Freelancer.com, the world’s largest outsourcing and crowdsourcing marketplace, today announced its 50 fastest growing online job categories for the first quarter of 2012 with the release of the Freelancer Fast 50.

Chief Executive, Matt Barrie, said the Freelancer.com Fast 50 pulls data from over 3.3 million users and 1.5 million projects creating the most comprehensive insight into online job trends. “We have seen a huge increase in outsourcing on the whole, with businesses rethinking their strategies moving into the New Year,” Barrie said.

TOP TRENDS FOR Q1 2012:

• Outsourcing surges with a rise in business process outsourcing: Outsourcing of back office and non-core functionality has seen a dramatic rise in the last quarter with Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) showing the highest growth of any job category in Q1 of 2012.
• Huge increase in VA jobs as businesses focus on core activities: Virtual Assistant jobs (up by 144% to 3205 jobs) have seen a surge in this quarter. SMEs, who traditionally do office administration in-house, are outsourcing these tasks as a result of the comparatively low cost of offshore labour.
• Mobile app development grows as smart phones show no sign of slowing: Android (up by 26% to 2,863 jobs), iPhone (up by 27% to 4,318 jobs) and iPad (up by 19% to 1,828 jobs), with “post-PC device” sales outstripping that of PCs and a slew of new models hitting the market, the number of jobs in these areas has seen a steady increase.
• Open Standards will own the Web: HTML5 (up 48% to 2,160 jobs) continues its ascent as the de-facto Web 2.0 standard. The continued growth of “post-PC” devices and their support of next generation open web standards.
• Losers: SEO (up by 8% to 10,152 jobs) has remained comparatively stagnant. Despite a stronger recovery for SEO in late 2011, Google’s constant fight against low quality link building has had a major impact on the SEO industry.

Source: Business Review Australia

Manila-based offshoring and outsourcing solutions provider MicroSourcing announced last the opening of its first Australia based office, which marks yet another milestone for the company as it continues to experience near record growth in 2012. To support the growing demands of a bustling Australian economic climate, MicroSourcing has also launched http://www.microsourcing.com.au.

The goal is to satisfy Australia’s growing interest and need to include offshore and outsourced teams to their company structures and delivery strategies.

“We have observed a substantial increase in the number of Australian clients we are acquiring and feel that a home-turf presence inspires more confidence in the services we provide, “ stated Philip Kooijman, CEO at MicroSourcing. “Small and medium sized businesses are now realising the positive benefits of utilising off-shore teams, including increases in productivity, operational efficiencies and access to skilled labour that would be otherwise difficult to attract locally.”

The Sydney office is the first for MicroSourcing outside of the Philippines. The purpose of this high-powered physical integration is to serve the Australian business community efficiently and effectively through hands-on transition management and providing on-going service support.

The Philippines has emerged as a premier choice for offshoring and outsourcing for Australasian companies because the cultural, economical and geographical integration is virtually seamless. With the new office in Sydney, MicroSourcing has bridged the geographic gap between the two countries and is able to offer Australians easy access to a highly skilled, cost-effective workforce in the Philippines.

By Phil Fersht

Boston-based Horses for Sources’ Phil Fersht with some interesting insights. In a two-part report he looks at the results of some BPO research that he undertook.

At the end of the day, it’s not all about outsourcing and it’s not all about shared services; it’s about focusing on how to globalize processes, how to transform finance (and other) functions, and how to govern it all in a global business services context. There is no dominant model; it’s more about achieving the right balance across all delivery models to achieve the best business goals.

In conjunction with global accounting body ACCA, We spoke to 682 large organizations currently running finance in either an outsourced or shared service framework (or both) – and the results are emphatic: those organizations relying predominantly on outsourced delivery, or predominantly shared services, are viewing their finance delivery performance much more skeptically:

Why do these results signal the decline of the “predominantly outsourced” model?
1) Expectations are clearly higher with outsourcing… and they’re not being met. Only the ability to meet compliance and regulatory goals (42%) is brushing up notably well with the outsourced finance functions. Everything else is mediocre-to-average, in terms of meeting finance performance objectives. This is because many buyers’ outsourcing environments are relatively nascent, and their expectations were likely set to a high level when they embarked upon their engagements. In addition, most governance staff can clearly recall what it was like before outsourcing, and find their new environment a struggle to get things ticking over like they were in the old days. Buyers are clearly finding it hard to make productivity improvements to their finance processes when they outsource heavily, with the main reasons being the cost and complexity of dealing with providers’ change-order processes and also the fact they the operational people running the engagements on both the buyer and provider side are too junior to make decisions. Instead, they get absorbed into the table-stakes of meeting SLAs and running things on budget. Other reasons we will discuss further in our upcoming Sourcing Blueprint document. Our concern at HfS is that if buyers and providers allow these relationships to stagnate, we could get left facing a dangerous commoditization of operational process outsourcing.

2) Shared Services delivery models aren’t faring much better. Those buyers sticking predominantly to a shared service model for finance are also suffering similarly mediocre performance levels to their outsourcing peers. Only their ability to standardize processes is really coming though as a major plus, with 52% experience really effective results to-date. Clearly, they find it easier to make tweaks to process flows and delivery quality issues. However, when you consider that most of these buyers have been doing shared services for an average time-span of 10-20 years, compared with 1-7 years for outsourcing, you have to conclude that a pure shared services model is not the best answer for those buyers seeking to continually improve their finance performance.

3) Hybrid shared services and outsourcing frameworks are reaping the best results. Those buyers operating hybrid SS&O frameworks are experiencing better finance performance in every single performance category. Clearly a strong, centralized retained organization that augments its shared services processes with outsourced options is enjoying the best of both worlds. Most notably, 54% of the hybrid buyers are finding genuine effectiveness with their ability to transform their finance functions, and similar proportions are encouraged by their ability to transform onto standard processes, meet compliance goals and even globalize their finance operations. Essentially, those buyers that are retaining more of their talent and working with their providers to help with achieving broader finance goals (at least initially), are developing their finance operating structure much more effectively. This indicates that buyers who leverage outsourcing to fulfill specific needs and blend it more effectively with their overall finance operations, are more comfortable with where they are going. At the end of the day, it’s not all about outsourcing and it’s not all about shared services; it’s about focusing on how to globalize processes, how to transform finance (and other) functions, and how to govern it all in a global business services context. There is no dominant model; it’s more about achieving the right balance across all delivery models to achieve the best goals.

The Bottom-line: Many buyers have little choice but to find GBS partners, or face a purgatory of inferior BPO and shared services.

Buyers need staff that is ready to embrace these new global services environments. We’ve been hearing many buyers talk about populating their retained teams with staff who’ve only really ever worked in a globally sourced environment. And on the service provider side, buyers need delivery teams, which can work with these retained teams to meet their business objectives, in addition to cranking out the administrative work. Should a provider fail to do much more than facilitate standard process delivery (yes, we all know they exist) the buyer needs to evaluate how to bring in external help to plug the gaps to globalize processes and work consultatively and strategically with the retained team.

We are now seeing the rise of Global Business Services partners to work with buyers in “process integration” roles, where they can help their clients’ retained teams manage their whole business services mix across outsourced, shared services and in-house models. This is not too dissimilar from the service integrator roles we have seen in the IT world, with some of the higher-value integrators stepping up to help their clients manage the whole morass of service delivery. However, unlike IT where it’s easier to disaggregate services and run multi-vendor environments, it’s a lot more challenging when you deal with business processes, hence we expect those buyers with provider partners which have invested in domain capabilities to have a major advantage over those providers which really can’t do much more than provide butts on seats.

We see a true divide developing between the providers only focused on standard delivery, and those that have high-caliber process experts on their bench. The problem is many buyers today do not discover how poor their provider is until after then signed the deal, and it’s not easy to put in requests for consultative help after they’ve outsourced. However, for many buyers, they don’t have a lot of choice but to start campaigning internally for funds to improve their current sourcing delivery frameworks because they are far too beholden to the capabilities of the provider they signed up with.

Essentially, if your provider is starting to sound and acts like a glorified staffing company, you might just want to open up conversations with GBS partners that can work with you to optimize what you have already invested in. However, we recommend you’re MUCH better off finding this out before you give them the kitchen sink.

By Campbell Fisher

To gain a greater understanding of how organisations can effectively build an integrated shared services solution and a centre of excellence for HR, WR and WHS FCB Groups.

In Australia, workplace relations remain firmly on the HRM agenda this year as the area continues to be a challenge, as we move to a harmonised national system of regulations.

While many organisations have already transformed their transactional HR processes to increase productivity and scale, knowledge-based HR advisory services remain the next step to consider.

One of the key benefits of a central model for HR advisory services case management is the ability to generate on going reporting and metrics on systemic employment issues. This enables businesses to make smarter decisions by accurately reporting on issues raised, for example, service standards, quality and cost on a per-transaction-per-head or per-business unit basis.

Undoubtedly, there’s a role for the shared services model in the HR and WHS advisory space. Indeed, in the last decade there have been a number of significant legislative changes that now make it more logical to apply a shared services solution. These include the Fair Work Act 2009; 122 Modern Awards, 10 National Employment Standards; Independent Contractors Act 2006; Work Health and Safety harmonisation of legislation through 2012 to 2013 and the Paid Parental Leave Act 2010. This progressive move to national or state harmonised regulatory frameworks provides an organisation with the ability to centralise workplace relations’ advisory functions to gain greater value and efficiencies.

Furthermore, the deep cuts inflicted by the GFC have an on going impact on an organisation’s HR function. While transactional HR services may have been partially or fully automated eliminating the need for HR teams to handle this workload, HR resources are being stretched to manage operational and compliance issues. This is diluting the HR department’s ability to deliver strategic initiatives, which support competitive advantage and assist the organisation to achieve their commercial objectives.

HR Directors are validly questioning their HR structure, design and delivery priorities in light of stretched resources. Core competencies sought for HR teams focus on employment branding, talent attraction, talent mapping, culture, leadership development and coaching, as well as talent retention.
With this primary focus, many organisations are seeking answers to how they can deliver HR, ER and WHS advisory in new effective and efficient delivery mechanisms.

Yet just think about the breadth of service offering that the HR function delivers. This includes providing expert advice and consultancy on workplace relations matters; developing and managing policies and programs for labour relations, employment, induction and training. There’s also the need for experienced negotiation skills, and the ability to arrange representation as appropriate at industrial tribunals and hearings. On a day-to-day basis, there’s a need to monitor employment relations developments, conditions of employment, welfare, security, safety and training of employees. And at all times, there’s a need to ensure workplace relations compliance through regular auditing and procedural training of employees.

While there is undoubtedly more red tape and compliance paperwork, many businesses may not be able to support a business case for additional resources to manage all these issues. At the same time, attracting, retaining and providing meaningful career paths for specialist workplace relations experts to resource in-house teams often proves difficult for large organisations.

However, with the development of new technologies that ease the delivery of a shared service or an alliance model as well as the national/harmonised regulatory frameworks, an on going partnering relationship with an external workplace relations specialist really starts to make sense. Through this partnership organisations are better able to maximise the value their HR function provides the business, proactively manage workplace issues thereby reducing their cost to the business and improve service quality through better customer alignment.

For HR Directors though, it’s not just about delivering cost reduction – additional drivers include access to specialist services and expertise, leveraging IP, implementing knowledge management systems, managing risk and empowering managers through new effective accessible delivery models.

Given the maturity and high success rates achieved from transactional HR shared services, it’s no surprise to see forward-thinking HR Directors are considering incorporating expert and advisory services within the shared services model. The next step will be considering if they should also incorporate strategic advisory services within this model or form alliance relationships with external workplace relations specialists to provide consistent, quality advice cost effectively.

Contact: Campbell Fisher cjf@fcbgroup.com.au

By Stephanie Overby (CIO (US))

Given the maturation of the IT outsourcing market and the introduction of more standardized offerings like cloud computing, you might assume that negotiating IT service deals is getting easier.

Not according to the lawyers hammering out the agreements.

KPMG reports that 41 percent of outsourcing attorneys surveyed for its 2012 Legal Pulse report indicated that complexity in contracting for outsourced services, as evidenced in things like service levels, contract structure, pricing models, use of global sourcing has actually been increasing. (The survey included outsourcing attorneys at 31 law firms.)

Sure, buyers and suppliers are more experienced and new out-of-the-box services are gaining traction. But that may be increasing complications in contracting. More sophisticated buyers are seeking higher-value benefits from outsourcing, globalization is increasing, and business leaders are sending more complex functional and process work out the door.

“As buyers gain more experience they continue to push the envelope in terms of scope, complexity of work outsourced, number and diversity of service providers utilized, geographical scope and mix of service delivery models. Complexity comes with the territory,” says Stan LePeak, KPMG’s director of research for advisory services. “So while the outsourcing market is maturing, it is not necessarily getting simpler, easier, or safer.”

Address IT Complexity Upfront

A complex contract, in and of itself, is not a bad thing. It can result in greater benefits for the outsourcing customer or may better address issues of pricing, performance and risk “Problems arise when complexity is not adequately addressed, recognized or accounted for upfront and in the ongoing management of the outsourcing efforts,” LePeak says.

The key is to make sure that the level of complexity in the legal documents is commensurate with the nature and goals of the outsourcing arrangement and not just the result of a once-burned buyer or overzealous counsel.
Typically, as services markets mature, best practices in contracting tend to cement themselves in the way of standardized pricing, performance assurance and particularly defined terms. However, 27 percent of the attorneys polled reported little or no standardization in defined terms, which LePeak says also points to the fact that while outsourcing is maturing, it’s also been expanding into uncharted territory in terms of scope, objectives, and geography.

The survey asked about the most contentious issue in outsourcing negotiations. The most challenging contractual terms to reach agreement on were limitation of liability, indemnities, step-in rights, pre-defined direct damages, and supplier financial risk all of which involve potential financial exposure to supplier or client. The most challenging commercial terms to come to consensus on were termination fees, termination rights, service levels, transformation and transition fees all of which involve service provider risk.

Arguments over terms related to transformation rated 17 percent higher than last year as more buyers are attempting to include transformation goals in their outsourcing engagements. “Transformation involves building into the contract terms, conditions, or measures for process transformation or for innovation or other nebulous but value-laden keywords,” says LePeak. “The challenge is translating a somewhat conceptual idea like transformation into contracted terms and conditions and factoring in all the events and conditions that could impact transformation being achieved or not.”

IBM, Accenture and HP Play Hardball

The toughest negotiators by far continue to be the traditional global outsourcers like IBM, Accenture and HP, according to the attorneys surveyed. Contracting with India-based service providers such Infosys, TCS and Wipro tended to be a less complex, contentious and lengthy process, according to the KPMG Research, while the easiest to deal with were regional or niche suppliers.

“Some of the legacy firms just have more and more aggressive lawyers, and there are also situational variances and exceptions across all classes,” says LePeak. “But as some respondents noted, legacy firms negotiate harder but remain professional and are less likely to come back later with requested changes and some Indian firms were easier to deal with but would come back later with requested changes or would not negotiate as solid a contract as is possible. So some of it is style and some of it is substance.”

And like complexity, a little back and forth during negotiations can actually be a good thing if it leads to a better or more equitable deal. “Were one side to roll over in negotiating, or if contentious points were ignored or not resolved before the deal is signed, it would be worse,” LePeak says.

“Ultimately you want the best deal and contract and one that has no holes, meets both sides’ needs and reflects the spirit of the effort, and sometime it’s harder and more contentious to get to that point,” LePeak says. “The key is that when all is said and done both sides are satisfied with the deal, and any contentiousness was not so bad that they can’t stand each other and can’t possibly work together going forward.”

Stephanie Overby is regular contributor to CIO.com’s IT Outsourcing section.
Read more about outsourcing in CIO’s Outsourcing Drilldown.

By Matt Smith

With almost 50 per cent of Australia’s internet subscribers using mobile or wireless broadband, serious concerns are being raised about the security of wireless systems and the ease of hacking.

Many residential networks are left vulnerable, because users don’t alter system passwords from their default setting or at times don’t even apply a password at all.

Mark Gregory, a senior lecturer in computer engineering at RMIT, believes it isn’t just residential users that leave themselves vulnerable – businesses and some corporations do as well.

“About 20 per cent of Wi-Fi networks are left unsecure or have poor security. The most a user can do is make sure the password is strong, but even then ‘password security’ is a fallacy.”

Many networks are insufficiently protected with older technology. Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), which was developed in 1999, is now outdated and was replaced in 2003 by Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA).

Dr Gregory says the weakness of most home wireless networks lies with the modem manufacturer – repeated password failure does not lock down most modems, allowing hackers to continue to attempt to break in until they are successful.

“If a system timed out after a number of password failures, that would be enough to deter most would-be hackers,” Dr Gregory says. “A wireless modem should at least be able to prevent brute force attacks. Unfortunately manufacturers have been a bit lax.”

The serious nature of hacking was recently highlighted by Queensland Police, whose fraud squad began a wardriving initiative to help identify unsecure residential wireless internet networks.

Wardriving is the act of searching for Wi-Fi wireless networks from a car using a laptop.

“It’s a positive community support program, and the effort should be supported,” Dr Gregory says. “The issue should be taken seriously, and this response should be carried out in all states.”

With Wi-Fi signals reaching up to 100 metres, a potential hacker could be anywhere. ‘Nick’ (not real name), a computer enthusiast who admits he is not an expert, found it simple to illegally access Wi-Fi.

“A neighbour of mine didn’t have a password on their Wi-Fi,” says Nick. “Another didn’t change their network name or password from the default name of the router.

“You can just chuck it through a program dedicated to generating the password for that particular router. It might take some time, but it works. That’s more cracking than hacking, and it’s simple.”

Nick says there are plenty of forums on the internet dedicated to hacking and cracking, and that no Wi-Fi network will be completely safe.

“With a bit of an understanding of networking, a couple of programs to capture and analyse what’s going into and out of the networks, the right wireless adapter, a Linux operating system, and some patience, you can have whatever network you want,” he says. “There’s no such thing as a bulletproof Wi-Fi network; if someone is devoted enough they’ll get in.”

While many hackers could see it as an innocent challenge, others could be using their illegal Wi-Fi access to commit fraud or serious offences, such as using child pornography.

“These sound maleficent in nature, but it’s like a puzzle to those with a deep interest in the subject,” says Nick. “It’s a challenge, like a Rubik’s cube, and you’ll find that most hackers break in for those reasons alone.”

Many popular and specialised hacking tools are easily accessible through internet search engines. Programs such as Wi-Fi Hacker and NetStumbler are commonly used, and numerous tools and guides can be found on websites such as wardrive.net.

Many of these applications are easy to use. Some, such as iWep Pro, will run on a jailbroken iPhone. It can provide passwords for Wi-Fi networks within minutes.

A Spanish application developer, “Mike Wazowski” (not real name), says he developed the application to provide users with a tool to test the vulnerabilities of their own routers.

“The app will only unlock a network if it’s kept on the default password configuration,” Wazowski says. “I don’t know why so many people don’t change the password on their modem. I haven’t changed my own, so if you ask me, I’m just lazy.”

Wazowski confirms that iWep Pro users have reported good results in Australia, providing passwords for BigPond, Thomson and Speedtouch Wi-Fi modems.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/consumer-security/why-your-wifi-network-is-never-safe-20120424-1xi2m.html#ixzz1tEzf3YWu

By Michael Baker

The Australian BPO Report 2012 shows that online marketing will grow from 6% of major firms outsourcing online marketing to 17% in the next 1-2 years.
- Editor

The percentage of e-commerce sales in Australia is set to jump ahead in the next two years.

In the important November/December trading period in the UK last year e-commerce accounted for over 10 per cent of retail sales for the first time.

The momentum then continued breathlessly into the new year with online sales surging north of 11 per cent of the total retail takings.

Meanwhile, in the United States, e-commerce’s share of sales has still barely topped the 5 per cent barrier despite more than a decade of mainstream experience with the online channel.

This begs an obvious question: Why have the British embraced online shopping at the expense of conventional retail channels so much more than Americans? And importantly for Australian business – will Australia follow the UK’s e-commerce growth trajectory or the more subdued American one?

The stakes are huge for those heavily invested on the property side, such as retailers with stores, shopping centre operators, investors and the whole industry supply and distribution ecosystem.

The answer to the question is found in a place that is usually overlooked as an influence in the e-commerce arena, and yet exerts enormous influence right under the noses of everybody in the retail industry – the Australian and British planning bureaucracies.

Australia has come late to the internet party for a number of reasons, not the least of which are its technology-shy mainstream retailers and a parcel delivery infrastructure that elicits nostalgia for Cobb & Co. Even so, according to the most recent data from private sources, e-commerce as a percentage of retail sales in Australia is already about the same as that in the US and set to forge ahead in the next year or two.

So far then, Australia’s e-commerce growth profile is looking more like Britain’s than America’s. And as many Australian store-based retailers bemoan their slow start to 2012 and look ahead to another year of mediocre sales growth, many will blame e-commerce itself.

This is a false attribution. E-commerce is not the villain of this piece, neither is the high saving rate, neither is the weather, and neither – for heaven’s sake – is Spain’s fiscal crisis.

The reason real estate is losing market share to the internet at a faster rate in the UK and Australia than in America is that it was all planned that way.

In the UK, government planners have spent decades defending the High Street precincts by preventing the development of suburban shopping centres. The High Street hubs continued to crumble anyway and ultimately the regulators grudgingly allowed the development of some shopping centres, not out of any love for consumers but more because shopping centre developers were a ticket to economic revitalisation.

Nonetheless, the damage had already been done. UK’s shopping centre space per capita is now less than a quarter of that in the US and its total retail space per capita is less than half.

This has narrowed the choices available to British shoppers relative to the US and made online shopping vastly more attractive once the e-commerce infrastructure was put in place.

Australia’s planners have done an equally comprehensive hatchet job on retail development as their UK brethren, not just stifling competition by limiting the supply of floorspace but with prescriptive zoning practices.

This is exemplified by the obsession with herding businesses into ‘activity centres’ and even – in the case of the infamously-named ‘bulky goods’ centres – setting aside zones which lock out various kinds of retail formats.

These kinds of planning constraints have prevented the natural process of forging hybrid retail formats that evolve to meet the changing needs of shoppers in consumer-friendly countries.

The first major result of all this planning activity has been the strangulation of supply, which has left Australia with barely more retail space on a per capita basis than the UK. Result: fewer choices for Australian consumers and higher prices.

A second major outcome is that consumers are stuck with a retail hierarchy that is 30 years out of date, lacking a number of important formats that thrive overseas. Examples of formats missing from the Australian retail scene are power centres, retail parks, lifestyle centres, power towns, super-centres and, until recently, warehouse clubs. Factory outlet centres have just squeaked in under the wire, but have been mostly confined to airport land. Result: fewer choices and higher prices.

A third major outcome is the most common complaint you hear from international retailers wanting to come to Australia: the difficulty of getting appropriate sites, another corollorary effect of planning constraints. The injection of fresh blood into Australian retail from overseas has therefore been stifled by planning regulation as well. Yep, fewer choices and higher prices.

With all these strikes against the planning system, it’s small wonder that e-commerce penetration in Australia is set to follow the much more aggressive growth path of the UK rather than the more moderate path of the US where shopping options in the normal terrestrial channels have been allowed to flourish.

So, look for 10 to 15 per cent of sales to be accounted for by the internet in Australia within five years.
About the only thing that stands in the way of e-commerce now is Australia Post, which has evidently decided that the vexing ‘last mile’ of delivery is not its problem any more.

Leaving cards in letterboxes and installing lockers in its own branches are the preferred delivery solutions, keeping the onus on shoppers to drive somewhere to pick up their packages or have them returned to sender.

Michael Baker is principal of Baker Consulting and can be reached at michael@mbaker-retail.com and www.mbaker-retail.com.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/small-business/growing/the-ecommerce-explosion-its-all-in-the-planning-20120420-1xba3.html#ixzz1sd0BhGdg

By Sameer Murdeshwar

Last week’s Oscars had all the usual drama with the unforeseen winners and the expected list of movies winning the golden statuette. In the hours leading to the award ceremony, the Twitter-verse was abuzz with predictions and expectations from the event. And, all this time, a team from IBM was monitoring all activity on Twitter using a tool called the Senti-meter, developed in collaboration with the Los Angeles Times and the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Innovation Lab.

The Senti-meter tool tracked all the sentiments from Twitter before, during and after the Oscars to predict the winners and losers. This tool has been designed to crunch large amounts of real time data in seconds and predict public preferences. With more than 150 million tweets a day, this application has the capability to analyse public tweets and create real time dashboards of public sentiment. This technology was used for other major events as well including the Grammys, the World Series and the Super Bowl. 
 


Evolving nature of analytics


Analytics, as a technology, has evolved from sifting through existing data that has been lying around in servers for years, to a more proactive version which encompasses collecting data from various sources and producing up-to-the-second reports, analysis and trends. Services providers in this space must take a page from IBM and build capabilities which will allow them to churn out data using real time analysis.

Apart from Twitter, there are other platforms such as other micro blogging sites, social networks, blogs and forums to tap into, for social media driven online insights. Next generation analytics will be able to ignore online “noise” and focus on impactful online feedback. This service relies heavily on linguistic and semantic analysis to identify varying shades of sentiments (positive, neutral and negative) and identify sentiments which carry value. These include posts which have been retweeted / shared often, online clout of the user, the number of followers and other such parameters.



What’s in store in the future?


Social media driven analytics has far-reaching applications beyond the world of sports and entertainment. Fields such as news publications, retailers, electronics manufacturers, automotive manufacturers and brand experts can benefit from services to identify key issues that frame everything from marketing strategies to customer segmentation and brand sentiment. Social media driven predictive analytics represents a significant paradigm shift in how businesses interact, understand and discover actionable customer insights. Experts have predicted a 30-times fold increase in online data over the next decade, and this is the right moment for service providers to draw raw online data to provide real time decision support for their clients, and for the clients to harness this emerging technology to understand their customers better.

Sameer Murdeshwar, Analyst, ValueNotes Sourcing Practice
http://www.sourcingnotes.com/content/view/812/1/