Expanding and recruiting

The annual planning process that we go through every year is intended to match the projects the university wishes to implement to the resources available. This year continued a trend for more projects to be requested, including many that are needed simply to comply with external regulatory changes or to replace systems that have reached their end of life. There are also several large projects that come with extra internal funding.

The outcome was that we needed to increase our numbers substantially in order to meet these requirements. This led to some complex negotiations in the high reaches of the university. I'm thankful that I haven't had to be involved, but frustrated at the length of time it took to resolve the issues. Still, the good news is that we now have permission to add 13 new posts to Applications Division.

The adverts are now on the University jobs site as well as www.jobs.ac.uk .

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Webinar: Powering your business with Cloud Computing

On October 14th, I will be hosting a Grid Computing Now! web seminar on the topic of Cloud Computing. We have lined up two very interesting speakers who are using Cloud now to make businesses work. Ross Cooney had a good technological solution to sell but couldn't make it economic until Cloud Computing allowed him to pay for his computation only when he needed it. He will discuss the instant benefits and long term impact of cloud computing to the development, competitiveness and scalability of your application. Alan Williamson created the BlueDragon Java CFML runtime engine that powers MySpace.com. He advises several businesses and will give an overview of the different types of services available and how to avoid being locked-in to a single supplier. You can register for this event here .

Technology Strategy Board: Information Day, 22nd October

I've been asked to publicise the following event. The Technology Strategy Board has arranged an Information Day for Wednesday 22nd October to outline the various R & D Competitions being planned over the next 9 months. This Information Day will provide delegates with an opportunity to find out about the activities of the Technology Strategy Board and gain an understanding of the application process for Collaborative R&D Competitions as well as find out about other Technology Strategy Board activities. The event, being held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Central Birmingham, will open at 09:30 for a 10:00 start and will close at approximately 16:30; a full agenda will be available shortly. To register for this event please click on the following link and complete the on-line registration form For more information on the Technology Strategy Board please visit their web site

Business Model Canvas

A Business Model Canvas is a tool for mapping the core functions and capabilities of an organisation. Compared to the Core Diagrams that I described in an earlier post , the business model canvas attempts to present more aspects of the business, starting with the value proposition – a statement of what the organisation offers to its users (in the business world, to its customers). It shows the activities and resources, as Core Diagrams do, but also shows user relationships & channels, and also benefits and costs. I’m not aware of any universities that have used this tool but you can find examples from elsewhere on the web. We are considering business model canvases as a tool for mapping the strategic capabilities of units at the University of Edinburgh. Phil Taylor, our EA contractor, sketched an outline of what a business model canvas might begin to look like for HR: This is only intended to be suggestive: the real canvas would need to result from in-depth discussions abo

Distributed Thinking

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