Communication suffers through email predominance

Irish office workers don't talk anymore, or at least not as much as they used to, according to new research by business communications firm Damovo. A survey of 553 workers found that email is the favourite means of communication at work (41 percent), followed by face-to-face meetings (32 percent), landline desk phones (19 percent) and mobile phones (4 percent). "For a nation that likes to talk, and is renowned for verbal communications skills, we should be actively encouraging people to talk more. I do believe that we build better relationships person-to-person than through e-mail," said John McCabe, managing director of Damovo. "In particular, our customer relationships, and indeed overall ability to provide effective service, may be damaged unless we prioritise talking." McCabe said the dangers posed by over-reliance on email include time being wasted from never-ending email reply loops, people hiding behind email, and important mails being missed among the deluge of irrelevant messages. For more on this story see ENN.ie. (For more on how to manage your email, see Issue 204.)

Business websites subjected to 'shocking' neglect

New research into online business in the UK has uncovered "shocking" levels of website neglect by small business owners. A survey by web design firm Netflare covering 19 small business sectors discovered that 23 percent of sites had not been updated since launch, making much of their content inaccurate, if not obsolete. The average age of the websites studied was four years. In addition, only 8 percent of sites had an eCommerce element. "We were completely staggered by the tiny percentage of small business owners who were actively using their websites to generate sales," said Jon Beal, managing director of Netflare. "Figures from the Office of National Statistics show that between 2005 and 2006, consumers spent STG102 billion in online purchases in the UK alone. It is beyond comprehension that small business owners are ignoring one of the fastest-growing sales opportunities there has ever been." Read more on this story on SourceWire.

Email marketing faces challenging times

Open rates for email marketing messages declined globally in the second half of 2007, according to a study by email management firm MailerMailer. Overall open rates for messages sent through the company dropped several percentage points from rates seen in the first half of 2007. In the area of personalisation, the company found that emails with only the subject line personalised did worse than those with no personalisation at all, probably because spammers often gear their subject lines toward recipients. Open rates are highest on Mondays, Tuesdays, and the weekends, the study noted, and emails with shorter subject lines significantly outperformed emails with longer subject lines. The company also found that emails containing 20 or more links got about twice as many click-throughs as those with fewer links. For more on this story see eMarketer.com. (For tips on email marketing, see Issue 201).

Data protection becoming prominent concern

More companies are turning to information protection and control (IPC) solutions to prevent valuable data being lost, stolen or disclosed. That's according to a new report from IDC, which said that the increased value of digital information - coupled with more stringent government regulations, industry recommendations and intellectual property protection - is driving the adoption of IPC solutions to protect sensitive information and ensure regulatory compliance. IPC includes solutions that monitor, secure or encrypt, filter, and block sensitive information contained in data at rest, data in motion, and data in use. Some 81 percent of respondents view IPC as an important part of their overall data protection strategy. "A number of high-profile incidents have raised awareness of the growing data-leakage problem," said Brian Burke, program director for IDC's Security Products and Services group. "The leaking of customer records, confidential information, and intellectual property has caused explosive demand for solutions that protect against the deliberate or inadvertent release of sensitive information." For more on this story visit IDC.

Supply chain intelligence (part two)

Software-as-a-service: accessing a global market

Case study: Acumen & Trust

Measure your web traffic

Annebrook House Hotel, Mullingar, Westmeath, April 1
This evening workshop is delivered by eBay Academy Ireland in association with the IIA and Westmeath County Enteprise Board. Partcipants will learn how to use eBay.ie to sell products or services effectively on eBay.ie. Course tutors are eBay-trained and certified industry experts.

This free tool allows you to easily create your own map of any location in cities around the world. With just a few clicks, you can customise a map to illustrate the location of your business or event, and then share the link by either embedding it into your own website or emailing it to contacts. Locations can be viewed using a choice of mapping engines: Google Maps, Yahoo Maps and Virtual Earth Maps. Maps are printable, and you can also choose to display your own images in a 'photo gallery' alongside your map.