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Consulting

My most recent major client was Her Majesty's Chief Inspectorate of Prisons, part of the Home Office. I examined and changed its:

report production process,

internal communications,

computer systems,

data security procedures,

questionnaire processing system,

information management strategy, and

Web site and intranet.

These changes involved setting standards, defining procedures and revising organizational structure, including three new appointments.

Other user organizations

These include:

Marks & Spencer - defined groupware strategy

Ellerman Lines - defined IT strategy and policy

Scottish Executive - regularly advised on IT strategy and software selection

Penguin Books - created a document and process architecture

Department of Health - advised in a Lotus Notes acquisition project

British Sugar, Chase Manhattan Bank UK and Midland Montagu - led office automation feasibility studies

BBC Television - led an organizational change project

Metropolitan Police - advised in contract negotiations with major software supplier.

Supplier organizations

These include:

Alcatel UK - advised on acquiring workflow automation software

Symbian - advised on its choice of electronic mail server

ICL - designed and led a three-day workshop on software interface design

Cincom, IBM Germany, Olivetti, STATUS/IQ and Unisys - evaluated competitors' document management products

AT&T (NCR), BT, Bull, Digital Equipment (DEC), Hewlett Packard, IBM, ICL, Nokia, Olivetti, Oracle and Wang - analysed competitors and their products; briefed technical, marketing and support staff.

Writing

Periodicals

I edit and publish the online commentary, Office Jotter.

Formerly, I edited and co-published the online electronic commerce magazine, eComWatch. Here are the collected back issues.

Books and reports

I wrote the book-length report, Strategic Workgroup Computing (publisher: Cambridge Market Intelligence).

I edited and co-wrote the book, Transforming Organizations Through Groupware, a set of international case studies on the use of Lotus Notes (Springer Verlag). This is now out of print but copies are available through Amazon -- see here.

I edited and was the main contributor to the report, Adding Value through Intranet Applications (Business Intelligence)

I co-wrote the book, Mastering Your Organization's Processes: A Plain Guide to BPM. Cambridge University Press published this in January 2006.

In 2005, I began an association with Bloor Research. There, I investigate and report on markets, suppliers and products for search and for collaborative working. My report on enterprise-wide search appeared in June 2006 and a co-authored 'white paper' on it in May 2008. I wrote a paper on unified information supply in May 2007.

Other writing

This includes case studies and white papers, such as Your Route to the Networked Economy (for InterForum, a computer trade association). Much of this is 'ghost' writing, in which my name does not appear.

I also produce feature articles and reviews of enterprise software.

Conference design and management

For its entire run of five years, I designed CMP Europe's annual Webcom ecommerce and intranet event, which took place at Olympia and at Excel, Docklands. Previous conference designs include the Windows Show and, for several years, EMAP's Workgroup Computing Show.

For three years, I designed and ran for British Telecom a programme of public seminars on IT topics. I did similar work, but on a smaller scale, for other companies, including Data General and Wang.

Conference speaking

I have led numerous workshops and courses, of up to three days' length. They have been on topics such as office software selection and integration, workflow automation, intranet design and document management.

These events have been held in Britain, the Netherlands and, with simultaneous translation, in Italy. As a conference speaker or chairman, I have spoken at, and chaired, events in Britain, the USA, Singapore and most major European countries.

For several years, I was a guest lecturer on IT in business at Ashridge and Roffey Park management colleges and at ABECOR Banking Institute (ABIN), an international bankers' school near Frankfurt. I am an occasional speaker at senior management clubs and seminars.

I have appeared on Dutch television, speaking about teleworking, and have twice been interviewed on BBC Radio 4 about the Internet. Also, I contributed to audio briefing tapes about current technologies for ICL and Bull Information Systems.