NGC Communications

Fighting the Global War on Talent

Is the technology industry’s ominous skills shortage and shrinking talent pool a ticking time bomb? In the global war for talent, the education system in the U.S. is falling short while businesses scramble to find the best employees – wherever that may be.

There is a tremendous corporate movement happening in this country right now that supports building a knowledge-based economy and for U.S. businesses to take an active role in improving resources in academics and advocating for a technology literate 21st Century Student.

Expanding domestic companies are working to ensure that they have an ample supply of engineering talent to hire in the coming years to remain globally competitive. In addition to supporting broader educational programs, some companies have been funding classroom training and curricula in school districts where they have facilities nearby in hopes that it will help them develop “home-grown” engineers.

The debate to those corporate initiatives is this; while schools welcome the materials and much-needed resources, critics say the initiatives add a commercial agenda to academics. Is that bad? Perhaps, but, I certainly can think are far worse things for our slumping economy and poor educational outlook that this country faces in the future.

Continual changes in the dynamics of the global labor force are having a major impact on the way employers around the world conduct their affairs. Technology is shifting organizational missions, strategies and objectives and has been described as one of the five most important variables in the future of business. Yet, all indications are that organizations will face a technology talent crunch in the future.

Last year, more than 270,000 U.S. college freshmen were surveyed and only 7.5 percent of students said they planned to major in engineering. According to the Wall Street Journal, that’s the lowest level since the 1970s. The irony is that the number of technology jobs continues to grow but fewer young American women and men are choosing technology-related fields of study, even though the job pool is readily available.

State spending on K-12 education has grown in real dollar terms in the past decade. Declining housing values now threaten to eat into property-tax revenues; which also eats away at state budgets. Teachers, meanwhile, often welcome the lesson plans, classroom equipment and the corporate-sponsored professional development sessions. But, however well-intentioned, such corporate input may blur the line between pure academics and a commercial agenda, critics say.

Technology professionals must change their focus – from the “techie side” to the “user side” – transitioning from technology bells and whistles to more problem-solving. The move away from “bits and bytes” calls for a new kind of technology leadership. Also, recruiting and retaining skilled employees within a constantly shrinking talent pool will continue to be a critical component to the success of any business in the near future.

The criticism that corporate donations into public schools may be placing hiring priorities ahead of broader educational goals is legitimate. However, weigh that against the needs of cash-strapped school districts throughout America, it begs the question: How many public schools would be offering courses in aerospace engineering or robotics without such support?

Olympics Go Social!

If you think social media is just a fad and doesn’t matter to your business, think again.

We all know social networking has become more mainstream in the last year, but some companies have neglected to catch on to the movement or simply just don’t understand how it all works. Fair enough, but not understanding the business applications of these popular tools is no excuse for sticking your head in the sand.

Here’s a great example of how far social networking has come in a short time.

While enjoying some Olympic curling yesterday (yes, curling is a sweet sport and very enjoyable to watch), I was following the Olympic Pulse online through NBC, which is counting the average amount of Olympic-related Tweets every 10 minutes. At one point I saw an average of 890 Tweets every 10 minutes.

That’s impressive. I also was impressed that athletes were Tweeting from the games. And, while watching curling on television, the NBC broadcaster said one of the U.S. curlers was tweeting while competing. I checked it out and sure enough, the dude was tweeting from the ice between curling rounds. Now that’s what I call interactive.

I bet the count will be higher tonight when Shaun White and the snowboarders hit the half-pipe.

Join NGC on Twitter @ThinkNGC and we’ll follow the Olympics together.

BTW, I like the Tweeting while competing statement earlier. Think I’ll use that more often.

Go USA!

Are You Saying The Right Thing?

Most of us assume the first rule in communication is to be understood. It’s not! The first rule is to communicate so that you are not misunderstood.

This was my “aha” moment of this weekend. Allow me to share this story.

A potential client called last week and asked a simple question: What does NGC Communications do? Without throwing out all those magical buzzwords and fancy public relations jargon to sell the company to the caller, my reply was simple: Storytelling.

Intrigued, the client wanted more – which is always a good thing.

I explained that the word communication is about community. Take a look at both words. Each has the derivative of commune in it, meaning togetherness and sharing. When we communicate we are sharing our stories, and it’s important to be clear and simple when telling those stories. Clarity inspires trust and simplicity gives people certainty.

We also need to remember that any message or story must communicate more than just information but energy – energy that will provide the momentum necessary to motivate your prospective customers. Truly powerful communication always addresses the recipient’s question, “What is in it for me?”

Remember, about 90 percent of communication is not verbal. So, break preoccupation, and focus on listening effectively and using action verbs and energetic words when it is time to tell your story. There are all kinds of communication tools out there to drive a story home. Not the other way around. You can have all the latest and greatest technology and means to deliver it, but without clear and concise content, that important message or story can be lost in an era of information overload.

Take a look at your messaging – both personally and professionally. Are you saying the right thing? Are you using the best method to get your message out there? Do people know who you are and what you do?

If you are struggling to answer any/all of those questions, your clients and colleagues might be, too. Think about it. Send me your comments – would love to hear from you.

Thanks to Spam!

We at NGC must first apologize to all our wonderful readers and visitors to this site.

Over the last month or so, NGC’s Blog has been inundated with spam and bogus comments that has flooded our inboxes with annoying spam. We thought we could get away with not using anti-spam filtering and anti-pingbacks, but we were wrong.

So, in order for us to keep writing more, we have to spend less time moderating and deleting these fake comments. With that being said, we have installed ReCaptcha protection on all of our comment pages for each post in order to prevent spambots and other intruders from messing up a good thing.

I know this additional step can be annoying and that reading the little crooked letters in the ReCaptcha box can be annoying. We hope our loyal readers and contributors understand this necessary step and this doesn’t prevent you from providing all your wonderful feedback.

We would love to hear from you and maybe a good story regarding spam. Lately, we have a few as well.

Take care,

NGC Team

Buzzwords, waffles and spaghetti

We are month into a new year, full of new terminologies, new strategies and new thinking. What will be disruptive this year? What will be the next innovative idea or visionary product that will change our lives in 2010? If you haven’t noticed, there are three, perhaps four, overused buzzwords in this first paragraph alone.

Have you seen the IBM commercial with Innovation Man? If you haven’t, look out for it, because it is fantastic. The main protagonist in the spot is dressed up like a superhero and all he talks about is innovation (a big buzzword for 2009). At the end of the commercial, he asks an employee in drill sergeant fashion what innovation means, and the worker exclaims, “I don’t know.”

Stop talking and start doing – the commercial concludes. It really sums up where we are at right now in business.

The secret to success in 2010 is collaboration. Building relationships and working together is critical to increased profit margins and market share. If you are one of the millions right now exclaiming, “I don’t know” when it comes to innovation, take a look around you and see where you can plug in with someone else and solve the problem together.

Don’t be a waffle! Waffles are square and have little boxes throughout the favorite breakfast treat. Don’t live in your little squares trying to fix each individual problem. Thinking like a spaghetti noodle will be more beneficial. One individual spaghetti noodle touches so much on the plate. It works with all the other noodles to make a complete and balanced meal. Some noodles are shorter and some are longer, but as a whole – as a team – they make a delicious treat at dinner time. Don’t forget the sauce.

The point today is to use buzzwords to your advantage and to work as a team. Although waffles are delicious, spaghetti is much healthier to your success in 2010.

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Should his antidote mount a stumbling soup?

SEO: Bonus or Bogus For Your Business?

Everyone knows how important it is to be found on the Web. But not everyone understands what it takes to be found.

This year marks the continuing and determined effort to acquire, retain, and grow customers through search engine channels. And, while some areas are maturing, innovations in the search marketing arena continue at breakneck speed. But, is it worth it?

First of all, what is SEO? Search Engine Optimization is the effective utilization of search engines to draw traffic to your website. Whether you consider it a science, an art – or a combination of both – it is an ongoing, continuously evolving, high-maintenance process that includes customization of your website for better search engine ranking.

It is mostly technical in nature, combining programming with business, persuasion, sales, marketing, and a love for competitive puzzle solving in a written form. However, it is not just technical; it is not copywriting, proper links and source code, or just search engine submission, but an intricate blend of more than 100 variables into the matrix of a website.

It is difficult, indeed, because every search engine is different without a set of proven methodologies or “trade secrets.” It is a lot of trial and error, research, monitoring industry trends (especially your immediate competitors) and time. Some of the key trends that will shape search marketing this year will be the rise of universal search, the growth of international search marketing campaigns as well as innovative developments in the paid search and natural search landscapes.

Many companies still are under-investing in SEO, and there are several reasons for their reluctance. SEO often involves site-side technical changes that clients are unable to implement due to resource constraints. Additionally, SEO is not as predictable or as measurable as other forms of online marketing. Thus, the investment in SEO is taken on with some risk, and results are not always certain.

So, how does SEO return value on investment?

Think of it this way, the top two priorities that every business has for its website are: One, being found on the Web, and two, turning visitors into customers. Without high rankings, how can anyone find you without directly typing in your URL? And, once they are on your site, does your content engage the end user?

So, does SEO affect your business and your bottom line? ABSOLUTELY!

In the early days (mid-90s), SEO was primarily about getting listed in the search engines and the requirements for ranking were simple and easily abused by spammers as a result. Toward the latter part of the decade, it became more important to be found in human-edited directories and search engines put more emphasis on off-page factors to combat spammers and improve relevancy.

It used to be easy to “trick” search engines, but those days are over. Search engines have won the war against keyword spamming through innovative algorithms that can recognize meaning and relevance. Search engines now look for “authority” sites.

As search engines have become more sophisticated, SEO professionals have evolved as well and must master a number of additional skills including data mining, statistics and semantic analysis. Also important to the task of SEO are keyphrase and behavioral research, website and web traffic analytics to measure results, and watching the trends and changes in search engine technologies.

Our research at NGC shows competitive intelligence means less guesswork, significantly less trial and error and quicker results. It is a more scientific approach to SEO.

The near future will be concerned with responding to the challenges and seizing the opportunities presented by the personalization of search and by the increasing popularity of social media. More sophistication will be used in the area of web analytics as well as merchants seeking to leverage all the benefits of behavioral targeting. Further in the future, we see us putting more effort into mobile marketing as consumers both search and buy items using various mobile devices.

As more services and products via numerous forms of media come about, SEO professionals will have to keep up with these new technologies and channels to discover new ways to optimize visibility and traffic for their clients. But, before you dive into your website’s Titles, Keywords, Meta Tags, Frames, Flash, JavaScript, or anything else associated with the backend, remember the single most important factor to building traffic on your website is what everyone else sees.

Every trick in the book is no substitute for robust content. Brilliant content is what everyone wants: you, your customers, and the search engines. Feed those spiders HTML!

MCNC Awarded $28.2 Million in Broadband Recovery Funds

The United States Department of Commerce announced today that MCNC, an independent non-profit organization that employs advanced networking technologies and systems to continuously improve learning and collaboration throughout North Carolina’s K-20 education community, has been awarded $28.2 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Broadband Recovery Funds. North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue and members of the North Carolina Congressional Delegation joined U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke for the announcement.

MCNC operates the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN), one of the nation’s first statewide education and research networks. NCREN provides broadband communications technology services and support to K-12 school districts, higher education campuses, academic research institutions, and public health facilities across the state.

MCNC raised $11.7 million in matching funds for its successful application through private sources, including $4 million from the MCNC endowment, making the total project a $40 million investment in North Carolina’s broadband infrastructure.

“Increased broadband access for underserved areas is a critical infrastructure improvement that will help businesses of all sizes create jobs,” said Gov. Perdue.  “NCREN will also play a vital role as part of my Career and College – Ready, Set, Go! Initiative, which will help ensure those businesses have access to a well-trained workforce.”

This funding will allow North Carolina to leverage the existing NCREN to create more robust access for our schools, libraries and public health facilities, while also reaching our underserved citizens.

The MCNC award is a key part of a coordinated strategy developed by the N. C. Office of Economic Recovery & Investment to improve broadband access for businesses and residents in underserved areas and enhance feasibility of Health Information Exchange (HIE) initiatives across the state, resulting in improved access to health services.

The ARRA appropriated $7.2 billion and directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA) to expand broadband access to unserved and underserved communities across the U.S., increase jobs, spur investments in technology and infrastructure, and provide long-term economic benefits. The result is the RUS Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) and the NTIA Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP).

“We are pleased to learn of the BTOP award to MCNC,” said Mike Murphy, chairman of the MCNC Board of Directors.  “The 480 miles of new fiber throughout the western and southeastern part of North Carolina will ensure that our K-12 schools, universities, community colleges, university hospitals, and other community anchor institutions (libraries, public health) will have access to unlimited amounts of bandwidth now and into the future.  All North Carolinians will benefit from the public/private partnership that created this application.”

MCNC will begin immediately to undertake the work of planning and building the new middle-mile fiber. Construction is expected to last up to three years.  The new fiber build will be an essential element in North Carolina’s plans to reach citizens and community anchor institutions that currently have limited broadband access.
Within the next 60 days, MCNC will issue several requests for proposal (RFP) for the design, construction and operation of the network.  These RFPs have the potential to create more than 230 engineering/construction jobs.

The new fiber build will traverse 37 counties in southeastern and western North Carolina.

Consumers and small businesses along the fiber build will be reached with enhanced broadband service through commercial telecommunications and cable providers with whom MCNC has formed partnerships.  FRC/PalmettoNet, a middle-mile operator and partner in MCNC’s application will assist last-mile service providers in reaching consumers and commercial businesses. The network has the potential to serve more than 1,500 anchor institutions, 180,000 businesses, and more than 300,000 underserved families.

“FRC is pleased to be one of MCNC’s key private partners in this project and can think of no better organization than MCNC to lead the expansion of North Carolina’s middle-mile broadband infrastructure” according to John Dudley, FRC’s Senior Director of Public Policy and External Affairs. “We are extremely pleased that the NTIA has recognized the intended benefits of this project and we look forward to building a network which will extend the depth and breadth of broadband within the state of North Carolina.”

This is North Carolina’s second broadband recovery related award.  In October, North Carolina’s broadband authority eNC received a $2.3 million broadband mapping grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce. In addition, the MCNC application has been coordinated closely with other applications for federal economic recovery funds in North Carolina, including those in the areas of health care and education.

Hot pink is not pretty, but inspires economic epiphany

Have you ever made a mistake?  Of course, we all have. But, have you ever done something so terrible that you wanted to cry?

This weekend I took upon myself to do some home improvements – or should I say un-improvements.

Normally, I’m pretty talented in this capacity as honey-do dude and capable of fixing and building just about anything around the house.

My wife and I recently had some ceramic tile installed in our bathrooms. It looks awesome and is a huge improvement to the space. The expert who assisted in the project recommended putting down sealant to prevent the tile and grout from cracking over time. I agreed and went to the store to pick up the necessary product to make it happen.

Apparently, I picked up the wrong product.

When I put down the sealant, nothing on the instructions indicated that it would dry hot pink. Yes, hot pink.

Our beautiful new bathroom floor looked like someone threw up Pepto Bismal all over it.

Now, I consider myself a pretty tough dude, but I was so upset that little tears trickled down my face.  All I could do was stand there and sulk over what I had done. My wife, on the other hand, was fantastic. She was more focused on fixing the problem instead of worrying about the actual problem or what it would mean to the future of our home.

Her reaction is what prompted my economic epiphany.

I thought about the challenges we all currently face with our economy as well as the problems associated with the pink nightmare that used to be my bathroom.  Metaphorically speaking, our economic struggles are very similar.

I managed to create a serious problem in less than 30 minutes without breaking a sweat. It took almost 10 hours to fix it. But, you know what; I fixed it – complete with sore knees, aching back and a slight buzz from the fumes of the sealant remover.

My point is that everyone who wants to succeed in this country will need to stop being in such a huff about the situation we are in and start using a little elbow grease (and maybe some hydrochloric acid) to help clean it up.

I am not standing on the soapbox or trying to be insensitive about the hard times many of you face, because I ‘m right there with you.  However, if we can look at our economic woes as a problem that can be fixed with hard work instead of just talking about it all the time, maybe the light at the end of the tunnel becomes more visible. Maybe we start sleeping better at night. Maybe our children have a brighter future.

The clock is ticking. And, based on my new experience, the longer the problem sits, the worse it gets and the harder it is to correct it. And, no one wants to see our beloved red, white and blue stained pink.

SAS report offers insight on fighting financial crime

Financial crimes are becoming more complex and sophisticated with the use of emerging and current technologies. It is the new activity of choice for criminals all over the world, according to a new report released by the SAS Institute.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE REPORT

Crimes of Financial Passion is an incredible supplement put out by the world’s largest privately-owned software company based here in the Triangle. A global leader in the analytics space, SAS now has given us insights from the world’s top financial crime experts on how high-tech practices can beat enterprise fraudsters at their own game.

Contributors include Bank of America’s former head of corporate security Chris Swecker; the FBI’s chief of financial crimes Sharon Ormsby; David Stewart, SAS’ financial crimes and compliance director; Ellen Joyner-Roberson, SAS’ global financial services marketing manager; and Dan Barta, former special agent member of the Bank Fraud Task Force with the FBI in Dallas and currently responsible for development/delivery of SAS’ enterprise fraud program.

And, as a contributor myself, it should be known extensive research went into creating this report and covers all spectrums of financial crimes – from internal fraud, social network analysis and silo busting, to detecting terrorist financing, case studies, and how to measure your success. It honestly covers it all.

Although this report at first glance seems to be targeted to just techies, it isn’t.

Little “Did You Know” facts  on how to better protect yourself and/or your business are a nice add plus it provides significant resources, best practices, and clarification on laws that many of you will be surprised to learn about.

This, from an average citizen perspective, goes way more in-depth than just simply protecting your identity. Those who actually work in the financial services industry – especially in technology – will absolutely cherish this piece.

Financial innovation has changed the business of banking and our reliance on the financial services industry. Along those lines, the world has not seen a more sophisticated criminal, and the velocity of financial attacks today is unparalleled.

Combining the early generation of fraud-fighting tools with advanced analytics and adaptive optimization gives the financial services industry the opportunity to gain ground in the fraud race. But, the weapons are only as good as the data.

And, the world’s best at analyzing data is right in our backyard. Kudos to SAS for creating and releasing this report.

I encourage you to download or pick up a copy. Within the 33 pages, fraud experts and global thought leaders touch on key elements to financial crimes that will help you to properly fight your own battle.

Even if you don’t work in the in the financial services industry, it’s still worth the read.