Reading that headline you are probably thinking something along the lines of what is he talking about, integrating back office services with front end functionality and wrapping it all up with an attractive public facing design is pretty straightforward these days. True. However, I was thinking about ecommerce from the sharp end of the usability stick, the part that has been poking me in my frustrated consumer eye this past week.

Despite my saying otherwise recently, I have been doing some online xmas shopping after all. I simple have not had the time during the week to escape into the high streets and shopping malls, nor the inclination to fight for a car parking space at the weekend. I am starting to think that the fight might be more pleasurable than some of the problems I have encountered with retailers that just do not get this new fangled Web thing.

Take, for example, the shop that was so desperate to impress new customers that along with the email confirmation of my purchase was news of an exciting discount offer because my business is important to them and I am an important customer. 10 percent off my next order, as long as I make it before the end of June 2007.

Or how about the shop which allows you to buy items that are showing as out of stock, but then leaves you in the dark about order progress. After a few days I noticed one of the items I had ordered was showing as in stock, however my customer account showed no outstanding orders. I used the web based contact system, and after 3 days got an email saying the order would be with me in mid-December for some odd reason. I replied to ask that they cancel the item as I had managed to source it elsewhere. That email bounced because, despite there being no ‘do not reply to this address’ warning the customer service department do not accept emails only web based contact or telephone. I overcame my phone phobia to ask them to cancel, and discovered that the reason I was being told mid-December was because that was when my other out of stock item was expected to arrive and they would send them together. A little information can go a long way, but only if you telephone them it seems.

Then there was the company whose ‘real time stock check’ apparently runs around 24 hours behind itself. I ordered an in-stock item, paid for it, got the confirmation within a few minutes only to get another the next day informing me the item is not in stock and will arrive as soon as possible, sometime in the next 14 days. Ding, no sale, refund please.

Not everyone gets it wrong though, and I do feel I should ‘big up’ the chaps at Japan Centre who despite my ticking the option of ‘if not available please cancel entire order’ had the good sense to email me instead. I had ordered a selection of cooking saki, because I am something of a food ponce, and one particular variety was not available in the size I had asked for. Instead of cancelling the entire order, Japan Centre asked if they could substitute this for the next size up (a third bigger) at the same price and with the same postage charge. Now that is what I call customer service, it’s just a shame not everyone understands that for ecommerce to be a truly enjoyable user experience it is not just the payment processes and shopping baskets that have to be transferred from real life retail - but the personal service as well…

Given that the fallout from the HMRC game of who wants some confidential data today is still with us, perhaps this is not the best time to be sending out press releases arguing that ICT suppliers must play a crucial role in modernising the welfare system and social services. The government record on implementing massive IT programmes is, well, typical of what happens on any scale when bean counters and politicians (which you can

So, BSI British Standards is expected to publish the first set of specifications regarding web standards in the first half of 2008. Well whoopy-doo, that’s all we need, web design by committee.

The publicly available specification (PAS 124) is to be developed by a BSI steering group before being released to the public for comment. Here’s mine in advance: we don’t need another set of standards, even from the BSI, to determine and govern effectiveness, function and appearance of websites thank you very much.

To be honest, the very thought of a BSI standard that covers, as I am led to believe this will, such things as Search Engine Optimisation, Accessibility, Usability and Branding within its remit sends a shiver right the way up and down my spine.

Mike Low, Director of BSI British Standards, calls is an “important first step towards a framework for best practice in web standards. The PAS will enable organizations and their suppliers to better understand the need for web standards and consequently provide more structured web solutions.”

I’m not so sure. There are enough functional but boring, boring, boring business websites out there already, without giving lazy designers and unimaginative executives yet another excuse to stamp all over the innovating creatives.

According to research outfit Parity, a misunderstanding and misconception of Web 2.0 technology is widespread amongst senior managers and IT personnel alike. It claims that they lack the appreciation of the wider business benefit and as a result UK businesses run the risk of being left behind thanks to simply not getting those critical Web 2.0 benefits. The ‘Web 2.0

Microsoft has kicked off perhaps the most interesting competition of late, and certainly one which has the potential to impact upon enterprise level business the most: the High Performance Computing challenge. Hopefully the

According to a new report from those masters of the digital metric, comScore, more than one third of online shoppers in the UK, France and Germany have already started doing their Xmas shopping. If they had surveyed one particular little Yorkshire village they would have found at least one shopper who has done the same: me. I have been doing pretty much all my seasonal shopping online for the best part of a decade now. It has nothing to do with me practising what I preach, although that was the reason that I upped sticks and moved from South London to South Yorkshire 12 years or so ago. I was writing books and magazine articles saying how wonderful the Internet was, and how it was going to change the way we work. Teleworking was still something that existed more in media column inches than reality at the time, but I was saying the Internet would change all that. And so it was I moved from city life to rural idyll, eventually training my clients, my editors, my publishers and assorted PR bunnies so that after a year or so I did not have to travel down to London once every week to meet them.

However, I digress, the reason I do my seasonal shopping online is simply because I am a man. Which means I am a lazy shopper. Women take note, men do not hate shopping, truth be told we bloody love it, what we hate is shopping when there are loads of other people around getting in the way. What we hate is having to sacrifice an entire day, which could be better spent in the pub, watching the telly or playing Halo 3, just in order to load up with pants, socks and yet another gadget we really don’t need and really won’t use. What’s more, at this time of year we hate it more than ever as those crowds get bigger and bigger.

But there’s the rub, as more and more people shop online perhaps the high street will become something of a gentleman’s haven. Somewhere we can go to shop in relative peace, happy to flirt with the attentive shop girls desperate for some human contact, and maybe even enjoy the experience.

We may even be forced into so doing, because last year my Xmas shopping experience was the worse it has ever been. The online crowds meant that much of what I wanted to buy was not in stock, and there were no guarantees that stock would arrive in time for the big day - or more to the point in time for me to wrap the buggers up and get them delivered on to my globally dispersed family and friends. Even worse than that, items that were in stock, that were guaranteed to be delivered in good time, did not materialise. Yes, I got my money back under the guarantee, but what use is that when a child is missing a present or a mother-in-law for that matter? A combination of some kind of online shopping critical mass fuelled by the uptake of broadband, coupled with a meltdown in delivery logistics (we all know who the guilty any man with his white van courier companies are) conspired against the careful online shopper.

Perhaps that is why this year people are starting their shopping earlier than ever? That comScore survey reveals that, in the UK, 48% of respondents had already started Xmas shopping in October, and another 30% will have started by now. A meagre 4% will wait until a couple of weeks before Xmas to get started, while 5% will leave it right until the last minute.

Trouble is, as I have discovered already, this means that items are running out of stock even sooner. After last year am I prepared to risk all on the promise of the online retailers that an item will be back in stock in time for my required delivery schedules? Nope, I am not. I do not intend to be out at the last minute with all those sad blokes looking for gifts again this year. So I started my seasonal shopping early, and as far as online shopping is concerned I have now finished it as well. All the other gifts I buy this year are going to be purchased direct from the retailer, so I can pay my money and bring them home with me. It feels like a retrograde step, but you know what, this lazy shopper is actually looking forward to going out there and doing it

Salesforce.com has been the victim of a classic spear phishing attack, where a highly targeted social engineering exploit is used in an attempt to persuade a single employee to reveal confidential corporate information that can then be used as ammunition for further and more widely spread attacks.

The CRM vendor has admitted that one of its employees had fallen foul of such a spear phishing scam and handed over a password to the cyber-criminal involved. This led to a customer contact database being copied, and consequently the “first and last names, company names, email addresses, telephone numbers of salesforce.com customers, and related administrative data belonging to salesforce.com” being leaked. I am led to believe that a number of the customers so exposed were then taken in by a phishing scam which was made all the more believable by the amount of accurate personal data it was able to use.

John Stewart, founder of secure authentication specialists Signify reckons the whole thing should not come as a surprise to anyone, telling me “the growing popularity of the SaaS (Software as a Service) model means that it’s too big a honeypot for the Internet Underworld to ignore.” One of the problems being that there’s a blind spot in corporate security: whereas two factor authentication and VPN encryption is considered essential before remote users are allowed access to this data on the corporate network, as soon as it is hosted by a third party, it seems that just a web browser and a password are all that’s needed. “In essence, you’ve uploaded your entire customer database and sales pipeline to a public website and protected it with a basic password” Stewart insists, adding the data is no more secure than your Facebook login.”

Salesforce.com is now recommending the use of two-factor authentication (2FA) for service login, but this requires replacing the password with a 2FA process by enabling the single sign on function: something that is limited in the edition used by the majority of SME ‘Pro Edition’ customers. With single sign on being, effectively, a global setting which is either on or off for everyone it doesn’t take a genius to realise that Salesforce still as a long way to go. SMEs are going to baulk at the cost of deploying 2FA tokens to every user, including everyone on the road, all managers, office and admin staff. The spear phishing attack has shown how just a single weak link in the chain can be exploited after all. The other option is the equally expensive upgrade to the Enterprise Edition, something of a Catch 22 it seems.

“It is frustrating that our customers cannot extend the use of their tokens to secure their Salesforce.com accounts too.

Think IBM and you think many things, but I somehow doubt you think video gaming developer. However, today I learned that IBM has become just that with the launch of Innov8, IBM’s totally free and totally serious new game. Free because it is aimed at university students and young professionals alike, it is marketed under an educational banner in other words. Serious because it is just that, designed to help its players develop a combination of business and IT skills. Specifically, those that bridge the gap in understanding between IT teams and business leaders in an organisation.

Think about it, serious games have been around for ages. What else would you call the flight simulators used to train military and commercial pilots alike? What else are the theatre of war simulators used by the military for that matter? According to The Apply Group, by 2012, between 100 and 135 of the Global Fortune 500 will have adopted gaming for learning, with the U.S., United Kingdom and Germany leading the way.

“The best kept secret in the world of computer and video games is the rise of a movement - now in the thousands - of gamers, universities and corporations dedicated to applying games to serious challenges such as education, training, medical treatment, or better government,” said David Rejeski, director of the Serious Games Initiative which is housed at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. “IBM has established itself as a pioneer in serious gaming by enabling universities to educate students using the gaming medium they understand, enjoy and embrace.”

Innov8 is a 3D simulation, with the look and feel of a game but corresponding to non-game events or processes such as business operations, is aiming to become a successful method to develop new skills. Most MBA programmes are already heavily based on projects that reflect how individuals and teams need to interact in the real world. Innov8 takes that a step further by actually allowing students to step into a real, dynamic business environment. The game is based on advanced commercial gaming technologies and allows players to visualise how technology and related business strategies affect an organisation’s performance. Together, users can visualise business processes, identify bottlenecks, and explore ‘what if’ scenarios before the technology is deployed.

“IBM views serious gaming as a new and exciting way to develop the skills that are required as business and IT become more closely aligned,” said Sandy Carter, vice president, IBM SOA and WebSphere strategy, channels and marketing. “Innov8 was designed to address this specific skills shortage while also helping universities realise the benefits of using serious games as a powerful tool for teaching today’s students.”

Innov8 is now available through IBM’s Academic Initiative, a programme offering a wide range of technology education benefits to meet the goals of colleges and universities.

A colleague and friend of mine uses BT Total Broadband for his connectivity, happy to pay over the odds for the ability to be dealing with the people who own the wire. Or at least that is the theory. The practise can be a little different it has to be said, as my friend discovered recently when his contract came to an end. First there was the cold-call, always annoying but at least on this occasion there was an opportunity to renew the service with a much better deal that would save money. Happy to save a few quid, my friend agreed and that was when the problems started.

An experienced computer programmer and something of a guru in the IT world this friend is no wet behind the ears newbie. So he was rather surprised to discover his previously rock solid 8Mbps connection had taken something of a knock, rather a big one in fact: all the way down to 512Kbps.

It took a week of curious, not to mention downright puzzled, troubleshooting to get to the bottom of the problem: BT had sold him a pup. You see the sales woman who cold called and offered the wonderful opportunity to renew and save money failed to mention (as indeed the BT website either fails to mention or makes it so hard to discover that the end result is the same) that there would appear to be two distinct Option 2 packages. Namely the Option 2 Max ‘up to’ 8Mbps service he was expecting and plain vanilla Option 2 which is restricted to just 512Kbps max.

As he told me “the whole thing stinks of flim-flam sales technique and I’m amazed OFCOM lets BT get away with.” A little bit of digging around the broadband support sites and blogs online, and to be honest with you, so am I.

During the last few weeks there has been a steadily growing number of complaints posted from folk who feel that they have been stitched up by BT sales staff selling them a 512Kbps service when they were expecting ‘up to’ 8Mbps.

OK, first things first, I am well aware that all ADSL Max variations are limited to a maximum of 8Mbps and the actual rate is dependant upon a huge swathe of things including the quality of the line and the distance from the exchange for example. Yet people who have used BT’s own checker and been told their line supports 2Mbps find themselves with 512Kbps max. One chap tells me that when he complained about this he was told that his line only supports 512Kbps which, as he says, is a little strange considering that before he switched to BT Total Broadband the same line provided 5Mbps and the provider before that 6.5Mbps.

The common thread running through the complaints is twofold: firstly getting someone to understand the nature of the problem, not aided I am afraid by the ’support’ line which is not only situated in India (throwing up the inevitable language problems) but totally script based and the operators seem unable to work outside of this script. Secondly, there is that 512Kbps number, or more precisely the Option 2 Max 512Kbps service which some folk have eventually been told they have signed up to despite them never actually having heard of it.

BT were unavailable for comment when I wrote this, but hopefully between the blogosphere, and angry userbase and OFCOM this sharp sales practise will be quickly halted and BT Total broadband itself will get its act together to ensure that end users know exactly what service it is they are signing up for.