two big entities, think government or blue chip fast moving consumer goods outfit, latch on, and use the solution to derive competitive advantage or other value as measured by its key performance indicators. Continue Reading…

In Misfiring neurons, Mobile, Numbers and the bottom line, Technology , , , , , ,
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What I hope to do better in 2013: leverage real-time business intelligence and research to gain competitive advantage

December 20, 2012 — Leave a comment

It is that time of year when many C level executives are taking stock of what has been a very eventful twelve months across many industries. Running a technology company  that can be committed to the dead pool in as little as two business quarters by a rapidly changing landscape, we too took  that time out to see if what we had predicted for 2012 actually did happen and if not, what was the cause of the deviation.

Rather than dwell on the successes that we enjoyed having got some bets right, I would much rather highlight what we discovered as our achilles’ heel and are moving to remedy with the hope others invested in the same space will learn and grow. Continue Reading…

In Business, Numbers and the bottom line, Technology
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Bold thoughts to drive adoption of local technology solutions

November 26, 2012 — Leave a comment

The number of local startups finding their feet is growing, thanks to a growing interest by both local and foreign investors and the burgeoning innovation spaces setting up shop. The debate continues on what happens next after money and time has been injected into these ventures. Is there a way to fastrack their growth? Or are we comfortable with a “jua kali” model where there are hundreds of  small time ventures as opposed to a handful of heavy hitters? Which model is best to pursue?

In the past I have talked about the concept of co-government investing that would essentially ensure the intellectual property created in the process of solution provision for the multi-million and sometimes multi-billion projects would be retained by local companies who could then export the technology. With the obvious effect of creating a multinational tech outfits as they would be addressing problems that are replicated in different african and emerging markets. Continue Reading…

In Business, Mobile, Numbers and the bottom line, Technology
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Considerations when opening up your data and core systems. API means business

November 13, 2012 — Leave a comment

Openness drives innovation. The world over, governments, institutions and corporate  are opening up access to their data and core systems to allow for the creation of new services that will add value to their consumer base. Innovators on the other side are looking at what is being made available and creating mashups by combining data sets or simply relooking the relationships between data from one particular system and adding for example the element of location to bring about a different perspective.

Access to data is given through a set of protocols and you may hear the term API thrown about within developer communities or by your in-house IT team. API stands for Application Programming Interface, and simply put, it is a specification for data interaction between two systems allowing them to talk to each other.

Data is considered sacred as it forms the backbone of any business and therefore you must consider some baseline best practice if you are looking to make an API available, whether the reason be to monetize it or simply provide an avenue for innovation. Continue Reading…

In Business, Mobile, Numbers and the bottom line, Technology
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The intersection of technology, music and consumer choices – a positive disruption?

June 21, 2012 — Leave a comment

Technology being an enabler, tends to cause disruptions often across different sectors. How the players in the affected ecosystem respond is what usually determines whether or not the disruption will cause growth or open the ground to reveal even more problems that may lead to the death of, or the shrinking of the industry.

The entertainment industry is driven to a large extent by music, and the modes and channels of consuming music have evolved from stereos, walkman’s, cd’s to the current darling of the day, streaming; which has seen recent buzz as consumers look beyond direct downloads.

Internationally, services such as Spotify, Pandora, Turntable.fm, iTunes, Grooveshark, Rhapsody , Zune and Google Music are on a continuous roll to attract both investment and drive numbers with different business models to boot making music available on demand. This has of course stirred the waters in Africa giving rise to services such as the recently launched Spinlet which gaining traction quickly. Continue Reading…

In Business, Mobile, Numbers and the bottom line, Technology
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Mobile data holds key to increased revenues for content producers

March 15, 2012 — Leave a comment

Investments by the mobile operators continue unabated in their quest to meet increasing consumer demand for services and mobile phone utility. These investments are usually based on future demand projections and local mobile operators such as Safaricom are busy preparing for 4G deployment slated for mid next year but targeting the enterprise consumer.

Mobile data for the mass market consumer remains untapped and it is great to see that Airtel has also gone live on 3G that will increase the mobile data footprint. Unknown or unseen by many is that the growth of mobile data consumption and revenue for both mobile operators and content producers lies the adoption of mobile data by rural consumers. Continue Reading…

In Business, Misfiring neurons, Mobile, Numbers and the bottom line, Technology
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The technology ecosystem in Kenya: is government playing its role sufficiently in supporting local tech companies to grow? What’s the take of money men #VC’s?

March 8, 2012 — 8 Comments

The last two weeks have seen a very intense debate on social media (Twitter and Facebook) around the role of government in creating a more enabling environment for local IT firms. The debate first started on Konza, the proposed technopolis that will cost an estimated  Sh800 billion. Condensed thoughts from the Konza discussion were…

Continue Reading…

In Business, Misfiring neurons, Mobile, Numbers and the bottom line, People, Round n About, Technology
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Dissecting the spirit of Konza; a different take on Kenya’s technopolis

March 1, 2012 — 1 Comment

Kenya is looking to become one of Africa’s high growth economies and has blueprints such as Vision 2030 whose target is to create a globally competitive and prosperous nation based on three pillars: economic, social and political governance. The economic pillar of Vision 2030 seeks to improve the prosperity of all regions of the country and IT enabled services are among the six verticals identified in this regard. As outlined on the Vision 2030 website, “The aim is to provide superior telecommunications infrastructure, easy access to international transport facilities, and affordable and readily available energy which are critical for a competitive BPO industry.”

The concept reads well, but a recent poll on social media on what the feeling on the ground was about Konza and its promise drew mixed reactions. There were two schools of thought that prevailed, both with very poignant arguments; considering that the technopolis is projected to cost Sh800 billion. Continue Reading…

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Evaluating the value from the growing number of labs ,hubs and incubators

January 5, 2012 — Leave a comment

The last 12 months have seen increased focus in the establishment of labs, hubs and shared spaces throughout Africa, seeking to meet the demand for innovation arising from the upsurge and uptake of technology based solutions and the birth of many startups gunning for a piece of the pie.

As we now have traction along this front, we need to have some metrics by which to measure what is on offer by the current crop of spaces, as well as create a baseline that those wishing to establish such can base themselves on. The business models these spaces adopt may vary, but the core is often a mix of an equity stake and subsidized workspace.

The move is towards more commercial models as the guinea pigs in the form of the first movers have proved that the concept is viable.

In no particular order, here are some key points to look at when choosing an incubator or shared space from which to run your startup operations. Continue Reading…

In Business, Numbers and the bottom line, Technology , ,
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Managing reputations in the age of technology

December 30, 2011 — Leave a comment

With the growing use and spread of information technology, consumers and competition alike don’t have to go far to talk about your brand. These sentiments both positive and negative can be shared fairly quickly and it is therefore imperative for any brand manager to stay ontop of things.

In context, conversations on social media and other sites can be consumed by over 2 billion people globally. While this in its entirety  may not be your audience, your consumers lurk therein and they influence the choices of peers. Where possible, consumers check out reviews, blogs or post questions about brands before they make the purchase decisions. Continue Reading…

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