Thursday 30 November 2017

Notable supply chain management trends for 2018

With customers now having access to the limitless amount of information and choices, businesses need to stay ahead of the curve. One way of doing so is to be aware of supply chain management trends that are expected in 2018. Some of them are listed below: 

Image source: hummingbirdinnovations.com

  • Going digital: More and more companies now realize that they have to transition their supply chain into digital to make it more intelligent, scalable, and efficient. With brands becoming more transparent nowadays, a digital supply chain management strategy also boosts to their competitive advantage. 


  •  Artificial intelligence: Some of the world’s largest companies have begun to use AI as part of their supply management strategies. Examples of these are Facebook, Google, Apple, and Tesla. Mark Zuckerberg explains the strategy, “You can think of it kind of like Jarvis in Iron Man.” There are companies that also already utilize such technology, in the form of machine vision and robotics in industrial applications, such as warehousing. By 2021, it is expected that one in four large global companies will be using AI automation or AI-powered assistants in SCM. 


  •  Elastic logistics: Demand and market fluctuations means there are business operations that have to be flexible or agile. In 2018, many experts predict that elastic logistics will make its way to countless companies. 
Image source: jabil.com


Edmund O' Brien has had a long and storied career working for many international companies, including Arthur Anderson, Coca-Cola, Reckitt Benckiser, and Microsoft. For more business insights, follow this Facebook page.

Tuesday 10 October 2017

Reflecting On The Microsoft Acquisition Of Linkedin

When it comes to mergers and acquisitions, it doesn’t get any bigger than Microsoft and LinkedIn. At $26 billion, not only is it the biggest tech deal in history, but it’s also one of the biggest acquisitions ever.

It was no doubt a surprise for all of those involved, especially the people who worked at LinkedIn. How it was kept a secret from everyone, nobody knows. The only sure thing was that when it was finally announced, the jaws of every LinkedIn employee had hit the floor. The whole acquisition involved a cash transaction, with LinkedIn shares being bought at $196 a share. This, of course, included the company’s net cash.

Image source: thenextweb.com

As with every merger and acquisition, certain provisions were such as the retention of LinkedIn’s brand and culture were set in place to ensure that LinkedIn employees still had their motivation to drive them. And although LinkedIn is still independent, its CEO now reports to Microsoft’s head honcho, Satya Nadella.

Some people still question the value of the acquisition -- $26 billion. Was it worth it? LinkedIn is the biggest professional network not just in cyberspace, but also in the world. After reaching the top of that mountain, LinkedIn has only continued to grow. And who knows what else it can achieve under Microsoft?

Image source: forbes.com


Eddie O’Brien is the CEO of the Americas at Arvato Bertelsmann, overseeing the growth and execution of the multibillion-dollar BPO services provider in the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. He has held several executive positions in various multinational firms, including at Microsoft. Follow this Twitter page for more business news.



Thursday 21 September 2017

The Upsides and Downsides of Serverless Computing

Back in 2014, serverless computing gained huge popularity when Amazon first released the AWS Lambda. Several vendors, an example of which is Microsoft’s Azure Functions, followed suit by developing their own serverless computing solutions that sought to address the varying needs of consumers or organizations.

Image source: cuelogic.com
A serverless computing solution offers the following advantages:
  • Decreased costs: There would be lessened operational and development costs because the organization can opt to use only the resources that they need.
  • More manageable cost to scale: Developers do not have to implement code to scale, in addition to eliminating the requirement of an upgrade of servers should the organization find the need to increase the used cloud computing services.
  • Reduced complexity: Serverless computing does not need as many interfaces as possible, including virtual machines, servers, operating systems, and more.

However, there are also drawbacks to using serverless computing. And while upsides definitely outweigh the downsides, the latter is still worth noting:

  • Possible performance issues: Because the allocated compute resources are dependent on the applications’ requirements, there might be high latency, which can affect performance. If high performance is a primary requirement, allocated virtual servers are a better alternative than serverless computing.
  • Tricky monitoring and debugging: In serverless computing, multiple server resources are used. Due to this, monitoring and debugging activities can be difficult to do.
Image source: trendsbuzzer.com
Eddie O’Brien has extensive experience in global sales and services, technology, international business strategy, and cross-functional leadership. He currently heads Arvato Bertelsmann’s Global Cloud Strategy. He had previously worked for Microsoft for 15 years. Follow this Facebook page for more discussions on technology.

Friday 18 August 2017

How Design Ultimately Figures In Product Development

Design plays a central role in the creation of a product. But what everyone needs to know is that people usually have a rather limited understanding of such concepts. The product goes through several processes that ensure its quality on many different levels. At the onset, one must realize the interwoven relations of design and product development even if they are not exactly one and the same thing. Design originates plans and ideas, while product development takes care of implementation and realization.

Image source: pixabay.com

Design, of course, goes beyond the graphical rendering and implies a lot of other intersecting considerations and components like engineering, branding, and whatnot. The practical orientation of product developers keeps everything in line with the core business principles and purpose. Cooperative effort describes a lot of what goes on in product initiatives. Even if design is just one of the many aspects of product development, it is crucial to take into account the efficiency of integrating design in the earliest stages of the process. There are a lot of available tools and technology that can address the need for streamlining development processes so that all product stakeholders can instantaneously coordinate changes and adjustments.

Since product development is largely anchored in business tenets, it is always valuable for designers to have a clear notion of the company's branding ideals and the marketing principles and methods that can best represent its standards. Product development is also founded on solidifying a company's position in the highly competitive world of business. New products that work, merging aesthetics with logical and optimized functionality, will always get the attention of the consumers. They also assure the customers of their willingness to continually engage and provide them with better options.

Image source: pixabay.com

Eddie O'Brien is the CEO of the Americas at Arvato Bertelsmann, overseeing the growth and execution of a multibillion-dollar business that delivers a host of BPO services including SCM, CRM, financial and IT solutions. Prior to that, he spent 15 years in various executive positions at Microsoft. For similar reads, visit this blog.

Thursday 20 July 2017

Why Leaders Are Good Troubleshooters

Good leaders never play the blame game. They take responsibility for actions taken by the team. When issues in the workplace arise, leaders initiate crucial conversations and deal with them with the team. A good leader can always turn bad situations around.
Image source:brightsouls.co.uk

If a project encounters a problem, determining the root cause of it lets the leader know whether it was the team who caused the trouble or the process. Looking closely into all the factors: the team, the partners, and the customers would prevent blaming and may promote overall improvement of the project. Having a bird’s eye view on every project may be good in the beginning to know its potential impact, but when challenges arise, a deeper look would provide a good visual of what’s causing the problem, and makes finding solutions easier.

Bullying team members in fixing project glitches would only cause problems outside of the issue and may create division in the team. A good leader knows how to balance team members and makes an effort to know the ones who are good at formulating solutions and who among them can deliver the solutions formulated. Delegating tasks is a strength every leader must have. Wanting to do everything to prevent problems is a big mistake some leaders commit.

Image source:beatyourbest.com


In troubleshooting, understanding one another is key. It is a skill that involves three other skills: conflict resolution, communication, and problem-solving skills. Keeping everyone in the team engaged can create a shared vision and shared goals. Looking back at shared goals, and bravely changing them if needed, may facilitate growth among team members.

Whether it’s a problem within the team or a problem in the project, good leaders know how to fix them.

Edmund O’Brien is the CEO of at Arvato Bertelsmann, overseeing the growth and execution of a multibillion-dollar business that delivers a host of BPO services including SCM, CRM, financial and IT solutions. He gives importance to team leadership and development. Know more about Eddie and his industry by visiting this page.

Tuesday 6 June 2017

The Competitive Advantages Of a Multicultural Business

Image source: linkedin.com
In the globalized workplace, multicultural businesses are at an advantage compared to their competitors. Designing strategies with different cultures in mind is proving to be an effective way of gaining influence in many industries. Here are some of the advantages of having a multicultural business:

Wider understanding of worldwide and industry trends

Diversity in the workplace is a crucial factor for growth. Having people from different cultures and backgrounds as part of a team can help the company further understand what is happening in the world. Different insights and experiences allow a company to come up with solutions that will address the needs of more people.

Increase in industry value

Having people from different cultures and backgrounds increases a company's value in the global field. Creating a workplace that fosters growth for a diverse group of people shows that the company is competent and advanced. It also allows employees to understand their place in the industry as they learn about what's happening to the rest of the world. In this sense, the company and its employees become valuable players in the business.

Possibilities for expansion

Image source: woman.thenest.com
A company that hones talents from different parts of the world is a good way to prepare for expansion. In this generation, setting up offices in different parts of the world is necessary to cater to the needs of more clients and to increase the workforce. Having trained employees that can step up to the challenge will make it easier for a company to establish operations overseas. Exposing employees to different cultures and languages will help them adjust to working overseas as well.

Multicultural businesses are capable of expanding their influence and services. To further succeed, they need to equip their workforce to address the needs and find new solutions to what the world needs.

Eddie O’Brien is Arvato Bertelsmann’s regional CEO for the Americas. Prior to Arvato, he served in executive positions in Microsoft from 1999 to 2014. He is passionate about driving growth, leading turnarounds, and implementing 'executional excellence' concepts, thinking, and culture into organizations. For more business management articles, visit this Google+ page.







Sunday 30 April 2017

The buzz about Microsoft's new face-swap app

Face-swapping has been a trend nowadays. With apps like Snapchat, Instagram, and SNOW swapping faces of people into faces of their friends or celebrities, it seems this kind of app is here to stay. However, this game-changer from Microsoft is expected to set a higher bar in the world’s face-swapping standards. Microsoft’s Face Swap app is expected to bring seamless and more realistic results. 

Image source: winbuzzer.com

The Face Swap app not only allows users to place their faces on different faces but on different scenarios and scenery as well. This feature is unique only to the Face Swap app. This facial recognition software works with Microsoft’s Bing so users can swap their faces in different online images. Anyone can appear in space, on a red carpet, or on a beach. It is expected to take social media by storm. 

The app can also let users try on different outfits and hairstyles in their library of images. Users can get started by taking a selfie or by choosing an image from their smartphone’s photo gallery. The Face Swap app will then make something new with the user’s face, which can be applied to numerous scenes. This technology can also match lighting, head position, and skin tone for a more realistic swap. Results can be shared online or saved in a gallery. It is already available via Google Play in select countries like Australia, Canada, and the United States. 

Image source: betanews.com

Eddie O’Brien has spent more than a decade as an executive at Microsoft. Check out this blog to read more about the tech world and other business news.

Thursday 27 April 2017

The Benefits Of Outsourcing It Services

Outsourcing is a concept that is being received well by a lot of companies these days.  While it is common for smaller companies to outsource their services,a lot of big businesses have also followed suit.With rapid advancements in digital technology, many companies resort to outsourcing their IT services.Here are some benefits of IT outsourcing.
Image source: shutterstock.com
Reduced risks

Outsourcing IT services means companies won’t have to worry about delegating in-house staff to handle technical issues.  In-house staff members may feel helpless doing all the IT work themselves, but outsourcing IT services will mean a different team will attend to the company’s needs without disrupting the official workflow.


Reduced costs

One of the big reasons companies outsource their IT services is cost-cutting.Companies save a lot on outsourcing services, as the outsourcing agency will take care of the software, gadgets, and other requirements.Companies won’t have to spend money on software or people to handle processes in which they do not specialize. 

Image source: lutz.us
Better business focus

When companies spend time on the things they’re not good at,they waste a lot of time, money, and effort.  Outsourcing means better focus for the whole team in improving the business’ core products and services. 


Eddie O’Brien has served several  multinational  companies  in  different countries   over  the  years. He currently works as the CEO of the Americas at Arvato Bertelsmann.Visit this blog to learn more.

Tuesday 10 January 2017

Fit To Lead: Traits Of Successful Business Leaders

Most of the times, a company’s success (or failure) is dictated by its leadership. While fervent investors can “run” the company, committed leaders do not just stop on gaining money for the business. They go beyond earning a profit. Here’s a list of what successful business leaders have in common.

Image source: insperity.com


They bravely face bad news


Running a business does not always mean receiving only good news. While a lot of business leaders dislike hearing bad news, effective and successful leaders face them as it is. They do not worry about looking weak in front of their employees, but instead, they make conscious efforts to assess problems and quickly resolve them.

They do not lose their perspective

Many business founders and leaders are passionate about gaining more income, but successful business leaders never forget why they started in the first place. They might make wrong choices in life, but they never lose their positive perspective.

Image source: everything-pr.com

They lead with courage

Innovative business leaders are confident and proactive, no matter what the situation. They are never intimidated by intelligent conversations, and they do not avoid conflicts because they know they will learn something along the way.

Eddie O’Brien, currently serves as the CEO of the Americas at Arvato Bertelsmann. Prior to that, he spent years working for Microsoft. Visit this blog for similar articles.