7global acquired

There’s a lot of consolidation at the moment in the managed service and hosting world and we’re no exception. 7global has been acquired by 365iT and it’s hugely exciting. We’ll be operating as wholly owned subsidiary and so there won’t be any of the upheaval these kinds of events can inflict.

We’ll have the same expertise backed up with some real clout. This is going to be of great value to customers, partners and prospective clients alike. You can read the official press release here.

Interesting Managed Hosting Report

An interesting report on managed hosting from the analyst Quocirca. Describes 7global, as well as the competition (whom I would steer well clear of if I were you) and our different approaches to managed hosting. Definitely worth a read.

Christmas is coming, the inbox is getting fat

Christmas. It has come around with alarming, terrifying speed. It seems like what has already been a manically busy year is getting more manic, like some kind of crazed Greek dance.

Anyway, there's plenty of time for mince pies. What I really want to talk about is the mad, bad and dangerous world of product development. Not what necessarily springs to mind when one thinks of untrammelled anarchy but it can be unless you're disciplined. Having done this a thousand times, and I'm currently doing it again, this focuses the mind.

We're currently reviewing 7global's hosted services, and working on an addition to come out in the New Year. It's one of these products we've been doing in a 'soft' way for years. Now we're re-engineering it for public consumption so I'm eating and sleeping R & D at the moment.

I've found unsuccessful (or at least overlong, underwhelming products and services) are 100% always the result of lack of process. The best ideas, the most original concepts, the most fecund potential markets mean nothing when execution is poor. The result can resemble a bar room brawl in a Western:

*Smash* the CTO shatters a whisky bottle over the Marketing Director's head.
*Crash* the Support Manager hurls the Sales Director onto the ubiquitous poker game table.
*Thunk* the FD floors the Presales Lead before being thrown into the piano player, bringing the rendition of Camp Town Lady to an abrupt halt.

To avoid these unseemly scenes I think there are 5 key steps to take to get this right, forged over the years on the anvil of failure and success. Like so many sensible steps they look simple but are harder to stick to. Worth re-iterating, though.

1. Getting started.

This needs to be the loosest stage. Brainstorming, looking at the competition, establishing clear ambitions for the product. Make sure people are relaxed- some of the best ideas can follow on from the worst at this stage. And vice versa.

2. Planning

You need to look hard at the intended scope. What can it do? What benefits will it deliver? What do people want? Too many times, people focus on the technology without thinking about the customer.

Product Team: "Oooh- look what it can do!"
Customer: "So?"
Product Team: "But look! It does that!"
Customer: "So?"

Strategy and scope are essential. Timelines, costs, resources must all be finalised to make sure everyone is on the same page.

3. Delivery

Making sure everyone is communicating is one of the most important aspects. Working in splendid isolation usually means things don't fit together when you sit down to review. "Oh, I see. You wanted it to do that."

Making sure there's strong project management is essential, too. If you've not done your bit there better be a pretty bloody good explanation.

4. Control

It's essential to keep revisiting the plan. If it's a good one, then it will adapt. The course of technology product development rarely runs smooth. On the plus side, new angles, features and benefits always emerge to enhance your product too. Be careful to manage these new developments (positive and negative) and keep to the objectives and strategy.

5. Launch

Launching a product is often the hardest thing of all. There you need to pull in all the elements of your organisation to understand, market, sell, deliver and support your new clients. Kicking it off in style is also imperative. Never miss an opportunity to sing and dance about the work you've done!

As I say, these are almost truisms. However, I read other people's truisms feeling slightly sheepish that despite their innate truth, I don't follow them myself. So now it's my turn.

Right, time for a bourbon and a game of cards...

7global- the wanderers return

I've just come back from some European events. Sounds very glamorous but actually pretty intense, and extremely worthwhile.

Last week (18-20 November) saw two 7global representatives (Paul Doherty and Mike Williams) in wonderful Copenhagen for Convergence 2008, the annual Microsoft European conference on all things Dynamics. for those unfamiliar with 7global we are a leading provider of hosted Microsoft Dynamics CRM and so it was great to run into some of our partners, make some new friends and talk about what we've been doing in the year (lifetime?) since last year's event.

One of the things we were particularly interested in was QGate's CRMMigrate product. CRMMigrate allows the (allegedly) legions of disgruntled Salesforce.com users who are hacked off with the usability of the SFDC system but like the hosted model to migrate over to Hosted Microsoft Dynamics CRM. We're offering users free 30 day trials with their own live data to see how simple it is. You can find out more here.

Copenhagen is a lovely place but it was a very busy 48 hours so we didn't get to see much of it. A highlight was Microsoft Corporate Vice President Kirill Tatarinov singing karaoke, a regular fixture which never fails to...entertain. Took lots of Tuborg to drown out the memory.

Sunday, 7global (this time Chris Bithell and Paul Doherty) were in Athens for the EMEA Hosting Club (24-25 November). Great to see all our industry colleagues and Microsoft guys who have been helping us over the months and years. Lots of exciting stuff happening- very invigorating, very exciting. Back in the office now to start building on some of the inspiration.

7global launches blog

Ok- so we've launched our blog. Late I know, but it's been a fantastically busy period for us. So that's our excuse! I was finally set along the path of righteousness by David Ednie President & CEO, SalesChannel Europe at the recent Microsoft EMEA Hosting Club in Athens.

David did a great presentation there on the subject of ‘Competing for Customers – Connecting with people’ and I was lucky enough to sit on the same table at dinner. We had an opportunity to talk about 7global and what we were doing and, after expressing shock and incredulity that had shirked our blogging duties, he made me promise to make some time from my schedule to get the blog I knew we should be writing off the ground. And so, here we are. Thanks David for spurring us on.