Sneaky Business

Building A Better Business Silo

Communication between business silos is often cited as a key barrier to more effective cross-company collaboration. Indeed, in a recent survey by DayNovo Consulting 25% of respondents admitted to not knowing the existence of overlapping business teams, while 15% thought that their group represented the entire company.

Now a company in Washington State may have the perfect opportunity for an aspiring startup to break the mould. According to the BBC:

A former US intercontinental ballistic missile base - with a network of underground tunnels and silos, but no nuclear warheads - is on sale on eBay for $1.5m (£750,000, 1.06m euros).

Located in a remote corner of Washington state and still ringed by its original barbed-wire-topped fence, the 56-acre site is being marketed as a "gorgeous" property and potential resort.

Bari Hotchkiss, who bought the site ten years ago, see tremendous opportunity: "The only limit is imagination. We've always wanted to see it turn into a summer camp or as a secure company facility."

Below ground is a huge complex consisting of 16 buildings and thousands of feet of connecting tunnels.  The major underground structures are:

1. Three - 160' Tall Missile Silos

2. Three - 4 story Equipment Terminal Buildings

3. Three - Fuel Terminal Buildings

4. Two - 6 story Antenna Silos

5. One Air Intake/Filtration Building

6. One 100' diameter Control Dome Building

7. One 125' diameter Power Dome Building

8. One - 6 story Entry Portal Building

9. and a few other misc buildings and areas.

Has there ever been a better opportunity to establish effective, secure barriers between bickering teams? Or how about using the site for that new "stealth mode" startup, prior to its launch?

Interested parties (and they stress, only interested parties) should apply at www.themissilebase.com

Google To Capture Only Small Slice Of Expanding Search Pie

In recognition of the expanding nature of the search market, ComScore Inc. is extending its criteria for measuring the market share of such products by including results beyond the primary search engine platforms (Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft etc). The new service, described as the second generation of search measurement, was unveiled on Monday.

However, just as Google is already eyeing the potential of advertising far beyond the Web, the concept of search may also be taking a quantum leap beyond its Internet roots. Industry insiders, talking to Sneaky Business under strict anonymity, have hinted at a much broader third generation search measurement yardstick that is just round the corner.

A first draft of the upcoming taxonomy, together with approximate overall search "traffic" is shown below. Interestingly, in this meta-search universe Google captures only around 2% share, putting it well behind the faith-based search traffic of the Catholic Church.

CFOs look to impact of toilet paper on bottom line

The cost of toilet paper can have a significant impact in overall profitability according to a recent survey by DayNovo Consulting. Trends in frequency of bathroom visits, size of sheets dispensed and the increase in frivolous use of paper have contributed to a 75% increase in cost per capita in North American companies.

Now a Reston, VA startup has stepped in to offer welcome respite. Their network-enabled toilet roll dispenser puts the control of toilet paper cost firmly into the hands of the CTO. An easy to use management screen enables CTOs to tailor the precise size of sheets and frequency of "outages" to meet their needs.

The results of a trial at a DC area retail company have proved impressive. "We cut out over $50K in overhead from using the system. Our employees spend less money per visit, and more time back at their desks."

[Video courtesy of Life's Inventions]

Major IT industry report released, reveals absolutely nothing new

Garrester, a research company, released their fifth annual "State of the US IT industry" report Tuesday with little fanfare. "We interviewed 5,000 managers throughout the country" revealed Garrester spokesperson David Collins, "And frankly we discovered absolutely nothing new."

Analysts at the company were said to be devastated by the news. "We worked solidly for three full weeks" said one under condition of anonymity, "We checked and re-checked our data. But at the end of the day we failed to find one iota of new information."

Pundits from McBainsey, a consultancy, were not surprised by the announcement. "The value of these reports has been trending downwards for some time" said Arnold Chou, "We were expecting them to bottom out sometime soon. We just didn't expect them to flat-line completely."

Nevertheless, David Collins continued to put a positive spin on the findings. "I think this shows us that the industry is slowing down – both in terms of spending and also in terms of thinking. If we in the US fail to generate any new thinking then someone is bound to step in to fill the void".

 

The full report is available from Garrester for $5,450.

Companies retreat from creative edge; fresh thinkers lying low

Companies are stepping back from the heady, creative, "caution to the wind" days of the dot.com boom. In a study published today, DayNovo consulting reveals an alarming return to "safe and sound" business practices. "CEOs are more hesitant to take risks, and want their employees to act accordingly" said Frank Bishop of DayNovo, "One misstep and Blackstone is all over them."

One result is the purging of creative thinking from many organizations. "Two years ago we took pride in the number of new frameworks created during each engagement," explained Sarah Smith of McBainsey, "Nowadays we try to leverage just one, the same one, with every customer."

The full survey is available from DayNovo Consulting for $178,500.

Data Dive: Strategic Growth Opportunities

Struggling to break out from the same old planning meetings? Tired of staring at white space opportunities? Our annual SOB Manager Survey has revealed a number of innovative techniques that are being deployed to prioritize growth opportunities.

The complete survey is available from DayNovo Consulting for $125,595.

Acronym: CAGR

Compound Annual Girth Rate

Rate of expansion of personal waistline, typically accelerates during progression from lower to middle management positions. Highly correlated to sales meeting attendance, proximity of drive through Starbuck's and exposure to SOB managers during career.

Data Dive: Cost Drivers

Latest results from our annual LOB manager survey:

Source: Ivy Consulting LOB Manager Survey, Feb. 2007

Source: Ivy Consulting LOB Manager Survey, Feb. 2007

Acronym: IRR

Internal Rate of Regret

Metric used for quantifying time value of commitment. IRR is highly dynamic and typically increases over time. Historically IRRs peaked during dot com bust and Enron collapse. Recent IRR local maxima have been observed with the Florida real-estate market, Jet-Blue frequent flyer miles and the brown colored Zune.