Paul's Almanac

Amazon is one of the poster children of today’s disruptive technological age. Run by the charismatic founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, Amazon grew from small beginnings as an e-commerce start-up selling books online to be one of the world biggest e-commerce and technology companies. Professor Amrit Tiwana from Terry College of Business, at the University of Georgia uses Amazon (amongst others) as an example of a “platform ecosystem” in his book - Platform ecosystems: aligning architecture, governance, and strategy . Amrit defines the elements of a platform ecosystem to include; (1) shared infrastructure, (2) a platform, (3) interfaces, and (4) Apps that are using by end-users. He also introduces the notion that there are competing ecosystems, and argues that; Platform ecosystems are replacing traditional models in and beyond the software industry, driven largely by the digitization of products, services, and business processes. They can expand the pie for everyone but require a funda...

I can remember the first major digital project I was given in sport over 10 years ago. We were launching a new league in 3 months’ time and we needed ten websites – two for the league and one for each of the eight teams. I thought, based on previous projects, I’d need a budget of $500,000, especially given the tight time-frame. I got a budget of $200,000 – the league was just beginning after all and budgets were tight. The time and budget constraints limited our delivery options and we ended up partnering with a sport specific web company. Their content management system (CMS) wasn’t the best, but after some haggling they fitted into my budget. The league used that vendor and the CMS for over 8 years – well past my tenure with the league – and certainly well past its envisaged use by date from when we originally selected it! Once implemented, sports don’t replace their CMS’s that often. So when you do replace them it’s important that you get the decision right. In today’s digital l...

I can’t believe that it is over five years since I last blogged. It’s with some amusement as well as embarrassment that I looked back on my last blog post on December 29, 2009. So much has changed in the world of digital sport - far too many things to talk about here. But it is interesting that two of the topics discussed in my last blog, user experience and the problem of silos within sporting organisations in regards to digital, are still relevant today. User experience is now an accepted part of sport’s toolkit in developing new digital properties. The rise of mobile applications and tablet devices has meant that no longer are we just developing for one screen, we are developing for multiple screens with multiple contexts that exist in multiple environments. User experience including the emergence of user centred design is now a critical part of developing amazing experiences for sport fans - whether they are in the stadium, in the pub, or comfortably at home on the couch. ...