Z/Yen Move On Up

Yes at long last we’re moving! - to 5-7 St Helen’s Place. Sounds familiar doesn’t it. Actually we are expanding upstairs into number 5, to get more space and hope to move in February. So come and see us then!

Buy-Side / Sell-Side – More City Buzzwords.

Z/Yen has just completed a major study into the market for Buy-Side Customer Needs for a major financial organisation. The team comprised Jeremy Smith, Vivienne Cassley, Helen Leale-Green, Robert Pay, Giles Wright and Rakesh Shah. Over the last few months, Z/Yen interviewed 50 organisations from hedge funds to pension funds and now knows just what the market needs. Those of you who are interested in this subject are welcome to a copy of the published results. Please contact Jeremy Smith.

Questioning Frame Of Mind

Towards the end of November, the Z/Yen Office was humming to the sound of photocopiers whirring, and cries of 'was that 250 or 300' as we went into production on a benchmarking survey on the governance of IT in the not for profit sector. If you have ever wanted to know what best practice is within the sector, this is the survey to find the answers. It covers everything from the Internet and ASPs to the more prosaic e-mail and voicemail. The results will be incorporated into a Best Practice Guide for The Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators (ICSA). If you would like to know more, give Sarah-Jane Critchley a ring.

Salmon Charted Evening

"Happy Talk" - Z/Yen is delighted to have won several intriguing assignments with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). The MSC aims to reverse one of the world's most urgent environmental problems - the destruction of the marine environment through overfishing. Z/Yen is helping the MSC in various ways, including clarifying its mission, aims and values, reviewing the MSC's governance structure and increasing the MSC's profile within the not-for-profit community. Ian Harris and Michael Mainelli are thus ensuring that the MSC "is Nothing Like a Tame" NGO. In addition, our in-house actuarial scientist-to-be Rakesh Shah, who is "Younger Than Springtime", is busy using correlation, regression and real option theory to help prove the cost-benefit justification for the MSC's certification scheme for Alaskan salmon. As Rakesh is busy finishing his dissertation at the moment, he is producing his tables and charts for the salmon work in the evenings (hence the headline). Before you all write in complaining that we don't know our North Pacific from our South Pacific, we have ascertained from our long-term Aussie-temp, Mishel Vitlov, that some species of salmon are also indigenous to the South Pacific. "Bali Ha'i".

Sold For 200 Camels

Z/Yen's growing reputation in E-Business and E-Procurement issues has spread to the Arabian Gulf. Following several highly successful London events, Michael and Mary were invited to share their expertise at a major E-Commerce conference in Dubai. Tales of visiting 1001 Arabian Bars were highly exaggerated, although the establishments offering free drinks to the "Ladies" will be concerned to note that Z/Yen have been invited back in March. The E-Procurement Roadshow rolls on in the New Year for the MoD Disposal Services Agency. Any event organisers from warm and sunny locations, are urged to contact Mary O'Callaghan to discuss how the workshop can be adapted to their needs.

'Great Mistakes In Technology Commercialisation'

No we’re not talking about Z/Yen’s old email system - this is Kevin and Michael’s latest article – So what goes wrong? This paper examines typical failure factors in technology commercialisation projects from their inception, development, financing, market studies and market launch. Liberally spiced with anecdotes and quotations from a number of failed projects, the paper attempts to draw some wry and specific lessons from the hard-won experience of the participants. The project failure factors are usually quite independent of the science involved. Copies are as always available from Z/Yen.

And A Belated Happy New Year

Finally, we’d all like to wish you a very happy New Year and a very prosperous millennium.