During the 2015 Christmas break, Digital Rehab shall officially maintain the following opening hours:

Close: Wednesday 23rd December 2015

Resume: Monday 4th January 2015

NB: All Digital Rehab consultants reserve the right to work over this period if and where they choose. 

If a valued client of Digital Rehab, please check with your relevant consultant as to his or her availability over this period.

On behalf of the entire team, may we wish you a terrific and safe Christmas season and look forward to working with you in 2016!

By Alisdair Blackman
Published on Switzer Daily

On 13th October (less than three weeks away) the mandatory data retention scheme in Australia will go live.

Few have really taken the Government to task on this wide-sweeping change and in my view, infringement on our civil liberties.

Inspired from Nick Holmes a Court’s recent tirade on social networking site – Facebook, Mr Holmes a Court writes:

Astounded by this and the seeming lack of public awareness around this change, I dug deeper and found only a few articles on this issue.

Astounded by the seeming lack of public awareness around this change, I found only a few articles that stressed the importance of this issue. Out of the content I was able to find, a profound article written by Quentin Dempster (a journalist I hold in high regard) in late August 2015 detailed what information the Government will and won’t collect from your internet service providers (ISPs).

So, here are the facts as outlined by Dempster. From the 13th October the Government will be able to access the following:

For emails

• Who you’ve emailed
• Date and time you sent an email
• Attachments (data volumes)

For Phone

• Phone number of everyone you called
• Missed numbers
• 1800 numbers
• Number of everyone you SMS’d
• Time, date of calls and SMSs
• Duration of calls
• Your rough location at time of call or SMS

Online activity and social media

• Your IP address
• Time and duration of your web connections
• The law does not require carriers to retain ‘destination’ IP addresses (your web browsing history), but a carrier may do so
• The volume of your uploads and downloads
• Location and geographical data

So as of the 13th October 2015, the Government shall know:

• Who you are talking with
• What about
• Your IP address
• Your location

Armed with this [your] information, there will be a large number of government agencies that will have the authority to access this information without a warrant which is to include:

• ASIO (Australian Security Intelligence Organisation)
• AFP (Australian Federal Police)
• All state and territory police forces
• The Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity
• Australian Crime Commission
• Australian Customs and Border Protection Service
• Australian Securities and Investments Commission
• ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission)
• NSW Crime Commission
• NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption
• NSW Police Integrity Commission
• Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission
• West Australian Corruption and Crime Commission
• South Australian Independent Commission Against Corruption
• Any other agency the Attorney General publicly declares

Law enforcement and Intelligence agencies will have immediate, warrantless and accumulating access to all of this information. Anyone, be they ISP, telco etc who opposes the collection, or surrendering of this information can be penalised up to $2 million for non-compliance.

Baker & McKenzie’s Patrick Fair told Fairfax Media a person’s metadata can be reviewed at any time by agencies without that person’s knowledge and it might be used for or against you in court.

Yet another precarious issue is one around the security and safety of this stored information. Hackers will likely see this data store as a gold mine. What safeguards are proposed/shall be put in place?

Just to put all of this into perspective, metadata requests are not new. Between 2013-2014 in Australia, there were more than 330,000 requests for access to metadata on Australian citizens.

A spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Department said metadata was a vital tool used in “virtually every counter-terrorism, organised crime, counter-espionage, cyber-security, child exploitation and serious crime investigation”.

Greens Senator Scott Ludlam put it quite succinctly when rallying against the metadata laws in Parliament back in March. “This is a bill to entrench a system of passive mass surveillance. It is corrosive of the very freedoms that governments are elected to protect, and it has no place in a democracy. And yet, it is a democratically elected parliament that [has enacted it].”

Early this year, the details of over 10,000 Australian citizens were forcibly passed onto Dallas Buyers Club LLC’s rights holders in an effort to allow the rights holders to seek damages for the illegal download of the movie from ‘pirates’. Well, we are the rights holders of our data so, where is our recourse to exercise our rights to privacy and, more particularly, common decency?

Over many years, I have always been intrigued by leaders who promote a specific methodology or process as gospel when delivering projects designed to solve a particular business issue or problem. They typically purport to having detailed understanding and experience in all other methods but have formed a view that their way is best.

Often they defend their position by advocating a purist view. I’ve witnessed many CEOs, CIOs and company directors implement their own unique delivery models methodologies. Yet, even then what many fail to understand is that irrespective of the method – the core underlying project tasks, risks, dependencies, environmental considerations and sensitivities, tools etc all remain the same.

What I have found is that irrespective of the methodology used, success and failure do not discriminate based on delivery approach.

I’ve worked on projects that have been considered Waterfall, Agile, hybrid and generic. I’ve seen success and failure in each approach. I want to share with you some of my learnings from Agile and Waterfall approaches:

COLLABORATION & COMMUNICATION ARE KEY

SCRUM meetings are all good and fine, but what then? Projects require love, care and constant nurturing so as to ensure the teams working on a project are continually coordinated, motivated and supported. This requires a balance of communication and collaboration. Again, I have witness some project managers and PMO’s ‘over-communicating’ setting a maddening number of ‘meetings’ in an effort to artificially produce their version of collaboration.

I believe collaboration and good communication needs flexibility dynamism and open sharing and unfettered exchange of ideas where everyone contributes. It’s not about setting regular meetings, conference calls etc.

Projects are fluid so too should be the approach used to manage and coordinate teams. Good Collaboration requires stakeholder engagement, regular conversations and dialogue at both the micro and macro.

AGILE PROJECTS HAVE ‘BA’ RELATED TASKS

I realize that many do not share my personal preference for a hybrid methodology but I would oppose anyone who thinks that Agile roles do not require traditional BA related tasks. Many view the existence of BAs to add unnecessary complexity to Agile flows. I would argue that basic BA tasks are required in all projects – planning, definition of business needs, documentation, communication, requirements validation.

TECHNIQUES RARELY CHANGE

BA techniques don’t change often. Good techniques can be used in Agile or Waterfall environments. Traditional Project Management or BA techniques include: requirements gathering, analysis, prioritisation, change management, issue resolution, dependency management, risk mitigation etc. All projects require these common outputs to be created.

It’s the external factors ie. Timing, structure, format and process that may change. Certain Agile methodologies use a specific set of techniques (ie. SCRUM User Stories) but I would argue that these much the same however far less detailed and well planned out but at least provide a starting point to start from. Similarly, while I would always recommend that much of the planning and requirements gathering be conducted prior to work commencing, Agile would see requirements gathering conducted in small, easier to define ‘chunks’ – but I think you would agree that both approaches will provide outcomes.

STOP POLARISING AGILE & WATERFALL

Many think Agile and Waterfall are opposing / conflicting methods. The truth is that they are not. Agile is a mindset revolving around ‘common sense’. It sets out NOT to replace other methods but rather frame up an alternative approach to software development that balances fluidity in decision making, with rapid delivery of output (often using prototyping) to provide something feedback can be gleaned from.

Typical Pro-Agile diagram

KEEP CALM & TALK TO YOUR STAKEHOLDERS

Agile looks and feels very different from waterfall but that does not mean you need to freak out stakeholders should you wish to change your approach. Facilitation skills and confidence are the two common traits required to bring about such a change. As long as your project managers are able to work efficiently, remain focused on output and keep stakeholders engaged, the process can be adaptive.

As I have previously made mention of, one of the most common engagement of late has been around Digital Rehab aiding and assisting companies with their marketing automation.  Some engagements see our project managers and digital marketing specialists deploy new platforms, tweak existing systems, integrate a number of systems together, programmatic marketing planning, setup then handover etc.

Over the last few days, I stumbled across a number of very interesting views, insightful commentary from other leaders in this space and I found myself captivated by one  infographic in particular – which I share with you below:

Just because your project is live, it doesn’t mean it’s over. One of the most overlooked parts of a project is post launch, that is after it’s gone live. In the excitement and relief of delivering a project, managing its closure should be considered a phase in its own right yet is rarely performed well.

Here are my top 10 tips to help you manage your projects effectively in the post-live phase of the project lifecycle.

Managing projects effectively in this phase isn’t just a nice to have, it’s critical!

1. Check it’s live and check again
   The first thing to do when a project goes live, is to make sure that it is actually live, check the developers didn’t get over-excited halfway through and forget to finish deploying it properly. Then check it again. And again. Keep checking. And make sure you’ve set up Pingdom or Site24x7 so that you’re the first to know if it falls over. You need to continue to test well after the project has gone live and as part of that, do any regression testing to ensure that your project’s deployment hasn’t adversely impacted anything else (be it other business applications, systems etc).
2. Check the checklist
   As a project manager the buck stops with you – you should be confident that everything is ‘tickety-boo’. Make yourself a checklist well in advance of the final production deployment so that you’ve got something to check back against – in it, think about the things that you can check to ensure that you’re 100% sure that the project is working as it should: Completed post-live QA, ensuring it works cross platform, browsers and devices as defined in the agreed Scope of Work? Set up server monitoring? Confident that systems are robust, and secure with a back-up plan in case if it all falls over? Created 301 server redirects? Googled it, checked the index and follow are set properly and checked the meta descriptions? Submitted sitemaps and updated Google Webmaster tools if and where relevant? Checked that tracking and analytics are working? Checked that any required data is being collected, that forms are working, data can be exported and is being backed up?
3. Ramp down the project team
   Before everyone forgets about what they’ve just built, make sure the project is closed properly from an administrative perspective. Check that the everyone has put their files on the server and that those folders are in order. Create archives for old files and ensure final versions are clearly labelled. From a development standpoint, check that code is commented and checked and sufficient documentation exists for re-deployment should additional development teams be required to co-author changes post launch. It’s amazing how much you’ll appreciate this 6 months later, when you’ll save yourself hours of trawling through the server when a client asks you for a random PSD file that your designer has totally forgotten about.
4. Be clear about when it’s over
   So you’ve completed testing, your checklist is complete, the admin is completed and you’re happy the project is complete? Now draw a line in the sand. The scope of work document should clearly define when a project is complete and all in-scope deliverables are delivered. When the immediate bug fixes are complete, it’s important that you don’t start adding in last minute feature requests before first doing some proper analysis. Some of the biggest and worst mistakes to projects are made trying to make quick fixes to a project in the days just after it has gone live when clients realize that perhaps they didn’t get all the stakeholder approvals that they thought they had received. Invariably, this kind of botch job leaves the site UX (user experience) or design severely compromised as knee-jerk reaction changes are made that aren’t thought out particularly well.
5. Test and analyse
   Instead of trying to make botched quick fixes, be a bit more strategic. It’s time to start thinking about next steps. How is the project performing against the KPI’s – to what extent is it getting results? Most importantly, explore if the project is properly solving the original business objectives and evaluate whether users do what they need to do with ease. Talk with client stakeholders, use focus groups, user testing and analytics identify any issues and explore opportunities to optimise the project.
6. Create a roadmap
   When you’re clear about the issues and opportunities, create a roadmap to carefully define the sequence of implementing them. If you’re not careful you’ll end up with a mishmash of change requests with no particular structure. Instead, plan it out taking into consideration the client’s budget and the importance rather than the perceived urgency of the changes. Start with the quick wins and plan out the bigger opportunities and enhancements so that the client knows what they can expect, when.
7. Optimise, Analyse then Repeat
   Got the roadmap approved? Now start implementing each of the enhancements. It’s important that the analysis, roadmap and optimisation cycle continues on the project even after the initial roadmap is completed. It’s often at this stage that the priority shifts from function to content in terms of optimisation. Explore the project’s ongoing content strategy; how is the project going to continue to be sticky, useful, interesting and rewarding? Now do it!
8. Assess areas for future improvement
   Hopefully you’ve been keeping your project status report up to date, right up to the end of the project. Look at the original estimates and compare them against actuals. By the time you’re deploying to live it’s unlikely that there’s any opportunity to submit any change requests, but dig around to ascertain where the project came in on budget, and which areas went above or below. If any departments spent more or less than estimated, and ask yourself the difficult questions – ‘why did we go over budget’, and ‘how can we prevent this from happening again in future?’ It’s also important to be transparent and share the information with the client too so they can understand for future projects why things are estimated the way they are.
9. Review and learn
   If we’re going to become more effective project managers, an important step in every project is to learn from it. Post project reviews are essential. From an agency perspective it’s key to analyse what went well, what didn’t go so well, and what can be improved on for next time. To do this it’s key to take learnings from everyone who was involved in the project, including the client. Make sure you document that information in a post project review to help you learn from it for future projects and circulate it to the rest of your PMO. Ask yourself how these learnings should shape future projects and the way you manage them with your team.
10. Celebrate your achievement
    Lastly, but importantly, celebrate your success with your team and your clients. Team lunch/dinner is good. As much as it’s been hard work for you, don’t forget the effort that they’ve put in too. And don’t forget to broadcast and communicate the project completion to all stakeholders and ensure training is adequately in place to ensure end users can realise immediate wins and benefit from your project.

What do you think? Is there anything else that you think I have missed from the list above?I’d love to hear if you’ve got any more tips and advice to help improve the professionalism of project managers in Australia.

According to the latest Adobe/CMO Council research, CMOs charged with managing the rollout and adoption of digital channels are struggling to build business cases for further investment in digital.

Marketers increasingly believe that that digital is enabling engagement through continuous touchpoints connecting brands directly with customers.

Surprisingly, only 21 percent believe digital can increase transactional volumes, revenue and margins.

The study has found that budgets in digital have remained tight and that digital capabilities – especially in agencies – are limited.

The report recommends three digital imperatives for APAC marketers to adopt to accelerate their digital journey.

• Optimise strategies for engagement and enablement by diving deeper into intelligence, insights and customer analytics. Best practice leaders in the region are demonstrating this by integrating tools that help streamline operations, and rolling out new strategies that leverage online and offline data to create smarter experiences.
• Boost team performance and skills. The talent gap consistently manifests as a major obstacle to digital advancement. In 2013, 37% of marketers across Asia Pacific said their agency’s capabilities and experience were holding them back. In this latest survey, that number has jumped to 47% of respondents, which is especially problematic when you consider that 74% of respondents said they were working with one or more digital agencies across the region.
• Allocate budgets based on customer-centric metrics in your business case. Digital budgets are slowly increasing in Asia Pacific, with 78% of respondents saying they have increased budgets over the last 12 months. Marketers who leverage metrics tied to the bottom line, profitability and growth, are having greater success persuading internal stakeholders to increase their investment in digital

Paul Robson, President, Adobe Asia Pacific said “Digital and business transformation is a complex and challenging task, but the rewards are great. Early adopters in Australia are leading the region in digital marketing proficiency and are able to prove value to their organisations and industries. These companies are using customer intelligence in an insightful way and are leading with data. They are raising the bar by measuring, predicting and using insights across multiple channels to create relevant and personalised experiences to satisfy customers.”

“While more marketers than ever before are allocating between 25 and 50 percent of overall marketing budgets to digital, what emerges from the data are ramifications of the skepticism over measurements and value—and the overarching question of whether the budgets being allocated to digital are actually moving the needle.”

The authors argue that marketers need to stop thinking of digital as the low cost solution and instead view it as a catalyst for transformation and customer engagement optimization.

Special thanks to Andrew Birmingham who recently published a thought provoking article that formed the basis for this post.

On Monday this week (April 21) a new change has been released to the Google search algorithm which advocates and forces a ‘mobile-first’ approach be taken for all websites that wish to rank well.

The move marks the biggest shake-up to the search engine since Panda and Penguin. Google will boost sites that display well on mobile and downgrade those that don’t.

According to Google, half of all searches globally come from mobile – yet many brands have failed to keep up with the shift in consumer behaviour.

The answer is for all businesses to ditch their unresponsive site or your ‘m.’ subdomain and embrace a blend of responsive, reactive, adaptive content and templates. Do it now, or be displaced by competitors who got there already

Google has built an online test for brands and publishers to check whether their sites qualify as mobile-friendly – see: https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/

FIVE action points for your website to become mobile-friendly

Here are some ‘first steps’ to take when responding to Google’s latest mobile friendly algorithm update, whether a business employs their own in-house SEO team or outsources to an agency or consultant:

1. The algorithm roll out affects only search rankings on mobile devices and applies to individual pages, not entire websites, so make sure your most important pages are indexed as mobile friendly as soon as possible.
2. Check if your site is already considered mobile friendly by Google. There may be a delay in Google identifying mobile friendly web pages on your site though.
3. Get your team to cross check Google’s ‘top seven mistakes webmasters make when going mobile friendly’ blog post to assess your conformance. See:  www.developers.google.com/webmasters/mobile-sites/mobile-seo/common-mistakes
4. Check the status of your entire site through the Mobile Usability report in Webmaster Tools that identifies those pages on your site suffering from severe usability problems for mobile visitors.
5. Having made the changes, instruct Google’s spiders to crawl your site sooner than they might have otherwise done by using Google’s Fetch as Google function.

Related Articles

This week a report was released by Expert360 which has found some fundamental structural changes occurring in the global workforce which overwhelmingly show a steep increase of Small to Medium sized Businesses (SMBs) reliance on outsourcing and hiring of expert contractors.

Source: Expert360 – Getting Trendy Hiring & Working Trends Report 2015

Here’s a few key findings:

• By 2018, it’s expected that 40% of the global workforce will be outsourced consultants like those at Digital Rehab.
• Last year, freelance experts contributed over $700bn to the US economy, with Australian contractors raking in more than $51bn.
• 76% of businesses are experiencing a skills gap that could be filled by an expert freelancer. As a freelancer you’re likely to earn as much as 275% more!

In conclusion, SMBs are the lifeblood of our economy. However, to compete with corporate giants, they must be flexible. Our research indicates that this flexibility should exist in their workforce. In the past decade, this flexibility was usually derived from an off-shore, low-skilled workforce but this is no longer the case. Freelance / outsourcing to experts is enabling growth, cost savings and providing critical skills to super charge revenues.

You can download the Report here:

While it is true that marketing automation is not new, recent research points to slow and gradual adoption and usage.

Only 7% marketers say email automation is “very successful”

The latest Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 from Econsultancy/Adestra reveals that 39% of companies still rate their email marketing automation campaigns as ‘not successful’, 46% have touted ‘moderate success’ and just 7% view email automation as ‘very successful’.

For those new to marketing automation, fundamentally it relies on logic being developed around creating ‘trigger’ event(s) from which emails/sms or other actions are then triggered.

The use of automated triggers in the marketing mix is on the rise. Research has concluded that trigger-based automation is in use by less than a third of all companies and predominately used by ‘subscription or paywall publishers’.

Over the next 12-24 months, I predict a very sharp increase in the take up and adoption of marketing automation afterall, businesses are continually looking to automation to deliver timely, relevant content to their customers and key stakeholders.

In the research, it was said that 54% of those studied, identified marketing automation as an area they are not yet doing to their satisfaction. Respondents mentioned in 2015, that their focus would be around automated campaigns (29%).